Three Magical Graduation Speeches
I’ve always been a sucker for inspiring graduation speeches. I look forward to taking away a memorable morsel from a speaker, even from a school I’ve never attended! Here are three that I found especially impactful. Perhaps you will too.
Ken Burns at Brandeis University: May 2024
Ken Burns in an award-winning filmmaker and historian. His speech was compelling, brave, brilliant, and necessary. I can’t do it justice here and I also can’t recommend it enough. A few quotes that resonated with me:
- Othering is the simplistic binary way to make and identify enemies, but it is also the surest way to your own self-imprisonment.
- Be curious not cool.
- Leadership is humility and generosity squared.
- Denounce oppression everywhere.
- Vote.
Brad Meltzer at University of Michigan: May 2024
Brad Meltzer is an American author, best known for his suspenseful thrillers. His son was part of the 2024 U Michigan graduating class, so the speech had even more of a personal touch. Brad’s advice to create magic in your future was based on the 4 tried & true tactics of magicians.
- Make the best version of you appear. This is your mission in this life.
- Make your fear disappear. Not because fear is bad, but use it to propel you forward and vanquish your inner-critic.
- Switch places to find empathy. Unleash your radical kindness because everyone is battling something you can’t see. The world needs it…and you.
- Never stop transforming. Write in pencil and don’t be afraid to use an eraser. The more intelligent people challenge their thinking and admit there’s always more to learn.
All of these 4 magic-making steps take time, effort, and intention. But it’s worth it.
And a few other helpful tidbits. Learn your Uber drivers name and always be kind to waitstaff. Even better, give them a You Matter card.
Anne Lamott at University of California at Berkeley: May 2003
Anne Lamott is an American novelist and non-fiction writer known for her reflective, authentic and often humorous writing. Here are a few of my favorite bite-sized takeaways to live a life full of magic, along with her advice to never wear uncomfortable pants (a recommendation I wholeheartedly endorse). Even though this speech is from a number of years ago, her wisdom is timeless.
- What your parents want for you is not your problem. Instead, focus on the unique opportunity you’ve been given to be YOU! Either spend your life creating the illusion you have it all, or enjoy the uncertainty of life as a path to figure out who you really are.
- You have everything you need to succeed. “You can’t buy it, lease it, rent it, date it, or apply for it.” You are enough.
- Laugh when life goes awry. “Rest and laughter are the most spiritual and subversive acts of all.” None of us get out of this life alive, so we can’t take ourselves too seriously.
At the closing of her warm and advice-laden speech, she remarks: “You’ve done an amazing thing. And you are loved; you are capable of lives of great joy and meaning. It’s what you are made of. And it’s what you’re for. So take care of yourselves; take care of each other.”
What would you say in a 10 minute graduation speech? Tell me.
Until next time.
