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Find inspiration in these amazing speeches: complete list of graduation speeches »

▫ Stephen Colbert, Comedian and TV host
▫ Nora Ephron, Author
▫ Sheryl Sandberg, Businesswoman
▫ Jim Steen, College Swim Coach
▫ Stephen Colbert, Comedian and TV host
▫ Kirk Schneider, Phychologist
▫ Arianna Huffington, Author and syndicated columnis
▫ Amy Poehler, Actress
▫ Lisa Kudrow, Actress

Watch a slideshow with inspirational quotes from the best commencement speeches:

View our 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 us your favorites. Go to the top 10 commencement speeches list »

There is little surprise that writers do give some of the finest commencement speeches ever. What is surprising and rather sad is that despite their talents, the number of writers asked to speak at commencement exercises seems so much smaller than say that of politicians. Luckily you can find here some of the best graduation speeches from authors ».

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.

 

▫ Arnold Schwarzenegger, Actor and Politician
▫ Rachel Maddow, Political Commentator
▫ Meryl Streep, Academy Award Winning Acctress
▫ Julianna Margulies, Academy Award Winning Acctress
▫ Anthony Corvino, Undergraduate Student
▫ Conan O'Brien, TV Show host
▫ Mehmet Oz, Surgeon and TV Show Host
▫ David Brooks, NYT columnist and author
▫ Joe Plumeri, CEO of the Willis Group
▫ Denzel Washington, Actor
▫ Arianna Huffington, Author and syndicated columnist
▫ Meredith Vieira, journalist and TV show host
▫ Jonathan Youshaei, highschool graduate speaker
▫ Ellen DeGeneres, comedian
▫ Carl Sagan, astronomer
▫ Randy Pausch, professor and author
▫ Marissa Mayers, VP at Google Inc.
▫ Anthony Corvino, Undergraduate Student
▫ Omid Kordestani, Senior Adviser, Office of the CEO and Founders of Google