My take on a commencement speech

We have discussed many types of media writing thus far in our class. Our least discussion about speech writing made me realize that I not only was pretty clueless about it, but also very intrigued to learn more.

            When researching what type of speech I wanted to analyze I decided that an epideictic speech would be best. I thought it would be the easiest to distinguish the introduction, body and conclusion as well as each elements key components. I then decided I wanted to analyze a commencement speech, not only because I will be graduating in May but also because it is always interesting to see what speakers choose to pass on to new graduates.

            Doing what college students do best I googled “most memorable commencement speeches of 2012”. Seeing James Franco’s name pop up for The University of Texas Arlington’s 2012 graduation sealed the deal for me. I mean who doesn’t love James Franco?

            For his introduction Franco did the whole funny act, “Seth Rogen helped me write this, so blame him if it is bad.” He then got down to business saying what an accomplishment it is to graduate, to have a feeling of accomplishment within your self. He went on the joke, “Now why would you want to listen to me” seeing that he is a famous actor. He has been fortunate enough in his life to experience a lot of things, and he only hopes for the same for every graduate.

            The body of his speech expanded on his initial point of wanting every graduate to be able to experience as much as possible, that they should not put all their eggs in one basket. He read a quote that apparently Rogen helped him with, “I say spread your eggs around…some of them may crack, or break along the way, but many will stay intact. Probably more than you think.” He went on to explain that he dropped out of UCLA as an 18-year old, putting all his eggs in one basket to pursue his acting dream. Although he ended up with a very successful acting career, he was left with a sense of emptiness, a feeling that he had only experience one aspect of life. This helped him decide to reenroll in school and pursue other interests, allowing him to feel a real sense of growth within himself.

            School allows you to make choices for yourself, both right and wrong. These choices shape us as individuals so always make them with confidence.

            His conclusion effectively wrapped up his speech. He emphasized that although many new graduates will be feeling uncertain, it is ok. Entering a new chapter in life allows for you to try as many new things as you want, “choices are yours, take them, make them.”

            Overall, this speech was fairly straightforward. The way he spoke made it easy to distinguish the different components the speech, it felt very conversational. Although he is a celebrity you felt a connection with him as he gave his advice. This to me is exactly what you want from a speech, to feel connected to the speaker. Public speaking can be our most powerful form of media is it is done correctly.