Graduation Quotes
It doesn't matter that your dream came true if you spent your whole life sleeping.
Spring 2015 Commencement Season: Who is Speaking Where?
Every year, I compile a comprehensive, up-to-date list on promising commencement speaker for the spring graduation season. Come back often to check on updates. The excitement is building up!
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
How to Write a Graduation Speech
In this article I summarize everything I learned about what it takes to write a strong speech. While lighthearted, the article contains some of the best well research advice there is, with everything you will need to know from content, structure, possible themes, and delivery tips to make your commencement speech a memorable one.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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 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
▫ 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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