Steve Jobs' Commencement Speech at Stanford University - Essay Example

Rhethorical Analysis of Steve Jobs' Commencement Speech at Stanford University This paper examines the speech made by Steve Jobs at the graduation of Stanford University on June 14 2005. This speech is globally recognized and forms a crux in the definition of the identity of Steve Jobs, a billionaire computer expert and inventor. The speech draws from the entire life of the entrepreneur and creates a strong impression on the minds of his audience. He uses various techniques of public speech to capture the intuition of all his listeners. The speech appears to be similar to a life-changing sermon and is structured to have an influence on the entire lives of all the graduates as well as different other people who would listen to the recorded version of the speech. This paper aims at identifying the main elements of the speech that enables the listeners to comprehend and connect with the speaker individually and collectively. In attaining this end, the research will examine the use of logos, pathos and ethos to make the listeners understand the full speech and some components of the speech. Rhetoric Analysis This paper is in the form of rhetorical analysis. It tries to examine the main components of the speech and the kind of message it seeks to communicate to the audience. Rhetoric analysis “...lays bare or adequately interprets the secret life of a form of communication or speech” (Geung x). In other words, the paper seeks to decode the main influence that the message seeks to exert on the mind of the listener. It tries to comprehensively examine the kind of information that Steve Jobs seeks to assert on the graduands by breaking down the speek. Rossenwasser and Stephen identify that “to analyze the rhetoric of something is to determine how that something persuades and positions its readers or viewers or listeners.” (69). So the paper will try to identify the core matter that Jobs seek to convince the students on. It will therefore break down the three main elements of speeches and communication, ethos, pathos and logos to identify the components of the entire communication activity. Ethos Ethos is mainly concerned with the link between the speaker and the listener (Shanks 8). It tries to examine the influence that the speaker exerts on the listener and how this causes the listener to believe in the speaker. Ethos is about the credibility and the ethical appeal that the speaker has over the listener. It is mainly about how the audience relate to the speaker and the contacts that occur whilst the discussion goes on. Although there is no agreed standard in measuring the potency of ethos, the commonest method of evaluating this is to examine the emotions of the audience. The audience react by clapping and shouting to show their connection with the speaker. In this speech, there are so much emotions that are shown at different points in the interaction between Steve Jobs and the graduands. There were instances where the crowd screamed and there were other times where they clapped. Also, at the end of the entire speech, there was a standing ovation which gave an indication to a bystander that the speech had had some influence on the people present and this is very much evident of ethos. In analyzing the speech of Steve Jobs, there are four main components of ethos that can be conveniently examined to bring to bear the kind of connection that existed between the audience and speaker during the whole speech. Credibility Credibility refers to the trust and worth of a person's communication with another (Shanks 39). This refers to how factors that causes a listener to place more reliance on the words of another person. First of all, the personality of Steve Jobs is one that grants him so much credibility. Being nominated as the speaker for the event in itself is something that comes with a lot of reputation for the event. This is because in the ushering in of a set of intellectuals from Stanford to the real world, it was extremely propitious to bring in one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world to speak to the students. So credibility in this situation was more of a two-way affair; a successful entrepreneur and potential role model speaking to the most intelligent university graduates of the generation. This creates a strong communication link between the two parties and even makes it credible to a third party who might watch the event later on video. In the beginning of the speech, Steve Jobs connects with the audience by showing great respect to the audience. He states that Stanford is one of the best universities in the world. Based on facts that exist in the history of the university, Jobs was right. The audience show the connection by applauding and making noises at the fact that one of the richest men on earth acknowledge their efforts. Jobs goes on to connect with the audience by stating that he never graduated from college. This shows another harsh side of the truth but his records causes the audience to wonder how he became the most successful entrepreneurs in history. This sets the stage for him to explain the facts of his life and discuss the main components of history. Although the story about Steve Jobs' parentage, dropout from university and close encounter to death seems a bit modest, it comes in as a true shock which worked out together to create his personality. The simple nature of the narration and the everyday kind of story presents him as an ordinary youth who made it big. This means that the listener is not tempted to doubt anything that he says. The credible nature of the speech does not cause any reason for the listener to doubt the words of Steve Jobs. Ethical Appeal Steve Jobs presents himself as an ethical individual. He begins the speech by defining the scope of what he is going to stay. He makes it clear that he is going to share three things about his life. This helps all the listeners to connect with him and create a mental picture to receive what he has to say. This also builds trust between him and his listeners. Steve Jobs also goes on to discuss the ethical nature of his parents and their commitment to having him. This enables Jobs to show the world that he grew up in a home with two great parents. Also, he shows that there was the need to drop out of college to prevent his parents from wasting money and also get the chance to study what interests him. This shows Jobs as an individual who was always ready to stand aside to prevent harming or hurting people in the face of uncertainty. Respect and Reputation