8teve Jobs: 8tanford commencement address, June 2005

In 2005, a year aIter he was Iirst diagnosed with cancer, Apple CEO Steve Jobs made a candid speech to
graduating students at StanIord University.
He starts his speech with a compliment to the audience ('Iam honored to be with you today Ior your
commencement Irom one oI the Iinest universities in the world). He Iollows that by showing humility in
admitting that he had never graduated Irom college. Then, he talks about his Iamily- his biological mother
was a young, unwed college graduate student who took the decision to put him Ior adoption and she
strongly thought that the new parents should had graduated Irom college. Initially, a lawyer and his wiIe
wanted him, but Iinally he was adopted by a mother that never graduated Irom college and a Iather that
never graduated Irom high-school. It is interesting because Jobs never wanted to talk about his Iamily.
Then, he talks about his liIe in college, which wasn`t easy. He choose a very expensive college and
realized that all the money that his Iamily had saved their entire liIe were spent uselessly because he
wasn`t sure about what he was going to do with that, so he decided to drop out college and work. At Reed
College he attended a calligraphy class, which ten years later, when he designed Macintosh, proved to be
very useIul. One oI the things that everyone who knew Jobs said is that he was obsessed with "taste". He
was always ranting against MicrosoIt because they "had no taste" and one oI his great early insights was
that computers would become consumer products and, as such, would have to be attractively designed
and easy to use.
When he was twenty, he and SLeve Wozniak started Apple in his parents` garage; aIter ten years, Apple
had already 4.000 employees and a proIit oI $2bn. Then, he was Iired. But this was an opportunity- he
sLarLed a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar and Iell in love with his Iuture wiIe
LaLer Apple boughL nex1 and he reLurned Lo Apple
In 2004 he was diagnosed with pancreas cancer and the doctors gave him only Iew months to live. But
aIter a biopsy, it was discovered that the cancer was curable by surgery. Dramatically, but true, he said
that death is the destination we all share and that it clears up the old to make way Ior the new.
Because the publication World Earth Catalog was a bible Ior his generation, he ended up his speech with
the words written on the back oI the book 'Stay hungry. Stay Ioolish., as an advice Ior the graduates.


There are some things that we liked about this speech, about its layout. Firstly, the use oI the
conversational style is a wise choice ( he knows that his audience is composed oI college graduates).
Secondly, he adopts a simple and traditional structure: opening- three stories-closing ('Today I want to
tell you three stories Irom my liIe.; 'The Iirst story is about connecting the dots.; 'My second story
is about love and loss.; 'My third story is about death.Thank you all very much.% Thirdly, he
makes pauses beIore and aIter key points to give the audience time to reIlect about them. Also he uses the
rule oI 3 and a lot oI Iigures oI speech and 'the cycle oI liIe concepts: birth, death, rebirth. It was an
amazing experience Ior us!



anguage development
Calligraphy the art oI producing beautiIul writing using special pens or brushes, or the writing produced
this way; ex. He took calligraphy classes that were useIul Ior him later.
Typeface a group oI letters, numbers oI the same style and size used in printing; Iont; ex. The new logo
Ieatures a more modern typeIace.
To8ideith to join with someone; to take someone else's part; to be on someone's side; ex. I never side
with anybody. I Iorm my own opinions.
Ji8ion an idea oI what you think something should be like; ex. He had a clear vision oI how he hoped
the company would develop.
To8tartover to begin again; ex. When you start over, try to do it right this time.
To-:tton:p to get silent and stay silent; ex. Hey, button up! That's enough out oI you.
To8ignoff to quit doing what one has been doing and leave; ex. Steve Jobs signed oII Irom Apple.