Similarities Between Kennedy And Shonda Rhimes

Both John F. Kennedy and Shonda Rhimes spoke towards graduates in order to encourage them to take action facing the world. While John F. Kennedy is more serious and assertive, Shonda Rhimes obtains the attention of the students by attempting to relate to her listeners’ emotions. In order to have a successful commencement speech, the speaker must have a sense of humor but also use educational words and phrases to sound like a leader and to maintain the attention of their listeners.

For instance, John F. Kennedy’s speech contains an educational structure that makes him sound literate, but he also commends the graduates of American University to make them feel accomplished. He is confident about the graduating class of 1963. His tone shows it, especially when he says, “‘I am confident that the men and women who carry the honor of graduating from this institution will continue to give from their lives, from their talents, a high measure of public service and public support.’” Graduates of college are more than …show more content…
Kennedy an amazing speaker, but so is Shonda Rhimes with her humor and way to relate to the graduates of Dartmouth College. Being able to relate to the audience is a vital factor in an acceptable commencement speech because the speaker can maintain their listeners’ attention better and it allows the listeners to understand what the speaker is saying. For example, she speaks about her experience of leaving college for the final time. She cried about it because she was scared, which shows that everyone feels the same way, but they’ll get over it like Rhimes did. Furthermore, some words that weren’t academic like “poop” or “freaking” demonstrate the comical portion of her speech that caused the audience to think of her as hysterical but serious when she follows those words with factual information. Using comedy in her commencement speech allows for her audience to be entertained but also helps her maintain their attention