The speeches of famous people at graduation universities make students think and decide what to perform next in life. Steve Jobs gave an awe-inspiring oration in 2005, consisting of three personal stories. Communications’ goal was to show by the example how important it is to be yourself and to find a labor of love. Giving a prom speech is a tradition that people have accepted long ago and extremely love. It helps students to be inspired by other people’s successes and become outstanding personalities who can change the world in the future.
Jobs uses openness, humility, and a conversational style in their speech. The orator begins with gratitude to all those present and the organizers, which expresses openness. Later a man says they did not graduate from college, and it is humility. With such frankness, the speaker sets the audience on a positive note and arouses interest in how the person who did not graduate from university achieved heights in life. Moreover, to show that Steve is as simple as the graduates, they use a conversational style in the storytelling. For example, with the phrase “Woz and I started Apple” the narrator introduces themself and the co-operator as close friends (Stanford 00:05:48-00:05:50). This style was not chosen by chance, since in the future, friends of graduates can move in different ways.
The narrative consists of 3 parts, simple composition, and well-timed pauses. A simple layout allows students to interpret information in their particular way, which is vital since undergraduates have unique ideas. The three stories follow the rule of three and are expressed in many sentences. For example, “I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman” (Stanford 00:07:31-00:07:35). There are three arguments in the proposal for more substantiation of the initial thesis. Additionally, Steve pauses after significant moments that allow the audience to comprehend and accept heard.
According to the functional structure, the message contains many speeches turns, repetitions, and semantic references to the life circle. Some language patterns are antitheses and syntactic parallelism. For instance, “You cannot connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them by looking back in time” shows antitheses (Stanford 00:05:07-00:05:10). The phrase, “my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school,” is syntactic parallelism (Stanford 00:01:53-00:01:55). Repetition is the most important for the speaker to convey vital thoughts. At the end of the talk, Steve says three times: “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish” (Stanford 00:14:08-00:14:12). It reinforces the critical argument and provides a logical conclusion to the entire presentation. The life circle comprises birth, death, and rebirth. It is seen in the story when Jobs contracted a rare pancreatic cancer but was then cured. The example illustrates the life he had lived before, fear of death, as well as a rebirth after healing. Steve talks about metaphors in several places during the conversation.
Jobs’ speech at the 2005 graduation is still relevant today because it raises fundamental life questions. The speaker tries to show by the example, based on three stories, how certain events influenced the personality that they became. The lecture is structured logically and simply for each student to learn the vital lesson for themselves. The author wants to show every student that life can be difficult, but people must continue to fight and do what they love.
Work Cited
Stanford. “Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford commencement address.” YouTube, uploaded by Stanford, 2008, Web.