Steve Jobs Commencement Speech Analysis
Looking for Steve Jobs commencement speech analysis? Want to understand how Jobs uses ethos, logos, pathos, and figurative language? Take a look at Steve Jobs Stanford speech analysis below.
Introduction
- Speech Analysis
- Rhetorical Appeals Used
Is it necessary to follow passions or reasons while choosing a career? What effects can losses and failures have on a person’s life? In spite of the complex character and deep ethical, philosophical, and psychological meanings hidden in these questions, they are answered completely in Steve Jobs’ commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005.
Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, Inc., is known as one of the world-famous and successful entrepreneurs whose unique approaches to business and marketing provoked the great public’s interest. That is why Jobs’ speech on the importance of finding an interesting and loved job drew the attention and gained the recognition of the graduates during the Commencement Day at Stanford University in 2005.
Steve Jobs Stanford Speech Analysis
The goal of Steve Jobs’ speech is to persuade the graduates to find jobs that they can truly love because of their passion for definite activities. Thus, Jobs is successful in achieving his goal because of his exclusive approach to structuring the speech and to blending the rhetoric appeals in order to discuss well-known concepts and ideas of love, loss, and death in a unique form; that is why it is appropriate to examine Jobs’ manipulation of methods of persuasion in detail.
In his speech, Jobs demonstrates the virtuous use of rhetoric appeals in the development and presentation of one of the most persuasive commencement speeches in order to draw the student’s attention to the significant questions which can contribute to changing a person’s life.
Steve Jobs Commencement Speech: Rhetorical Appeals
The strategies used in developing the structure of the speech and the rhetorical strategies are closely connected. Jobs’ speech can be divided into five parts which are the introductory part to evoke the graduates’ interest regarding the topic discussed, the three life anecdotes, and the concluding part, which restates and supports the author’s arguments presented in the main part of the speech.
It is important to note that each of the three stories told by Jobs is also developed according to the definite structure pattern where the first sentences of the stories can be referred to the pathos, the personal experience can be discussed with references to the ethos, and the final parts of the stories are organized as the logical conclusions, using the logos.
The first reference to ethos is observed in the introductory part when Jobs states, “I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation” (Jobs).
The uniqueness of Jobs’ approach is in the use of the reverse variant of the ethos as the rhetorical appeal because Jobs has no credibility to discuss the importance of university education, but he has the credibility to discuss the points necessary for professional success because of stating his position as the co-founder of Apple, Inc., NeXT, and Pixar.
The next three stories presented in the speech are used to develop Jobs’ argument about the necessity of doing what a person loves and the importance of finding these things and activities. This argument is developed with references to the concluding or logical parts of the author’s stories which are also highly emotional in their character. Steve Jobs uses pathos in the first sentences while telling his stories.
Thus, the discussion of the details of the child adoption in the first story, the reflection on the happiness of building the first company, and the mentioning of the main question in life, “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?”, contribute to the audience’s emotional reaction because of describing the author’s own feelings and emotions (Jobs).
The credibility of Jobs’ considerations depends on the presentation of his own personal and life background and experiences to support his ideas. The use of pathos in the speech is observed when the author concludes with the results of his experience: “If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do” (Jobs).
Discussing the near death experience, the author uses the sentence “About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer,” which combines the ethos and pathos strategies (Jobs). Thus, Jobs can use more than one rhetorical appeal in a sentence.
Nevertheless, Jobs’ goal is to persuade the graduates to act and find the things that they love to do, and the focus on logos is observed in the stories’ concluding sentences when Jobs provides the logical argument: “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work” (Jobs). These concluding remarks are based on the logical rethinking of the evidence and facts presented as examples from the author’s experience.
The repetition of such phrases as “Don’t settle” and the final phrase, “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish,” contributes to drawing the audience’s interest in the presented facts and ideas (Jobs). The effectiveness of using rhetorical appeals depends on the author’s style and his use of repetitive structures and imperative sentences, which sound persuasive.
