Graduation...or Commencement?
For the second year in a row I delivered a commencement address to a group of high school graduates this weekend. I had about 2 hours of stuff I wanted to tell them from politics to personal development to the marketplace, but you and I both know no one wants to attend a graduation where the guest speaker drones on and on with some noble message on life, liberty, and the pursuit of whatever.
So I took my 26-year-old son's advice... "Dad, don't go in there and say anything controversial or make anybody mad. Just get in, say something inspirational, and get out. That's what they really want." Ah yes, the wisdom of youth. So...I did. In just 12 minutes (a new commencement record for speakers I think), I made them laugh and made them glad (short speeches can do that you know) and hopefully made them think just a bit. And then I gave each graduate a copy of my book on commitment.
For all my young graduates, commencement is less about what's just happened and more about what's ahead. Let the living and learning COMMENCE...and Godspeed.
So I took my 26-year-old son's advice... "Dad, don't go in there and say anything controversial or make anybody mad. Just get in, say something inspirational, and get out. That's what they really want." Ah yes, the wisdom of youth. So...I did. In just 12 minutes (a new commencement record for speakers I think), I made them laugh and made them glad (short speeches can do that you know) and hopefully made them think just a bit. And then I gave each graduate a copy of my book on commitment.
For all my young graduates, commencement is less about what's just happened and more about what's ahead. Let the living and learning COMMENCE...and Godspeed.
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