Steve Job’s Commencement Speech

In 2005, Steve Jobs made a commencement address at Stanford University, in which he
emphasized the need to “stay hungry and foolish.” The speech was short, simple, and had a
logical structure (Gallo, 2015). Jobs followed the traditional format of a speech; his speech had
the introduction, followed by three stories and then a conclusion. He began his speech by
complimenting his audience and a show of humility, which enhanced the audience’s
receptiveness to the message. He then combined simple words, phrases, and sentences to make a
simple speech that is easy to comprehend. The theme is deep, and he connects with his audience
at a deeper level.
The speech had several powerful moments. His use of persuasive ethos in giving the
three stories was spectacular (Bistodeau, 2014). In the first story, Jobs shares about his birth and
troubled adoptions. He was rejected by his first parents because they wanted a girl. The second
parents who showed up had never graduated from college, but his biological mother wanted
parents that had graduated from college. He experienced “rebirth” after his adoption went
through. He then narrates how the end of his formal college life, led to the beginning of his
informal learning process. His career at Apple during his twenties ended but was reborn later
after the company was purchased by Apple (Gallo, 2010).
Overall, Jobs speech is powerful as he tells his audience how a cancer diagnosis declared
his death. However, that was reversed after an operation that gave him back his life. He
explained how he had been reborn several times at different stages in life (Gallo, 2010). During
the fifteen minutes’ speech, Jobs applies simplicity in a captivating way. He employed rhetorical

STEVE JOB’S COMMENCEMENT SPEECH 3
devices that added strength to his speech. In the end, he repeated the words “stay hungry. Stay
foolish.”, three times are hence giving his speech a very strong and captivating conclusion.

References

Bistodeau, K. (2014). Steve Jobs’ use of Ethos for Persuasive Success in His 2005 Stanford
Commencement Address. Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota
Journal, 41(1), 6.
Gallo, C. (2015). Why Steve Jobs’ Commencement Speech Still Inspires 10 Years Later.
Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2015/06/12/why-steve-jobs-
commencement-speech-still-inspires-10-years-later/#70476df748d8
Gallo, C. (2010). The presentation secrets of Steve Jobs: How to be insanely great in front of any
audience. Prentice Hall.