In his speech, Steve Jobs achieves the main goals of the speech by focusing on ethos, logos, and pathos and by using the author’s unique style. Jobs presents his developed vision of his career and passions in life with references to the ideas of love and death and supports considerations with autobiographical facts.
Works Cited
Jobs, Steve. ‘You’ve Got to Find What You Love,’ Jobs Says: Text of the Address . 2005. Web.
Further Study: FAQ
📌 what is the purpose of steve jobs’s commencement speech, 📌 what is the ethos in steve jobs’s commencement speech, 📌 what is another commencement speech example, 📌 what was the tone of steve jobs speech at stanford university.
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Home — Essay Samples — Business — Steve Jobs — Steve Jobs Stanford Speech: Pathos, Ethos and Logos
Steve Jobs Stanford Speech: Pathos, Ethos and Logos
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Published: Dec 16, 2021
Words: 1253 | Pages: 3 | 7 min read
Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement speech masterfully employs pathos as its primary rhetorical device, with occasional touches of ethos and logos, to effectively convey the message of embracing the limited time we have. Pathos, the emotional connection between speaker and audience, is the cornerstone of Jobs' speech. Through the three poignant stories he shares, Jobs allows the audience to emotionally connect with his experiences, fostering a deeper appreciation for his message. This emotional connection enhances the clarity of his message and its profound impact on the audience.
While ethos plays a supporting role, it is crucial in gaining the audience's trust and acceptance of Jobs' speech. It underpins the credibility of his message and the audience's willingness to embrace it. Logos, though sparingly used, is deliberate in its limited appearance. Excessive reliance on logic and reasoning would overshadow the core idea encapsulated in Jobs' famous words, "Stay hungry. Stay foolish."
Steve Jobs' awareness of his audience's aspirations and expectations is evident in his strategic use of rhetorical appeals. He tailors his speech to resonate directly with his audience, ensuring that the tools of rhetoric serve a specific purpose. Ultimately, Jobs successfully accomplishes his intended goal, leaving a lasting impact through his compelling and emotionally charged address.
Table of contents
Introduction, steve jobs commencement speech analysis, works cited.
- Jobs, Steve. “2005 Stanford University Commencement Address.” Stanford News, June 12, 2005. https://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/
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On rhetoric and civic life, rhetorical analysis draft: steve jobs’ speech at stanford’s graduation.
Note: I don’t think that this flows well. If you could give me advice on how to connect my thoughts more clearly, I would greatly appreciate it. It think I have the ideas and points down, but I don’t think I developed them as clearly as I could have. Thanks!
Throughout time, speeches have been remembered because of how they connected with their audiences: “Ask not what you can do for your country, but what your country can do for you.” “I have a dream…” The message that was presented to the listeners of these two famous speeches was presented in a rhetorical manner in which it associated with the people and has lasted through time.
“Stay hungry, stay foolish.” That is a quote that has been taken from Steve Jobs’ speech he gave to Stanford’s graduating class of 2005. What does that mean exactly? His rhetoric used must have created some link between his message and the intended audience. Specifically through his ethos, pathos, and structure of his speech, Jobs’ rhetorically backs his arguments.
In most arguments today, facts are given to support claims; however, in Jobs’ case, he presents only his opinion and history as evidence. Even though this is all he offers, it creates rhetorical backing in ethos. Through his stories, he creates a persona for himself. He makes himself out to be a person who carries on even in the darkest of times and who has overcome many obstacles when things didn’t look good. When trying to teach the audience that failure can sometimes be good, these are important pieces of his persona to establish. He is known as a successful man and role model already. Developing this persona allows him to connect with his audience even more.
By describing his life events, he creates a person someone would want to become. If the fact that he was famous didn’t make the audience listen to him, making himself seem more “human” will. He breaks down the wall of the marginal thinking that successful people have just been lucky and have reached the point they are at in their lives because they were handed things on a silver platter. Developing this persona not only creates an argument of ethos, but allows him to win his audience over. The audience only knows a successful man standing on that stage, not the humble one that is willing to admit the road has been tough.
