The Most Incredible Commencement Speech of 2015

EDUCATION

Students are graduating. Prepare for two minutes of inspiration. (Bloomberg Business)

Looking for more inspirational advice? Listen to Nat Geo’s explorers!

Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers’ Toolkit, and don’t forget to quiz yourself and your students on the “week that was” in the latest Quiz Connection.

Note: Current Event Connections is slowing down for the summer. Our column will continue to appear once or twice a week until mid-August. If you have an idea for a Current Event Connection, or want to share one of your MapMaker Interactive maps, let us know in the comments!

Discussion Ideas

Commencement speeches are big business—just take a look at Bloomberg’s terrific map of “where the famous people are speaking.”
- Read through some of the standout commencement speeches this year—the New York Times gives a nice round-up here, and digs deeper into speeches by women here.
  - Here’s Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia’s address to his granddaughter’s high school class. (It’s a fun one.)
  - Here’s Robert de Niro’s address to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts graduates. (Also a fun one—but watch out for Scorsese-an language.)
- Take a look at some previous addresses. Time has a nice round-up here, from David Foster Wallace to George Marshall.
  - This advice was given by new President Dwight Eisenhower to Dartmouth graduates in 1953. (It’s not what you’d expect from a Cold War president.)
  - Here’s former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke handing out free advice to Princeton graduates.
  - Here’s a great speech focusing on one of our favorite explorers, Sir Ernest Shackleton.

Which speaker did you like best? Why?
- Was your favorite speaker funny?
- Did he or she address current events or political situations?
- What type of advice did he or she give?
- (FYI: My favorites this year were Michelle Obama and Antonin Scalia, nicely bracketing the political continuum. She was unapologetic and on-point, he was sharp and funny, both were opinionated and gave great advice!)

Plan a commencement ceremony for your class!
- What day of the week will you hold it?
- What time of day will the ceremony be held? How long will it last?
- Where will the ceremony be? Outside? Inside? Why?
- Where will the graduates sit?
- Where will the guests (parents, friends) sit?
- Where will the featured speakers sit?
- Who will deliver your commencement address? Why?
  - Keep in mind that some speakers come with a hefty price tag—Matthew McConaughey, for example, would set you back $135,000 plus travel and expenses. Katie Couric charges about $110,000, while rock-star astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is a relative steal at under $30,000.

Give a commencement speech yourself! Take some tips from USA Today, TIME, Humanity.org, Guide to Public Writing, or Graduation Wisdom.
- Where would you speak? At a high school, college or university, or trade school? Why?
- What would you talk about?
  - How would your topic change for your venue? Think about the differences between First Lady Michelle Obama’s address to university graduates and Justice Scalia’s address to high-schoolers.
- Would you offer career advice? Humor? Stories? Opinions on politics or current events? Why?