Commencement speech

Kent Beck giving a commencement speech

The University of New Hampshire commencement, at which George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton spoke.

A commencement speech or commencement address is a speech given to graduating students, generally at a university, generally in the US, although the term is also used for secondary education institutions. The "commencement" is a ceremony in which degrees or diplomas are conferred upon graduating students. A commencement speech is typically given by a notable figure in the community, during the commencement exercise. The person giving such a speech is known as a commencement speaker. Very commonly, colleges or universities will invite politicians, important citizens, or other noted speakers to come and address the graduating class.

A commencement speech is less bound by the structure found in other forms of public address, like eulogies or wedding speeches. The speaker accordingly enjoys a unique freedom to express him or herself. Executive speechwriter Anthony Trendl writes

A commencement speech, simply, is an opportunity to share your experience, values and advice. The precise form is up to you. This affords the speaker a platform to say amazing, unlimited things.^[1]

Some notable speeches

• Winston Churchill at Harrow School in 1941^[2][3]

• John F. Kennedy's American University speech in 1963^[2]
• Richard Feynman at the California Institute of Technology in 1974 : "Cargo cult science"
• Steve Jobs at Stanford University in 2005^[4]
• David Foster Wallace at Kenyon College in 2005: "This Is Water"
• J. K. Rowling at Harvard University in 2008: The Fringe Benefits of Failure^[5]
• Neil Gaiman at University of the Arts in 2012^[6]
• Troian Bellisario at the University of Southern California in 2014^[2]
• Rainn Wilson at University of Southern California in 2014: "Why Happiness is like Cotton Candy"^[7] (Huffington Post)

See also

• Graduation
• Speech

References

External links

• The art of the commencement speech, an archive
• Excerpts from commencement speeches by Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, and J.K. Rowling