Tomorrow I have to construct my second speech. Thursday, I have to give that speech to the whole class. I don't have a clue what I want to do my speech on, but I'm leaning toward Katie's suggestion of google. It's ironic because I was googling for what to do a good speech on, and lo and behold, I was looking at it.
Today in class we watched one of the best commencement speeches I've ever seen/read/heard. It was Chris Matthews of harball on CNN, giving advice to the graduates. He was pushing 3 points, put yourself in the game, always ask, and follow your hunch.
Put yourself in the game: If you're close to the action, you've got a better chance of getting a piece of it. If someone in a company that you're in retires, quits, or gets promoted, you'll be there to step up... things like that.
Always Ask: "The world is not checking in with us to see what skills we've picked up, what idea we've concocted, what dreams we carry in our hearts. When a job opens up, whether it's in the chorus line or on the assembly line, it goes to the person standing there. It goes to the eager beaver the boss sees when he looks up from his work: the pint-sized kid standing at the basketball court in the playground waiting for one of the older boys to head home for supper. "Hey, kid, wanna play?" That's life .. "
follow your hunch: "The same goes with every hunch: follow it or forget it. Don't spend the rest of your life telling people what you are "thinking" of doing with your life."
Anyways, they're all good points, I thought I'd point those out. He expounded on them, and made them all fit very well into a large piece of advice for graduating students. You can find the full text here.
Comments (1)
I feel you there man. I never thought much of Chris Matthews before hearing that speech, but I've see a LOT of commencement speeches on C-Span, etc... that were dwarfed by that speech. Examples: Bill Clinton (perhaps the best public speaker in politics), George W. Bush (my favorite president since Reagan), and Jerry Seinfeld.
If it's a politician giving the commencement speech, it's always a politically motivated, "follow me to freedom" speech. If it's given by someone in entertainment, it never relates very well to the students.
But anyway, I was actually changed by the put yourself in the game point. That speech helped me choose to stay at NFT after graduation because of opportunity and position over salary and benefits.
Anywho, my 2 pennies.
Posted in reply to Johnny's comment |