Failure, Success, And Commencement Speeches By J. K.
Failure, Success, and Kindness
Graduation commencement speeches are usually inspirational, not only to the graduating students but also to anyone who reads them. The speech given by J. K. Rowling at Harvard and the one by George Saunders at Syracuse University in 2013 are some of the best commencement speeches. Rowling and Saunders are both experienced speakers. Rowling's speech focused on the benefits of failure, a subject she had first hand experience on. Saunders' speech was on kindness and included some of his personal experiences too. Saunders and Rowling presented their speeches in a manner that the audience could relate to in their daily experiences.
Rowling spoke about the benefits of failure, first giving her personal experience on how she benefited from failure. Similarly, Saunders starts with an anecdote about a girl who was picked on by other kids when they were in 7th grade and he was not kind enough to help her out until she left. The two speakers began their speeches with anecdotes to get the attention of their audience and capture their …show more content…
He says the biggest regret is standing by, watching a new girl mistreated and overlooked by other students. He emphasizes on kindness as a virtue that can make a difference the world over, yet people do not take it seriously. His argument is that kindness can make people have a bigger impact in the world, and whenever they have the chance to demonstrate kindness, they must seize it. He adds that demonstrating kindness in one's actions is fulfilling, and that it is also the responsibility of everyone to impact positively on other people (Saunders). By using humor, anecdotes and imagery, Saunders is able to put across his ideas in an easy yet very clear manner. The speeches are brief but detailed because the speakers stuck to their main points and delivered with
Graduation commencement speeches are usually inspirational, not only to the graduating students but also to anyone who reads them. The speech given by J. K. Rowling at Harvard and the one by George Saunders at Syracuse University in 2013 are some of the best commencement speeches. Rowling and Saunders are both experienced speakers. Rowling's speech focused on the benefits of failure, a subject she had first hand experience on. Saunders' speech was on kindness and included some of his personal experiences too. Saunders and Rowling presented their speeches in a manner that the audience could relate to in their daily experiences.
Rowling spoke about the benefits of failure, first giving her personal experience on how she benefited from failure. Similarly, Saunders starts with an anecdote about a girl who was picked on by other kids when they were in 7th grade and he was not kind enough to help her out until she left. The two speakers began their speeches with anecdotes to get the attention of their audience and capture their …show more content…
He says the biggest regret is standing by, watching a new girl mistreated and overlooked by other students. He emphasizes on kindness as a virtue that can make a difference the world over, yet people do not take it seriously. His argument is that kindness can make people have a bigger impact in the world, and whenever they have the chance to demonstrate kindness, they must seize it. He adds that demonstrating kindness in one's actions is fulfilling, and that it is also the responsibility of everyone to impact positively on other people (Saunders). By using humor, anecdotes and imagery, Saunders is able to put across his ideas in an easy yet very clear manner. The speeches are brief but detailed because the speakers stuck to their main points and delivered with