It’s been quite a season of commencement speeches - some broadly cheered, others highly divisive.

Most interesting to me, though, has been the durable format.

Commencement speakers rarely use their time recounting their biography or full life story. Whoever introduces them will take care of that.

Rather, a compelling commencement speaker will typically:

• Tell a story from their past (experience)
• Recount something they gleaned from that experience (insight)
• Organize and extrapolate their insights into a POV or framework designed to resonate with their audience (IP)

Watch any commencement address, and you'll most likely spot that progression.

So why has this speech format stuck around for decades (or longer)?

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Because if the speaker stops at experience, the reaction is “So what?”.

If a speaker stops at insight, the speech is still about the speaker.

If the speaker gets to IP, the speech becomes applicable to the audience.

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And who are we building IP for, if not to help your audience?

💡

-Wes