Sharing his hardships and developing his persona not only creates a rhetorical backing of ethos, but a rhetorical argument of pathos. He tells the story of how he was fired from Apple. This is obviously a story about failure. Any audience, whether it be Stanford’s graduating class of 2005, or a group of random people at Penn State, everybody can relate to failure. They remember the emotions he must have felt when he lost the company “that [he] spent most of his adult life building.” This emotional connection only deepens the relationship he has already built with his audience. Now, they not only want to strive to become him, but have connected with him emotionally.
He also tells the story of his cancer. He told the audience how he was diagnosed with cancer. This creates another argument for pathos. Most people can relate to cancer. Either they know someone who has cancer, has had cancer themselves, or has read about cancer somewhere. This again brings emotion back into the picture; he becomes even more connected with his audience. When trying to prove a point of why time is precious and death can happen at any time, it is essential that he connects his message emotionally with the audience. People can relate to cancer and they can understand where he is coming from.
The biggest element of his speech that makes it connective and rhetorically sound is the structure of it. He sets it up topically by including three stories. The execution of this allows him to make his points and connect his arguments in an organized and systematic manner. If he were to just spill his points out in random times and in random moments, there would be no connection between them. This structure allows him to talk about different and varying points while still connecting them to his overall point of finding “what you love to do.”
Creating this structure connects three stories with three varying messages. The first is connecting the dots. He explains how you can’t connect them forward, but looking back everything connects. His second was about “love and loss.” He explains how he lost Apple, but found what he really loves to do. The last story is about death. He tells the story of how he had a stroke with death when he dealt with his cancer. Alone, these stories are sound; but together, they create an overall message. Piecing the individual stories together in separate sections allows the listener to follow them. Then, when the end comes, he is able to bring them all together to create an “aha!” moment without interrupting the flow of the speech.
Through establishing his arguments with rhetorical backing, such as ethos and pathos, as well as structuring his essay in a way that is logical, Jobs gets his point across. His speech is only supported through opinionated and personal examples, but in turn this creates arguments of both ethos and pathos. Also, by splitting the speech into three sections, or stories if you will, he logically ties the knot between all of his individual points and his overall message.
In time, however, it will be interesting to see if these rhetorical devices create even a stronger rhetorical argument. Even back in 2005, Jobs was known as a very successful man, and the speech was known to many. Now that he has passed, his true life’s history and genius is known to everybody. Looking back at this speech from a current 2013 perspective, after seeing Apple emerge as an industrial powerhouse, we can see where it all began and what this man had to go through, making his stories a more deeper.
One thought on “ Rhetorical Analysis Draft: Steve Jobs’ Speech at Stanford’s Graduation ”
I’m writing this as I read, so I can remember everything I think of to advise. I’m going to try to write a little blurb for each paragraph in chronological order, so you can understand my thoughts! I would recommend combining your first two paragraphs to make one introductory paragraph. After the “stay hungry, stay foolish” quote, I would remove the that and just say foolish” is a quote. I also advise removing the must (to sound confident in your belief) and combining your last two sentences for your thesis: “His rhetoric used created some link between his message and the intended audience; specifically through his ethos, pathos, and structure of his speech, Jobs’ rhetorically backs his arguments.” Just an idea of another way to compose your thesis. Maybe add one more concluding sentence to bring it back to the idea of ethos, before starting your next paragraph. I think you could combine the two paragraphs on pathos, but it flows nicely without them joined together as well. If you join them, I would change the last sentence to include failure, maybe something like: People can relate to cancer, just like they can relate to failure, and they can understand where he is coming from. Something is awkward about this wording, ” connective and rhetorically sound,” I don’t know how to fix it. I would again combine the three paragraphs on structure to improve flow. You might want to consider adding a concluding statement on the structure, before going into your conclusion paragraph. Your ending paragraph is really strong, and I like that you bring to view the 2013 perspective. My only recommendation is to check your wording on the first sentence. I really like your paper and I think you include all of the required content, claims/evidence, organization, and style. The only thing I can think of to improve your paper is to add some more quotes from the speech, so we have a better idea of the style of the speech. Great job, I think your final paper will be really great!
