8/4/2019 CPT Mini Project-Steve Jobs

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SPEECH CRITIQUE

Steve Jobs [Stanford, 2005]

This is a very famous speech that was delivered by the Apple Inc. CEO, Mr. SteveJobs on the 12th of June, 2005. It was a commencement speech addressed to thegraduates of the Stanford University, the theme being Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.

Steve Jobs shows why he is one of the most revered leaders in the world todaythrough his simple and lucid style of talking, in the process managing to connect withhis audience in a magnetic manner. Here, he has a task in hand of motivating andinspiring a huge crowd of youngsters and he comes up in trumps with a fabulouseffort.

He opens the speech by appreciating the quality of audience and at the same timekeeps himself humble & simple. He engages in a very informal manner by using aconversational style which suits his young audience who are mostly collegestudents. This ensures that the audience have improved their receptiveness towardshis speech.

The overall structure of the whole speech itself is very simple and straightforward innature. In fact, it follows an extremely traditional approach of talking to an audience.The format is

Opening First Story Connecting the Dots Second Story Love and Loss Third Story About Death Conclusion

The total duration of the speech lasts for barely 15 minutes only and yet creates alasting impact.

Steve Jobs has peppered his complete speech with lots of humour that areintentional and serving a higher purpose as well. He also uses the pause and thetiming to maximum effect by emphasising during the key points. This enables the

audience to have ample time for digesting his views. Also, there is a liberal dosageof various figures of speech and many metaphors at many places during the courseof his talk.

He is clear in his ideas and that helps him in maintaining a constant pace and loudvoice while talking. He has efficiently organised his speech in a coherent andstructured way.

One glaring thing that pops up is the lack of eye contact by Steve Jobs with hisaudience. He reads out most of the time. This could have been easily avoided sincehe talks about his life experiences only and the delivery would have been more

natural in such a scenario. Also, his speech did not involve much of physicalmovements or any gestures.

8/4/2019 CPT Mini Project-Steve Jobs

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He concludes with a bang in an emphatic way by advising the students to alwaysStay Hungry and Stay Foolish. He asks them to follow their heart in whatever theydo. Thus, he manages to leave a long lasting emotional impact on the young minds.

Conclusion:

Mr. Steve Jobs has delivered a great speech that is bang on target. He has ensuredthat the purpose is served and that is to inspire & motivate the youngsters. Theemotional connect that he establishes shows his supremacy over the command ofcapturing the audience attention. However, a few mistakes in the form of low eyecontact are to be corrected in the future. The graduates are bound to cherish andreflect upon his ideas for a long time.