In the speech of Steve Jobs, he presents facts and information that enhances his reputation and promote the respect. In this speech, Steve Jobs begins by identifying with the audience. He states that although he has no higher education qualifications, he shows that people can achieve a lot of things with the little knowledge and skills they get in life. Also, Steve Jobs introduces his struggles in life in college. He describes the difficult times he went through as student when he could not afford meals and had to sleep on the floor. He discusses the things he had to endure and how they all paid off. This causes the students, most of whom had life much more comfortably to look at Steve Jobs with some degree of respect and honor. The discussion of the way he was fired from his own company and struggled to put his life together and build a new business and marry enhances his reputation. He shows the listener that although a major setback came his way, he was able to get over it and also build a new life that was more productive and better than his previous. The resilience and the ability to make things work in adverse conditions makes him more of a legend to the listener. The whole place was quiet during the times he discussed his comebacks in life. This shows that the listeners were internalizing the impressive information Steve Jobs was putting before the listeners. Authority Authority is exerted in the speech of Steve Jobs in several areas. Since the life of a successful entrepreneur like himself was an intimate knowledge to Jobs, he had a panoramic knowledge of the situations at hand. He could therefore narrate his life in the most gripping and impressive form. This exhibits the authority he exerted over the audience. Steve Jobs had a complete control over his history and the facts relating to his life, thus, he could relate his history with situations. The connection of the dots allow him to selectively present the most important and significant incidents in his life in a way that any listener from any cultural background to get impressed by the highlights of his life. For instance, the authority that he has over his life enabled Jobs to describe the most gripping elements of his parentage in a way that anyone from anywhere in the world could feel what he was saying. The description of his loss of job in Apple was presented in such a way that anyone could understand how he felt. Also, his description of his encounter with death provided a gripping account that could make anyone empathize what he was going through at that point in his life. Steve Jobs' use of simple words and simple narratives were very appropriate and important in presenting his information in an efficient and effective manner. The graduates were from different backgrounds, nationality and of different qualifications. The use of plain English enabled him to connect with all the classes of students gathered there. However, the calculated use of words and presentation of graphic situations in the narration of the highlights of his life enabled everyone present and anyone listening through the media to understand and feel exactly what he wanted that person to feel. The authoritative use of language and the discussion of important elements of Steve Jobs life had the ability to stir up the emotions and influence the mentality of the audience. This naturally brings us to the discussion of the emotional and psychological influence of the speech also described as pathos. Pathos Pathos refers to the stirring up of a person's emotions due to a given situation (Shanks 27). Pathos therefore describes the pointers that stir up empathy and enable the listener to connect to the reader. This is done through the use of metaphor to promote suspense and enhance the passion of a given listener. Pathos is based on the challenging of popular belief and getting the listener to think about what a person is saying and act in some form in reaction to the information being given by the speaker. Self Alienation Self alienation refers to the elements of a speech that challenge popular beliefs or the normalcy of the speeches of people. This is often done through the creation of contradictory illusions through speeches and communication. The first line of Steve Jobs brings this situation to bear. He begins by stating that he has never graduated from any college. So the normal human mind will ask, if you have not graduated, what makes you an appropriate speaker for this occasion? This brings the idea of self alienation to bear and opens the door for a connection to occur between Jobs and the listener. His narration about his background also challenges popular belief. He modestly states that his parents were working class people who had limited contacts with higher education. So the listener will begin to wonder how such a person could become a billionaire. Jobs also graphically presents his life as one that nearly failed. He talks openly about his life as a drop out and how he managed as a drop-in. This is also seemingly a contradiction to popular belief and this makes the listener wonder and think more and more about Jobs' life. This supports the communication process and enables the listener to build a firm relationship with the speaker. Another element of contradiction is his dismissal. He discusses the fact that he was dismissed by a company he founded. The question he subsequently asks, “How can I be dismissed from a company I formed?” supports the communication process. It is an apparent contradiction and a rational reader will immediately feel that there is something about this section of the speech that is not right. This therefore allows Jobs to fill in the gaps by discussing the actual event. The gaps ultimately promote active listening and causes the listener to take active interest in his story about how he founded and made NEXT a successful company. Also, raising the case of his diagnosis of cancer automatically causes a listener to wonder how he survived the scare. This prepared the grounds for him to tell the listener that death can and should be used as a tool to enable people to build productive lives. Thus, the inherent contradictions and elements of the speech that goes against conventional thinking provided an impetus for Steve Jobs to teach some important elements of life to the graduates. Experience Steve Jobs uses his experiences in life to connect with the audience. The rich experiences of his life were used to discuss and enforce each one of the three aspects of his speech. In describing the section known as the connection of the dots, he describes the