commencement-speeches

Charlie Day Advises Graduates to Not Give A Shit In Commencement Speech

Dayna Evans · 05/20/14 06:45PM

As videos begin to surface of this past weekend's numerous university commencement speeches, there is only one that is worth reliving graduation for: Charlie Day, who plays Charlie Kelly on It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, gives a meandering, goofy speech to Merrimack College that results in one important lesson: don't be afraid of failure.

Ten of Our Favorite Commencement Speeches

Richard Lawson · 05/15/08 02:37PM

Earlier today, in honor of the season (and Larry Tribe's "thank your parents for boning" NYU speech, at left), I shared my favorite commencement speech and asked for yours. We got some responses, people citing writers like Kurt Vonnegut, comedians like Jon Stewart, and captains of industry like Steve Jobs. What makes a good speech? There doesn't seem to be any one rubric. A successful speech can be a serious person being funny, a comedian with gravitas, a writer getting loopy, a businessman thinking deep. I guess the only essential "rules" for success are obvious: don't be boring, be insightful, and be as honest as possible. Hey! That sounds like graduation advice. After the jump, find ten, in no particular order, of our (and your) favorite commencement speeches.