Introduction
Steve Jobs is one of the most famous people of our time. He was an outstanding leader and was fired from his own company. His speech to Stanford University students is a classic example of the use of rhetorical strategies. In his address, he urged young people to follow their dreams to achieve their life goals and successfully fulfill themselves.
The speaker’s main goal was to motivate graduates to become the people they would like to be. Jobs wanted to share his knowledge and life experiences with former students to inspire them to follow their passions and improve the world. The reason for such a speech was the graduation ceremony, which was undoubtedly an essential moment in students’ lives.
Jobs’ audience consisted of alumni, their families, and faculty, so he needed to reach out to every one of them to deliver a message that everyone would understand. Jobs connects with his audience using rhetorical elements such as logos, pathos, and ethos. With their help, he achieved maximum effect in his speech by turning a simple address to graduates into a speech that people study at universities for many years later. Using personal stories, logical arguments, and emotional appeals, Jobs connects with his audience and convinces them to believe what he says. Jobs successfully uses persuasive appeals, but pathos is a particularly effective method.
Speech Analysis
Personal Experience
In his speech, Steve Jobs tells several personal stories, each with a message and meaning for his audience. In his first story, Jobs tells how he took a calligraphy class instead of the usual traditional college classes (Stanford 3:03-3:52). This ultimately helped him develop beautiful and impactful typography for Apple products. This story well reflects what the speaker mentioned before, showing that people should always do what they want more. Jobs proves that if students follow their hobbies, then unrelated events can shape a person’s future.
In the second story, Jobs talks about how he got fired from Apple, which he co-founded (Stanford 6:07-6:11). This story demonstrates to students the difficult times in the life of Steve Jobs and how he managed to survive them. He encourages graduates to find the courage to follow their ideals even if they face significant setbacks. In the third story, Jobs shares his experience of battling cancer and the need to live life to the fullest (Stanford 10:16-10:22). All three stories flow smoothly into one another and demonstrate the fundamental ideals of the speaker’s life.
Ethos
Ethos refers to the listener’s authority and reliability of the information that comes from the speaker. This element makes people more friendly toward the speaker. Jobs uses ethics to present himself as a trustworthy source of information. He begins his speech by admitting to being a college dropout by saying, “This is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation” (Stanford 0:42-0:45).
Admitting that he has no formal education, Jobs positions himself as a trusted person for his audience, who has experienced difficulties and obstacles before he could find an occupation for himself. However, after that, he proved that he could still become successful. Thus, Jobs explains to students that they must find an occupation in life, and only in this way can they achieve high results. In addition, he talks about his role in founding companies such as Apple and Pixar, further strengthening his credibility with listeners.
Logos
Steve Jobs also actively used logos in his speech to appeal to the minds of graduates and set them on the right path. He supports his ideas and statements and gives logical arguments to help students better understand what is being said. For example, talking about how calligraphy lessons helped him, he says: “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward (Stanford 5:08-5:12).” This helps him explain to graduates by understanding how his past actions are reflected in working on the Mac computer.
This logical argument confirms his view that unrelated events can unite in the future and bring usefulness to a person’s life, creating something significant. Jobs also uses the persuasive syllogism technique, where he presents a central premise, a minor premise, and a conclusion. For example, he states: “The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do (Stanford 8:30-8:38).” This expression has the desired effect on the audience and is an example of the use of logos. It presents a logical argument that builds on itself and leads to a clear and convincing conclusion.
Pathos
In addition to using ethos and logos, Steve Jobs uses pathos effectively to convince and inspire his audience. He shares personal, emotional stories that connect with the audience more deeply. For example, he talks about how he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and how it changed his outlook on life. He said, “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life (Stanford 9:42- 9:47).
This personal story, combined with the speaker’s sincere tone and delivery, creates an emotional connection with the audience. This way, Jobs encourages graduates to think about their lives and priorities. Focusing people’s attention on the fact that death can catch them at the most unexpected moment, the speaker wants to encourage students to look for their place in life.
Repetition
In addition, Jobs uses a persuasive repetition technique when he says key phrases throughout his speech. This allows listeners to achieve a better memory effect and makes students believe in something that will help them in the future. For example, he repeats the phrase, “Stay hungry. Stay foolish” (Stanford 14:10 14:12; 14:28 14:30) throughout his speech. Thus, such keywords become a powerful refrain that resonates with the audience and reinforces the speaker’s message.
Conclusion
Jobs used good rhetorical devices in his speech, and pathos stood out the most. Using it effectively, combined with ethos and logos, can be a good way to convey the message to the audience. In this way, the speaker can emphasize the necessary aspects, make the audience believe in what he is saying, and convince them of the correctness of his words.
Steve Jobs managed to create an actionable speech that worked with the audience by evenly presenting each of the elements of rhetoric. First, he aroused trust in his words among those listening to him. The next step was the story about how people should never give up because all events can be turned in their favor. The last story showed an emotional reaction and became the final stage of the speech.
Work Cited
“Steve Jobs’ 2005 Stanford Commencement Address.” YouTube, uploaded by Stanford, Web.