unplanned nature of human beings' connections to their destinies. He uses his own life as an example to discuss the way he got adopted by his parents, how he ended up studying important aspects of design in an unplanned manner which were useful some decades later. Jobs discusses the hardships he went through and how they all worked together. This gives the reader a real life example of how things work together for good. Secondly, Jobs discusses elements of his dismissal from Apple to provide a description of what he meant about love and loss. He describes the downfalls he encountered in life and how he lost everything and the good things he gained to encourage the listeners and give them how realities can occur in life. Thirdly, he describes his diagnosis of cancer to show the listeners that death might not be as distant as it might appear. He shows clearly that although he stands there before the people, he has stood at the door of death before. This causes the listener to get a clear example of death and how it could get close to anybody. This causes the listener to take what he discusses seriously. Emotional appeal/Passion The stories that Steve Job discusses stir up the emotions of the listeners. Jobs discusses the controversy with his adoption to show how helpless and unfortunate life started for him. This causes the listener to empathize with him. The description of how hard life in college as a drop-in was makes a listener feel for him. The fact that he had to go about and collect coke bottles and sleep on the floor makes most of these students feel sorry for him. This is because it gets them to become emotional and passionate about the realities of his history. Jobs' description of his dismissal from Apple is given in a graphic manner. It describes the way he was fired in a company he founded. This will naturally make a listener frown because it sounded unfair for a person to get fired by a partner he employed. This strategically stirs up the passion of the listener. The fact that Apple bought the company he formed after being fired will naturally bring a smile on the face of a listener. This is because a listener who felt it was unfair for Jobs to be fired in the first place will feel a sense of justice in the fact that Apple merged with NEXT. This is because that story was meant to get the listener to empathize with him. Suspense This refers to the sustained interest that a listener gains whilst he listens to the speaker. Steve Jobs begins by describing his family life. Everything he stated in the description indicated that he was destined to be a failure. However, being a billionaire, every listener would be compelled to listen to find out how he could break the chains of poverty and build up a business empire. Jobs builds on by describing his hardships during the college days. The listener would automatically think about how Steve Jobs managed to acquire the skills. He goes on to describe how he succeeded to fill this curiosity and make a strong impression on the listener. He goes on to describe the fact that he was fired from Apple. The listener will want to follow through to how he managed to become CEO of Apple as he was whilst delivering the speech. This curiosity is satisfied with descriptions that enables Jobs to present important lessons to these young listeners. Logos Logos refers to the significance of a given message (Heidegger 55). Logos refers to the purpose or concept that a given communication seeks to attain. Logos is a Greek word which means the molding of the soul (Wardy 44). It is the word 'logos' which forms the suffix of many courses and disciplines like biology, sociology, geology and meteorology. This is because these courses molded the souls of the students to become authorities in the subjects. Each of the three components of the speech included the use of basic narratives to build concepts that were meant to 'mold' the future of the graduates. At the end of the speech, Jobs provides a strong 'logos' which sums up the entire components of the speech delivered. First of all, the story of Jobs' struggles at the early years of his life shows that anyone can succeed irrespective of his status. The import of the message to the graduates is that everyone should focus on what s/he loves and follow it through. The main requirement for the listeners was that they should take the important things of their lives serious and they would surely succeed. In the second section, Jobs states that he built Apple, was fired and rebuilt his life. The message there is that negative things will come up but they should not allow it to weight them down. Any time a person experiences failure, s/he should put the pieces together, work hard and in the end such a person would be justified. Thirdly, he describes his experiences and view of earth. The import of the message is that death can be converted to a positive tool. He uses the opportunity to tell the listener that death should always be remembered. And with that, people should be prepared to take risks and leave something worthwhile in this world. Finally, Steve Jobs sums up the whole speech and the logos of the message with the statement 'Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish'. The import of this message is that the graduates of Stanford are amongst ht brightest in the world and due to that, they will be required to go through the toughest times to make the most influential contribution to humanity. This road requires a lot of sacrifice and this will require them to challenge dogma to attain the best results. In this wise, they would have to stay hungry at some points and be considered by mainstream thinkers as foolish at some point, but that is the only way to effect significant changes in the world. In conclusion, the message of Steve Jobs was based on his credibility and ability to connect directly with the audience. Through the use of communication techniques, Jobs presents a message that encourages sacrifice and commitment to results amongst the audience. Works Cited Geung John Franklin. Handbook of Rhethorical Analysis: Studies in Style & Communication. Ginn & Company, 1902. Reprint: University of Virginia. 2009. Print. Heidegger Martin. Being & Time. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. 1962. Print. Rosenwasser David & Stephen Jill. Writing Analytically. Mason, OH: Cengate. 2010. Print. Shanks Andrew. 'What is Truth?' Towards a Theological Poetics. London: Routledge, Taylor & Francis. 2001. Print. Wardy Robert. The Birth of Rhetoric: Georgias, Plato and their Successors. London, Taylor Routledge. 1998. Print. Read More