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My Favorite Speeches for Rhetorical Analysis: 10 Speeches for Middle School ELA and High School English
Teaching rhetorical analysis is one of my absolute favorite units to complete with my students. I love teaching my students about rhetorical strategies and devices, analyzing what makes an effective and persuasive argument, and reading critical speeches with my students. Here is a quick list of some of my favorite speeches for rhetorical analysis.
I absolutely LOVE teaching rhetorical analysis. I think it might be one of my favorite units to teach to my high school students. There are just so many different text options to choose from. Here is a list of some of my favorite speeches to include in my rhetorical analysis teaching unit.
10 Speeches for Teaching Rhetorical Analysis
1. the gettysburg address (abraham lincoln).
Some notable things to mention in this speech include allusion and parallel structure. To make your analysis more meaningful, point out these devices to students and explain how these devices enhance the meaning of the text.
Teaching Resource : The Gettysburg Address Rhetorical Analysis Activity Packet
2. Lou Gehrig’s Farewell Speech (Lou Gehrig)
This speech is one that many of my athletes love to analyze, and it is an excellent exemplar text to teach pathos. And like The Gettysburg Address, it is short. This is another speech that you can read, analyze, and even write about in one class period.
When I use this speech in my class, I have students look for examples of pathos. Mainly, I have them look at word choice, tone, and mood. How does Lou Gehrig’s choice of words affect his tone and the overall mood of the speech?
3. I Have a Dream (Martin Luther King, Jr.)
In the classroom, it is important to point out the sermonic feel to the speech and also to have your students look for calls to action and pathos. Have your students look for tone, allusions, and word choice to help them notice these rhetoric expressions throughout it.
Teaching Resource : I Have a Dream Close Read and Rhetorical Analysis
4. Speech at the March on Washington (Josephine Baker)
This is another important speech that held a lot of importance for the changes that needed to be made in America. The speech is a shorter one, so in the classroom, it will not take as long to analyze it, and students can understand the significance of the use of rhetoric in a shorter amount of time than some other speeches.
When teaching this speech, I like to remind my students to search for devices that portray an excellent example of the pathos that is so present in this speech. Some of these devices could be mood, repetition, and diction.
5. Steve Jobs’ Commencement Speech (Steve Jobs)
In class, it is good to have your students annotate and analyze the speech just as they have done for the others. The organization of the speech will help them to notice the similarities and differences between each point Jobs makes.
6. Space Shuttle Challenger (Ronald Reagan)
This speech represents a strong sense of pathos as a movement to help the American people cope with loss after the deaths of the astronauts aboard the Challenger. It is another speech that is not too long, so it should not take a long time to both analyze and annotate the entire speech.
When teaching this speech in class, be sure to mention how pathos is the driving force behind the speech, through the tone and the diction. How does Reagan use emotion to focus on the astronauts as humans, rather than solely focusing on the tragedy?
7. The Perils of Indifference (Elie Wiesel)
This speech is a good one to teach because it both makes students question their own lives, but also how the world works. The speech relies on pathos, and a little ethos too, to get the audience to feel the full effect of the tragedy of the Holocaust and what the speaker went through. It is a long speech so it may take longer for the students to fully grasp all the details that make it such a persuasive speech.
When I teach this speech, I like to have students annotate every place they notice an example of pathos, and then have them explain why in their annotations this makes them feel an emotion. The same with the ethos, and then we can further analyze the rest together.
8. 9/11 Address to the Nation (George W. Bush)
This speech shows another example of the use of pathos in the midst of a tragedy. The President wanted to show the American people how much he was feeling for those lost in the tragedy of 9/11. It is not a long speech, but the amount of emotion within the words is significant for students to notice.
