Steve Jobs speaks from the heart in a commencement speech to the 2005 graduating class of Stanford University. He successfully delivers a message of courage proceeding a period of allegedly resolved health issues. Within approximately 14 minutes, Steve Jobs verifies where he came from, how he handled disappointments, and what he values the most.
Introduction
Mr. Jobs opens his speech by expressing appreciation for the “honor” to address the class. Although, his accomplishments are notable, the following ice breaker is an unlikely twist because he quickly confronts a possibly embarrassing moment. With irony and humor, his admission to being a college dropout is received with laughter emanating from the audience.
Signifying a directional change, …show more content…
Jobs introduces the subtopic of “connecting the dots.” He shares the circumstances of his adoption, and that his mother was an “unwed grad student.” He tells of her criteria limiting his adoption to college educated couples only. The audience is given a view into the controversy his adoptive parents faced. They promised to send him to college but were not college educated. He enabled them to keep the promise but Jobs associated college costs and his indecisiveness as reasons to drop out. He did not want to waste his “working class parents’ savings.”
Noticeably, he emphasizes words important to him such as “she refused”, “she only relented,” and “trust.” A picture is painted of the struggles related to his decision to drop out but first enroll in a calligraphy course. He is descriptive and illustrates the importance of making an unorthodox choice and the connection to the later design of “typefaces.” He also adds a quip referencing Microsoft.
Love and …show more content…
He uses examples of failures turned to successes. He shares timelines and connects finding his companies NeXT and Pixar along with falling in love with his wife. On occasion, he rubs his chin. He comes across as a spiritual person. Disappointing, is the lack of audience response when he passionately speaks of his family. He corrects a stumble in his message by simply restating the words accurately. He emphasizes “find what you love”, “don’t settle”, and “keep looking.” At one point, he whispers “don’t lose faith.” Jobs injects analogies concerning love and work relationships.
Death
Lastly, Jobs begins to turn to his third story concerning “death.” Prophetically, he verbalizes his feelings: “knowing that I will be dead soon.” This statement is understandably refuted by the audience and causes Jobs to raise his hand to ask them to stop. His pancreatic cancer diagnosis is discussed and he breaks up emotionally. He infers death as a part of life. He swallows hard as he talks about finality and his family with “Laureen.” While he is unafraid to show emotion, he fails to reference his oldest daughter.
Introduction
Mr. Jobs opens his speech by expressing appreciation for the “honor” to address the class. Although, his accomplishments are notable, the following ice breaker is an unlikely twist because he quickly confronts a possibly embarrassing moment. With irony and humor, his admission to being a college dropout is received with laughter emanating from the audience.
Signifying a directional change, …show more content…
Jobs introduces the subtopic of “connecting the dots.” He shares the circumstances of his adoption, and that his mother was an “unwed grad student.” He tells of her criteria limiting his adoption to college educated couples only. The audience is given a view into the controversy his adoptive parents faced. They promised to send him to college but were not college educated. He enabled them to keep the promise but Jobs associated college costs and his indecisiveness as reasons to drop out. He did not want to waste his “working class parents’ savings.”
Noticeably, he emphasizes words important to him such as “she refused”, “she only relented,” and “trust.” A picture is painted of the struggles related to his decision to drop out but first enroll in a calligraphy course. He is descriptive and illustrates the importance of making an unorthodox choice and the connection to the later design of “typefaces.” He also adds a quip referencing Microsoft.
Love and …show more content…
He uses examples of failures turned to successes. He shares timelines and connects finding his companies NeXT and Pixar along with falling in love with his wife. On occasion, he rubs his chin. He comes across as a spiritual person. Disappointing, is the lack of audience response when he passionately speaks of his family. He corrects a stumble in his message by simply restating the words accurately. He emphasizes “find what you love”, “don’t settle”, and “keep looking.” At one point, he whispers “don’t lose faith.” Jobs injects analogies concerning love and work relationships.
Death
Lastly, Jobs begins to turn to his third story concerning “death.” Prophetically, he verbalizes his feelings: “knowing that I will be dead soon.” This statement is understandably refuted by the audience and causes Jobs to raise his hand to ask them to stop. His pancreatic cancer diagnosis is discussed and he breaks up emotionally. He infers death as a part of life. He swallows hard as he talks about finality and his family with “Laureen.” While he is unafraid to show emotion, he fails to reference his oldest daughter.