Our new searchable database of commencement speeches brings you more than 300 of the best, tagged with the most enduring themes: Work hard. Change the world. And, of course, YOLO.

Conan O’Brien, for example, recognized President George H.W. Bush in the opening of his 2011 commencement speech at Dartmouth by saying: “Before I begin, I must point out that behind me sits a ...

Welcome to New York (University). Taylor Swift’s NYU Commencement speech for the graduating class of 2022 was heartfelt, but ...

This is one of the most famous commencement speeches of all time — and he only made one. You can read the full text here. 9. Zadie Smith, "That Desire For Human Connection," New School 2015 ...

A well-prepared speaker with a well-crafted speech can entertain, inform, inspire, and give a performance immortalized for posterity on YouTube. To continue reading for FREE, please sign in.

As spring turns to summer, college students turn to graduation, the ritual celebration that signals the end of formal university education and the beginning of a professional career. A key aspect of ...

Commencement speeches are targeted toward a very specific audience of people who are on the verge of starting their careers, but the best speakers tend to offer age-agonistic advice. For example ...

That’s the message from a few of the academics with big hearts for undergraduates who, as faculty speakers, will address the graduating class at the five undergraduate ceremonies at Golden 1 Center in ...

Famed actor and comedian Steve Carell delivered the commencement address for the Northwestern University class of 2025 Sunday at the United Center.

Something funny has happened to the familiar commencement address in the past 10 years. That something is YouTube. Steve Jobs' 2005 address at Stanford, to take just one example, has been viewed ...

Steve Jobs' 2005 address at Stanford, to take just one example, has been viewed upwards of 20 million times. We are now in a golden age of the commencement speech as a hilarious, inspiring form of ...