When teaching this speech, it is essential that students look very closely at each part of it, noticing each piece that reveals tone, mood, and other literary devices. How do the different devices add to the pathos of the speech?
FREE TEACHING ACTIVITY : September 11 Address to the Nation Sampler
Teaching Resource : September 11 Address to the Nation Rhetorical Analysis Unit
9. We are Virginia Tech (Nikki Giovanni)
This speech is probably the shortest speech on this list but provides one of the most emotional and pathos-filled rhetoric. This describes another tragedy that is spoken about with pathos to give the audience a safe feeling after such an emotional thing. Students can spend time analyzing the different devices that make the piece so strong in its emotion.
In the classroom, make sure your students make a note of the repetition, and what that does for the speech. Does it make the emotion more impactful? How does it make the audience feel like they are a part of something bigger?
10. Woman’s Right to the Suffrage (Susan B. Anthony)
This is another short speech that holds a lot of power within it. A lot of students will enjoy reading this to see how much the country has changed, and how this speech may have some part in influencing this change. It is a great speech to help teach logos in the classroom, and it will not take a long time to analyze.
Make sure your students notice, and they also understand, the use of allusions within the speech. These allusions help to establish the use of logos, as Anthony wants the use of American historical documents to show how logical her argument is.
Ready-For-You Rhetorical Analysis Teaching Unit
You might also be interested in my blog post about 15 rhetorical analysis questions to ask your students.
Teaching rhetorical analysis and speeches in the classroom is a great way to teach informational text reading standards.
Rhetorical Analysis Teaching Resources:
These resources follow reading standards for informational text and are ideal for secondary ELA teachers.
- Rhetorical Analysis Unit with Sticky Notes
- Ethos, Pathos, Logos: Understanding Rhetorical Appeals\
- Rhetorical Analysis Mini Flip Book
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This writer analyzed 100 graduation speeches — here are the 4 tips they all share
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Steve Jobs has been credited over the years with popularizing any number of other people’s inventions, from the personal computer to the tablet to the mobile phone. But none of these gifts may be as enduring as one of his rarely credited contributions to contemporary life — popularizing the viral commencement address.
On June 12, 2005, Jobs stood before the graduating class of Stanford University and reminded them that he had never graduated from college. “Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation.” He then told three stories about his life. “That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.”
That speech , coinciding as it did with the rise of internet virality (the first TED Talk would be posted on TED.com exactly 12 months later; the iPhone was introduced exactly 12 months after that), launched a global obsession with pithy, inspirational talks. Jobs’s speech has since been viewed more than 40 million times on YouTube.
Graduation speeches, long viewed as the burdensome interruption before diplomas were granted and mortar boards were tossed, have since become big business. Kurt Vonnegut, Ann Patchett, Carl Hiaasen, J.K. Rowling, Mary Karr, David Foster Wallace and many others have all had their commencement speeches published as books.
I’ve been fortunate to give a handful of commencement addresses over the years, and I confess to a fascination with the genre. The internet has been a boon this hobby. There are thousands of commencement speeches on the web. Can we learn anything from their messages?
I’ve spent the last few years gathering and coding hundreds of life stories, looking for patterns and takeaways that could help all of us live with more meaning, purpose and joy. I decided to put some of my coding tools to work, analyzing 100 of the most popular recent commencement speeches.
