What Makes a Graduation Speech Worth Remembering?

KQED's Forum

KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 23 May 2022

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“Learn to live with the cringe,” advised Taylor Swift at NYU’s recent commencement ceremony for the Class of 2022. Across the nation, graduates are being peppered with all kinds of advice from commencement speakers who range from politicians, scientists, CEOs, celebrities, and their own classmates. So what makes a good graduation speech? Is it pearls of wisdom like “Oh the places you’ll go” or “Today is the first day of the rest of your life” or the practical advice: “Wear sunscreen”? Or is it the humor or gravitas of the speaker? Next on Forum, we’ll talk about graduation speeches and hear from you: What is a piece of advice you’ve heard in a commencement speech that has stayed with you? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:49.3	From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
0:55.0	Oh, it's that graduation time of year, that time when students put on a silly hat and walk across the stage, that time when eminent people try to be funny in speeches designed for people half their age.
1:01.0	So today we're going to be talking about those speeches, what makes them work, what makes them cringe?
1:05.0	Is it even possible to give good advice on how to live in this world, the one that students are heading out into at this moment. We'll talk with speech writing experts here from students and hear from you,
1:14.8	we hope, about what people told you when you were tossing your cap. That's all coming up next
1:19.5	after this news. Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. I don't know a lot about making graduation speeches. But I do know that the one I got when I was graduating was probably
1:45.3	among the worst. We had Sasha Baron Cohen in character as Allie G. For those who remember,
1:53.1	this was way back in 2004. I don't remember a single thing about it except this vague sense of
1:59.5	unease and embarrassment on behalf of, well, really just
2:02.9	about everybody.
	...

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