I think this is one of the best commencement speeches I have ever seen. I was skeptical at first. Mr. Jobs starts the speech unconventionally, he tells a story about dropping out of college, not the best choice for a commencement address. My initial reaction was that he hadn’t analyzed his audience or the occasion thoroughly enough. A brilliant speech, however, is often unconventional, and I was soon won over.

His craft is impeccable. He starts the speech with a simple premise, and gives the speech a simple structure. He will tell three stories. Done.

Each story illustrates the main theme of his speech, which is that death is lurking for all of us, and we must chase after our dreams with the limited time we have. Each story Mr Jobs tells is chock full of details, and each one builds in intensity and personal revelation, from his decision to drop out of college, to finding out he was fired from Apple, to being diagnosed with cancer. He punctuates the speech with witty, touching quotes. These quotes illustrate his main theme, and make you laugh, even as the lump is building in your throat.

This speech is a great example of what speech making at it’s finest can accomplish; it can remind us of our shared humanity, and propel us to identify with our highest potential.

Jeffrey Davis is the owner of Speak Clear Communications. He is an executive public speaking coach and accent reduction coach in New York City.

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