Here are the four tips they all contain:
1. Dream big
“I think it is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. I know that sounds completely nuts. But, since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition. There are so few people this crazy that I feel like I know them all by first name. They all travel as if they are pack dogs and stick to each other like glue. The best people want to work the big challenges.” — Larry Page at University of Michigan , 2009
“We don’t beat the reaper by living longer. We beat the reaper by living well and living fully. For the reaper is always going to come for all of us. The question is: What do we do between the time we are born, and the time he shows up? Because when he shows up, it’s too late to do all the things that you’re always gonna, kinda get around to.” — Randy Pausch at Carnegie Mellon University , 2009
“Graduates, we need you. We need you to run companies and make decisions about who has access to capital. We need you to serve at the highest levels of government and determine our country’s standing in the world. We need you to work in our hospitals and in our courtrooms and in our schools. We need you to shape the future of technology. We need you because your perspective — the sum total of your intellect and your lived experience — will make our country stronger.” — Kamala Harris at Tennessee State University , 2022
2. Work hard
“Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” — Steve Jobs at Stanford University , 2005
“I just directed my first film. I was completely unprepared, but my own ignorance to my own limitations looked like confidence and got me into the director’s chair. Once there, I had to figure it all out, and my belief that I could handle these things, contrary to all evidence of my ability to do so was half the battle. The other half was very hard work. The experience was the deepest and most meaningful one of my career.” — Natalie Portman at Harvard University , 2015
“When you’re doing the work you’re meant to do, it feels right and every day is a bonus, regardless of what you’re getting paid … But make it your life’s work to remake the world because there is nothing more beautiful or more worthwhile than working to leave something better for humanity.” — Oprah Winfrey at Stanford University , 2008
3. Make mistakes
”Fail big. That’s right. Fail big … It’s a new world out there, and it’s a mean world out there, and you only live once. So do what you feel passionate about. Take chances, professionally. Don’t be afraid to fail. There’s an old IQ test with nine dots, and you had to draw five lines with a pencil within these nine dots without lifting the pencil, and the only way to do it was to go outside the box. So don’t be afraid to go outside the box.” — Denzel Washington at University of Pennsylvania , 2011
“The world doesn’t care how many times you fall down, as long as it’s one fewer than the number of times you get back up.” — Aaron Sorkin at Syracuse University , 2013
“My experience has been that my mistakes led to the best thing in my life. Being embarrassed when you mess up is part of the human experience of getting back up dusting yourself off and seeing who still wants to hang out with you afterward and laugh about it. That’s a gift. The times I was told no or wasn’t included wasn’t chosen, didn’t win, didn’t make the cut, looking back it really feels like those moments we’re as important if not more crucial than the moments I was told yes.” — Taylor Swift at NYU , 2022
“Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.” — Conan O’Brien at Dartmouth College , 2011
“Empathy and kindness are the true signs of emotional intelligence.” — Will Ferrell at the University of Southern California , 2017
“So here’s something I know to be true, although it’s a little corny, and I don’t quite know what to do with it: What I regret most in my life are failures of kindness. Those moments when another human being was there, in front of me, suffering, and I responded … sensibly. Reservedly. Mildly. Or, to look at it from the other end of the telescope: Who, in your life, do you remember most fondly, with the most undeniable feelings of warmth? Those who were kindest to you, I bet. It’s a little facile, maybe, and certainly hard to implement, but I’d say, as a goal in life, you could do worse than: Try to be kinder.” — George Saunders at Syracuse University , 2013
So what can we learn from these themes?
Every era in American life has its own standards of what it means to be a success. Shortly after America’s founding, success was all about character. Led by Benjamin Franklin, Americans embraced virtue, industry, and frugality. In the twentieth century, success was all about personality. Led by Dale Carnegie, Americans embraced salesmanship, reinvention and charisma. Today, led by Steve Jobs, Americans are embracing meaning, authenticity and bliss. Or, as Kermit the Frog put it in a 1996 commencement speech at Southampton College , “May success and a smile always be yours … even when you’re knee-deep in the sticky muck of life.”
Dream, work, fail and smile are as good a foursome of American identity today as I know. And if those ideas don’t inspire you, you can always embrace the far more practical advice erroneously attributed to Kurt Vonnegut in a commencement speech that he never gave at MIT, but was instead delivered by Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich in an imaginary speech to graduates she published in an old-fashioned newspaper, “Ladies and gentlemen of the class of ’97: Wear sunscreen.”
This post was adapted from one published on his newsletter The Nonlinear Life; go here to subscribe.
