How to Write a Graduation Speech
Everything I learned about what it takes to produce a memorable speech in one place! While lighthearted, this article contains some of the best well researched advice there is on content, structure, possible themes, and delivery tips to make your commencement speech a memorable one.
2017 Commencement Graduation Speakers List. Who is Speaking Where?
The countdown is on! Every day new graduation speaker announcements are trickling in from colleges and universities around the country. I dutifully sift through and compile the list of the most promising 2017 commencement speakers.These are the speeches I plan to review as they are posted online. Join me in the quest for the best graduation speeches of 2017!
See the lists of graduation speakers by year:
2017 |
2016 |
2015 |
2014 |
2013
Inspirational Graduation Quotes Images
Ten years into collecting commencement speeches with inspirational words I am still going strong. There are so many wonderful speeches worth reading, now 200 of them in the Graduation Wisdom collection. Yet this truly just a fraction of the thousands of speeches delivered in the last decades. Therefore, from this perspective, every graduation speech well written is a gem. Now, some of the greatest graduation quotes are on images so you can pin, share, print, and put them on your graduate's virtual or analog wall.
See the new collection of graduation quotes images.
2017 Quotes for Graduation
New this year, a selection of the most inspirational quotations and illustrations to share with your graduates, from kindergarten to college and universities. They are fun, they are short, they are quirky and totally memorable. Have a look at this growing list of the great quotes for graduation, illustrated for the 2017 commencement season.
The Best Commencement Speeches of 2015
Every year only a few speeches truly stand out. It's not easy to learn how write a good graduation speech. From the 2015 list of graduation speakers with potential to deliver great addresses, only twenty rose to the occasion. Enjoy the timeless advice from the most memorable commencement speeches of 2015:
1. David Brooks, Author - Dartmouth College
2. Robert De Niro, Actor - Tisch School of Arts
3. Ian Brennan, Glee Creator - Loyola University
4. Ed Helms, Actor and Comedian
5. Denzel Washington, Actor - Dillard University
6. Stephen Colbert, Comedian - Wake Forest University
7. Mary Karr, Author - Syracuse University
8. Ron Suskind, Author - Lewis & Clark College
9. Neil DeGrasse, Astrophysicist - Umass Amhers
10. Natalie Portman, Actress - Harvard University
See more of the best graduations speeches from 2015 and the years before in the Archive.
Graduation Quotes
It doesn't matter that your dream came true if you spent your whole life sleeping.
In need of writing a witty message on the graduation card? Search no more! This unique collection of inspirational graduation quotes is ready for you.
Remarkable Graduation Speech by Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Ron Suskind | Lewis & Clark College
Once in a while, a graduation speech comes along to inspire not just the young graduates but all those young at heart. Journalist and author Ron Suskind's commencement speech this May at Lewis & Clark College has done just that, conveying a powerful message through three moving stories. Top that with some light jokes and a truly outstanding delivery (no notes, moves around the podium, funny gestures) and you know you stumbled over one unforgettable graduation speech. No wonder the graduates gave him a standing ovation!
The Best Commencement Speeches of 2014
The main advice this year was to push through one's fears: fear of what others will think of you, fear of failure, fear of not knowing what's next. On the other side of fear, there is love and finding out what you are meant to be. Read and learn from the best advice from last season's commencement addresses.
See the 2014 Best Commencement Addresses
10th Anniversary - Graduation Speech by Kudzu Comic Strip Author
Timeless advice in this inspirational and thoughtful commencement address at Durham Academy. Doug Marlettette's graduation quotes and insights for the graduates have the same relevance today as they had ten years ago. Read the full commencement speech.
Graduation 2014: Best Graduation Quotes
Nuggets of advice and inspiration for young graduates and all those young at heart. What did we learn this year? Read on for great wisdom from last season's best commencement addresses.
Graduation Speeches Sketchnotes
I am a big fan of sketchnotes and I am just getting started. I hope that soon I will be adding more. This of course assumes I'll have the time to make them. One day, someone must make it possible to transform our infinite ability to worry into an infinite time resource. Until then, I 'steal' time from where I can. Maybe skipping the Saturday night movie, like I do today?!
The Most Popular Commencement Address
Soon after adding this transcript to the site it quickly went to the top and it is now the most popular speech on this site. Can you guess? I'll give you a hint, it's not Steve Job (he comes in close second). You might find it a surprise but it turns out, the man has good advice. Give it a try, watch or read the 6 rules of success.
The Funniest Graduation Speeches
Ready for some good laughs? Search no more. In the past ten years some thousands of commencement speeches have been given. Of these however only a few were deemed hilarious. We have the list of speeches right here. The laughs are guaranteed. Enjoy our mini-collection of the funniest graduation speeches and funny graduation quotes.
Graduation 2013
Looking for Ideas?
This list is a good place to pick and choose the most fitting and inspirational themes. Do not forget to add personal stories or anectodes around them to make the message stick and be more powerful. Lastly, don't forget to apply them in real life. My favorite one is:RULE # 5
Don't wait to be invited. Create opportunities and get in the game.
Giving a Graduation Speech?
