David McCullough Commencement Speach
 

Anyone see this high school commencement speach?

"You are not special". Good speech, I agree.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5p5n...e_gdata_player

Well you can't even spell speech, so you're not special.

Meh.

LOLz....I'm special.

Great points, but he was trying so hard to be "on point" he prolly lost all but the biggest nerd there with his flowery prose.

These were High School kids.

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That was a good speech. I enjoy commencement addresses that veer away from the boilerplate.

I don't like it. I agree that the "everyone is special thing" has to stop but not on graduation.

I remember my HS graduation as a very special day. Tell me I'm not important any other day, not a day that'll be a memory.

It's like someone yelling out the divorce rate at a marriage, there's just no need to on that particular day.

OK essay with some nice touches, but as a high school commencement speech, epic phail. One of the basic rules of writing is to know your audience. McCullough was charged with delivering a speech to an audience of high school seniors. And he didn't. He wrote for their parents (perhaps). He wrote certainly for an anticipated online audience. And no doubt he wrote for himself and his resume. But he didn't write for the very audience he was charged to write for. In fact, his remarks to the kids (and they are kids) were for the most part too world weary for them to grasp and very often quite derisive and rude. The same speech delivered to college seniors, maybe OK. At that age you're expected to have a thicker skin. But to high school kids? If I were a 17 year old in that audience, excited about celebrating my high school graduation, I'd prolly have thought he was a self-important windbag who hated kids. Which in fact may be a fairly accurate assessment.

As I'm not special, and reading comprehension and spelling skills are low, I think he set it up with you're not special, but then wrapped it up with but be the best you can be, no?

As a 26 year old who has gone through ups and downs, this was captivating because I had that time to look back on and relate. However, for most people graduating high school, the world is still theirs for the taking, and the maturity to understand the depths of McCullogh's speech is probably still absent.

Phenomenal message, wrong audience.

If you know Wellesley, this was a perfect speech.

I like it a lot. Message was right on point and if any of the young adults weren't listening, they lost again. Given the attention deficit, peanut butter allergy, texting generation, I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't. I would be willing to bet that those who listened won't be the ones pumping gas the week after graduation.

This guy gets it!

I'd be fine with my 17 year old getting that message. But the reality is 99% of them were probably too busy texting or playing Angry Birds the whole time to even hear any of it.

:shakescane: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think that speech was incredibly on point and if those kids are too dumb to have LISTENED to someone who has more KNOWLEDGE and WISDOM than they do well... who gives a sh!t. Kids today are pampered little pusses. I'm probably one of them but at least I grew up in a time where discipline was still acceptable and self entitlement wasn't at an all time high.

That guy gets it and he delivered the "you're not sh!t" speech to the right group of kids because guess what, they aren't. And they are now adults and if they want to be something they better realize that they have to go and get it.

Just gave me a great idea for a phone app.

iCane.

Any developers here?


http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/4127/caneuk.png

This guy gets it






























as often as Tebow.

I'd develop it, but I'm pretty sure if you shake the iPhone you will break the screen.

SHut yer fook up!!!

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You obviously didn't listen to the speech.

He didn't say everyone isn't special, he said you're not special. He also didn't say you're not important, he said you're not special.

Now, go polish your participation trophies.