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Bruce Feiler is the author of seven New York Times bestsellers, including The Secrets of Happy Families and Council of Dads, both of which became the subject of TED Talks. His latest book, Life Is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age, from which this post and TEDx Talk are adapted, describes his journey across America, collecting hundreds of life stories, exploring how we can navigate life’s growing number of transitions with more meaning, purpose and joy. To learn more, visit brucefeiler.com, follow him on Twitter (@brucefeiler), or sign up for his newsletter The Nonlinear Life.
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Steve Jobs’ Commencement Speech Rhetorical Analysis
Introduction, three instruments of steve jobs’ speech.
Steve Jobs, one of the founders and shareholders of Apple, is famous for introducing unique strategies that tend to evoke general interest to his model of business. One of the major constituents dragging mass attention to Jobs’ success formula is his speech. The three rhetorical components of the man’s speech, such as the introduction, some life stories or anecdotes, and conclusion, usually arrive as the key instruments of convincing the wide audience.
The introduction of Steve Jobs’ speech is the part in which the man establishes trust-based relationships with the people he addresses. The businessman intentionally emphasizes the fact that he never graduated from a higher educational establishment to be closer to regular citizens and turn them into fellow-thinkers (Heracleous and Klaering 34). His key message is that one does not necessarily need a college degree to develop personally and achieve success.
The stories/anecdotes the speaker resorts to are primarily used to bring up the argument that doing what a person prefers to is the most relevant aspect of achieving the mentioned success. Emotionally colored narratives help Steve Jobs to develop the required level of pathos and capture the public’s attention entirely (Heracleous and Klaering 37). Concentrating on the topics of child adoption or terminal diseases contributes to faster delivery of the key message.
Concluding is another instrument the spokesman uses to convince his audience. Jobs’ summarizing remarks are always based on a logical rethinking of the entire content and facts presented in the speech (Heracleous and Klaering 39). The speaker draws listeners to the conclusion that job will take the larger part of one’s life and, therefore, one needs to think through all the pros and cons before choosing the sphere of interest.
Steve Jobs is both a high-profile businessman and a splendid orator who not only shares effective business strategies but possesses the ability to inspire others in the matters of entrepreneurship. The three rhetorical instruments this man uses during public speaking are called introduction, emotionally colored stories, and conclusion. The combination of the three components allows the spokesman to catch and hold public’s attention up to the final accord of his speech.
Heracleous, Loizos, and Laura Alexa Klaering. “The Circle of Life: Rhetoric of Identification in Steve Jobs’ Stanford Speech.” Journal of Business Research, vol. 79, 2017, pp. 31-40.
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Rhetorical Analysis of Steve Jobs’ Commencement Address
This essay will conduct a rhetorical analysis of Steve Jobs’ famous commencement address at Stanford University. It will dissect the speech’s structure, use of rhetorical devices, and the effectiveness of Jobs’ storytelling technique. The discussion will also delve into how Jobs’ personal experiences and philosophies are woven into his message, and the impact this speech has had on graduates and the wider public in terms of inspiration and life lessons. On PapersOwl, there’s also a selection of free essay templates associated with Analysis.
How it works
Steve Jobs’ commencement address to graduating class of 2005 at Stanford University is a wonderful example of how rhetorical devices should be used while giving a speech. In his address, Jobs aims to connect with his audience by using humor, personal experiences, and reflections throughout his life along with many other rhetorical devices. He also appeals to the ethos, pathos, and logos of his audience to strengthen his argument and urge them to pursue their dreams even if things don’t go according to plan.
Jobs can express his message of not settling for anything and striving to achieve happiness and fulfillment.
Steve Jobs begins his commencement address by appealing to the emotions of his audience when he compliments the graduates of Stanford University by stating, “I’m honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.” Soon after, he claims that he never graduated college and that being on that stage was the closest thing he will ever get to college graduation. By sharing these two statements, Jobs establishes a sense of pathos by showing his humbleness and making the audience feel very accomplished for their achievements of graduating from Stanford. Later in his address, Jobs uses pathos, again, to tell of his cancer diagnosis and to make the most out of your life before you die.