Congratulations! While you prepare your speech, search for inspiration in our
collection of the best commencement speeches. And don't be scared; there is great opportunity awaiting for you. 2013's top commencement speaker George Saunders and 2012's top two commencement speakers, Neil Gaiman and David McCullough Jr., all landed book deals following their outstanding commencement addresses. Good luck!
Funny Graduation Quotes
Sometimes, a funny quote is the most memorable and sure way to make an impression on the graduates. Use these funny and notable quotes on graduation cards or for your Facebook status.
Top Ten
View the list of top ten commencement speeches as featured in the USA TODAY's article by Mary Beth Marklein. Share them with your family, friends, and please send me your favorites.
Best Speeches: Arts
There is little surprise that writers do give some of the finest commencement speeches ever. What is surprising is that despite their talents, the number of writers asked to speak at commencement exercises seems so much smaller than say that of politicians. I am very happy with this small but growing collection of outstanding advice by authors and writers.
Advice and Lessons Learned
Best Speeches: Sports
A few lucky graduates get to hear speeches from coaches or talented athletes. Coaches seem to always have good advice to share with others. In this section we selected the best speeches we could find from the sports arena.
Sample Graduation Speeches
▫ Meryl Streep, Academy Award Winning Acctress
▫ Julianna Margulies, Academy Award Winning Acctress
▫ Anthony Corvino, Undergraduate Student
▫ Conan O'Brien, TV Show host
▫ David Brooks, NYT columnist and author
▫ Denzel Washington, Actor
▫ Arianna Huffington, Author and syndicated columnist
▫ Meredith Vieira, journalist and TV show host
▫ Jonathan Youshaei, highschool graduate speaker
▫ Ellen DeGeneres, comedian
▫ Marissa Mayers, CEO at Yahoo Inc.
Lost Commencement Speeches
One such speech, among countless other worth preserving, is the commencement speech by a favorite author of mine, Joan Didion, at University of California in 1975. Luckily, one of the simply most breathtaking advice from her speech was made available in a NYT article.
I'm not telling you to make the world better,
because I don't think that progress is necessarily part of the package.
I'm just telling you to live in it.
Not just to endure it,
not just to suffer it,
not just to pass through it,
but to live in it.
To look at it.
To try to get the picture.
To live recklessly.
To take chances.
To make your own work and take pride in it.
To seize the moment.
And if you ask me why you should bother to do that, I could tell you that the grave's a fine and private place, but
none I think do there embrace.
Nor do they sing there,
or write,
or argue,
or see the tidal bore on the Amazon,
or touch their children.
And that's what there is to do and
get it while you can and
good luck at it.
Read more Commencement Speeches by Authors.
From the Archive
The commencement speeches archive has now reached almost 150 speeches. Back when I started this site in 2006 I used to know every speech in depth. As the years went by and more platitude-free and advice-bounty commencement addresses surfaced it's becoming harder to remember all these speeches I curate here and easy to forget some the most wonderful nuggets of wisdom they have. In this section, I will highlight a past commencement speech that I found smart and funny and some of its most memorable quotes. As always, each speech is worth reading in its entirety so if you have five minutes click on the link and read the entire transcript from actor Alan Alda given back in, yes, 1980! You will not believe how much of this advice holds true even today. That is why these speeches deserve to be remembered, to be preserved and to be shared.
Recently Added Speeches
▫ John Green, Best-selling Author
▫ Kenneth Kosik, Professor of Neuroscience
▫ Lin-Manuel Miranda, Playwright and Composer
▫ Steven Spielberg, Movie Director
▫ Sheryl Sandberg, Businesswoman and Author
▫ Russell Wilson, NFL Quarterback
▫ Jason Kilar, Founding CEO of Hulu
▫ David Carr, NYT Columnist and Author
▫ Emir Kamenica, Professor of Economics
▫ Victor Hwang, Venture Capitalist
▫ Paul Hamer, Author and English Professor
▫ Sarah Heidt, Professor of English
▫ Garrison Keillor, Author and Radio Personality
▫ Maira Kalman, Artist and Illustrator
▫ Sheryl Sandberg, Technology Executive and Author
▫ Joyce DiDonata, Mezzo-soprano
▫ Alexis Ohanian, Reddit Co-founder
▫ Mindy Kaling, Comedian and Author
▫ Jay Leno, Comedian
▫ Martin Scorses, Movie Director
▫ John Legend, Singer and Songwriter
▫ Jennifer Lee, Screenwriter and Director, "Frozen"
▫ Mary Carillo, Sportscasters
▫ Jim Carrey, Actor
▫ Adm. McRaven, Naval Admiral
▫ Shonda Rhimes, TV Producer and Writer
▫ Sandra Bullock, Actress
▫ Drew Houston , Dropbox CEO
▫ Tracy Chevalier, Author
▫ George Saunders, Author
▫ Wade Davis, Anthropologist
▫ Jimmy Iovine, Music Producer
▫ Tim Minchin, Musician and Comedian
▫ Jonathan Safran Foer, Novelist
▫ Susan Sontag, Author, Professor, Filmmaker
▫ Billy Collins, Poet
▫ Lewis Black, Comedian
There’s few things that get you over your own crap more than working hard.
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