Speech Analysis: Steve Jobs (Flashback Friday #13)

On Fridays, we dip into the article archive and emerge with one of the most memorable articles. We’ll dust it off, shine a light on it, and consider it from a new perspective.

This week, we also spotlight recent releases that may help you enrich your public speaking library.

Resources for Speakers – Public Speaking Books

Check out these recently released public speaking and communications books:

• Steal the Show: From Speeches to Job Interviews to Deal-Closing Pitches, How to Guarantee a Standing Ovation for All the Performances in Your Life by Michael Port
• Storytelling with Data: A Data Visualization Guide for Business Professionals by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
• Public Speaking and Democratic Participation: Speech, Deliberation, and Analysis in the Civic Realm by Jennifer Y. Abbott, Todd F. McDorman, David M. Timmerman, Jill Lamberton
• Speak Easy: The essential guide to speaking in public by Maggie Eyre
• What Great Trainers Do: The Ultimate Guide to Delivering Engaging and Effective Learning by Robert Bolton, Dorothy Grover Bolton

You can also explore our full list of public speaking and presenting book reviews.

Today’s Flashback Article

This week, we’re headed back to November 2007, when we examined my favorite Steve Jobs speech ever: his Stanford commencement speech “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”

This speech was nothing like his Apple launch presentations. He wasn’t revealing a new gadget to millions of Apple fans. The stock price wasn’t rising and falling on his every word. He didn’t have an army of technicians in the background.

Instead, it was just Steve. He taught us about the power of personal stories. He taught us about the impact of a pause. He taught us about conversational speechwriting. He taught us about birth, death, and rebirth.

Read the article, and let me know what wisdom you can find:

• Speech Critique: Steve Jobs (Stanford, 2005)