After his short introduction, Jobs lays out the structure of his speech by saying, “Today, I want to tell you three stories from my life. That is s it. No big deal. Just three stories.” This simple structure helps the audience understand and follow his stories with relative ease. In the first of three stories, Jobs shares how his “biological mother was a young, unwed graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption.” He also talks about his adoptive parents and how they saved all their money to send Jobs to college which eventually resulted in Jobs dropping out. By including this anecdote and the anecdote of his adoptive parents not being college graduates and of himself dropping out, it shows the audience that success is not limited to anyone and that you don’t have to be the most privileged to reach success. Hard work and dedication to your craft can lead to great things. Near the end of the first story, Jobs includes some humor to lighten the mood when he describes his path to success and the creation of the Mac. He claimed, “If I had never dropped in on that single course [the calligraphy class] in college, the “Mac” would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, no personal computer would likely have them.”
Jobs provided logos in his address when he described the hardships faced when he was struggling with what to do with his life. He faced tough times after dropping out of Reed College. Jobs exclaimed, “It wasn’t all romantic. I didn’t have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends’ rooms. I returned coke bottles for the five-cent deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple.” By telling the graduates of his struggle, he is trying to relate to his audience in any way possible. Additionally, if Steve Jobs can overcome so much hardship, the smart graduates of Stanford University can too. Near the end of the first story, Jobs uses antithesis to explain his idea. He says, “Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever — because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that will make all the difference.” Jobs uses this to develop the meaning of his story and to transition to story number two.
In story number two, about love and loss, Jobs aims to build more ethos into his story and he does it well because he is a credible source on going through failure and rebounding to greater success afterward. He starts by talking about what he loves and how he and his friend, Woz, “started Apple in my parents’ garage when I was 20.” He goes on to explain how he and Woz worked hard and after ten years, they had built Apple into a two-billion-dollar company with over four thousand employees. By doing, Jobs lays out his credibility in a way that showed his brilliance to see how he was able to turn Apple into a multibillion-dollar company. Additionally, Jobs provides ethos in his address by telling his audience everything on how he was fired from Apple and “tried to apologize for screwing up so badly” to David Packard and Bob Noyce. This shows the audience the mistakes he has made and that everyone makes mistakes and it is up to them on how they recover from them. His tremendous success after recovering from past failures (starting NeXT and Pixar) shows that adversity makes people stronger. His life went well when starting Apple, took a bad turn after being fired from Apple, and then became better after starting NeXT, Pixar, and eventually returning to Apple. The struggle Jobs faced establishes his ethos because he knew what it was like to be fired, to lose everything he built, and to recover. This allows his audience to learn how true success can be achieved even if obstacles arise, and Jobs is perfect to tell about the ups and downs of life.
Near the end of his second story, Jobs used repetition very well to emphasize his ideas of not settling and always staying hungry in life. He says, “If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking — and don’t settle.” This repetition emphasizes his idea of never settling for anything and always working to get better. And, at the end of the speech, he repeats the phrase, “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” This phrase is a great way to use repetition to further Jobs’ ideas and it perfectly summarizes the theme of his Commencement Address. Jobs wants the graduates to never settle, always aim to learn new things, and push themselves to face new challenges.
Steve Jobs’ Commencement Address to the Stanford graduates of 2005 should be seen as a masterpiece on how rhetorical devices should be incorporated in a speech. His use of ethos, logos, and pathos along with repetition, humor, etc. help him accomplish his goal of explaining his message. Through this address, Jobs can deliver his message to never settle and strive for excellence in a very effective way for his audience to grasp and understand.
Work Cited:
University, Stanford. “Text of Steve Jobs’ Commencement Address (2005).” Stanford News, 12 June 2017, https://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505/.
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