Have you ever thought about what truly defines you? Is it your physical appearance? Social identity? Cognitive abilities? Or something else?
While all these factors contribute to defining you as a person, your choices create your ultimate identity.
In his 2010 Princeton University baccalaureate remarks, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos insists that our decisions – rather than our talents – define our place in the world, particularly through our relationships with others.
Bezos’s graduation speech has been viewed over 50,000 times, reflecting the effective communication techniques he uses to support his arguments about the power of choice. For professional marketers and communicators, here are the key takeaways.
Make it Personal
“As a kid, I spent my summers with my grandparents on their ranch in Texas.”
Great speeches always revolve around stories. The more personal these stories are, the better they connect with the hearts and minds of the audience.
Personal stories captivate attention. Bezos jumps into a vivid personal anecdote right off the bat, wasting no time in striking up a primal, fundamentally deep emotional and intellectual connection with his audience. By reminiscing about his childhood adventures with his grandparents and a moment of regret stemming from his childish lack of emotional intelligence, he sets the stage for the message he provides later in the speech.
He delivers his story in plain language, using short sentences that spark curiosity and build enough suspense to keep listeners engaged and invested.
To capture attention and keep people engaged, start your speech with a story. Personal anecdotes in speeches work better if you deliver them in plain, simple, no-nonsense language.
Use Contrasts to Clarify
“Cleverness is a gift. Kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy — they’re given after all. Choices can be hard.”
A high contrast always clarifies an image. Orators have long used contrast and antithesis to highlight the significance of a concept.
Throughout his speech, Bezos contrasts innate talents with deliberate choices, highlighting the difference between the two in favor of the latter. It’s not enough being clever or skilled at something, he tells the audience: how a person uses his or her talents is what defines that person.
The context of the speech is essential here. He’s speaking to fellow Princeton students as an alumnus, reminding the audience that they shouldn’t just rest on their Princeton laurels. They must assume the responsibility of ethical decision-making.
Bezos uses contrast as a leitmotif throughout the speech. For example, here’s a person of immense success urging , humility, kindness, and consideration of others.
Use contrast and storytelling in speeches to highlight your points and make them memorable.
Engage the Audience
“How will you use these gifts? And will you take pride in your gifts or pride in your choices?”
Successful engagement is the key to effective communication. As an orator, you have several tools to engage and connect with your audience.
Storytelling captures and sustains attention. To spark action, orators can use rhetorical questions, prompting audience members to answer these questions for themselves, thus involving them in the conversation.
Having developed and delivered the contrast between gifts and choices as the main theme of his speech, Bezos pulls the audience into the middle of this central dilemma, forcing them to pick sides.
Again, the context of the speech is essential here. As Princeton graduates, he expects them to make ethical decisions.
“Tomorrow, in a very real sense, your life – the life you author from scratch on your own – begins.”
His questions, therefore, also serve to remind the audience of the burden of responsibility they carry.
Don’t hesitate to address your audience directly, asking people to pick sides on an issue under the emotional terms you define. Rhetorical questions work well for inspiring action in speeches.
Inspire Action
“In the end, we are our choices. Build yourself a great story.”
No great speech is complete without a powerful call to action. Bezos’ 2010 Princeton University baccalaureate address leaves this master stroke to the end.
Having fully developed his story of talent versus decisions and having made the audience aware of the responsibility they carry as Princeton graduates, Bezos delivers a succinct conclusion at the emotional peak of his address. He follows his conclusion with an inspirational call to action, asking his audience to prioritize meaningful actions and kindness over short-term gains.
Adopting a long-term perspective by urging listeners to imagine themselves looking back at their lives aged 80 is a powerful emotional motivator.
Invite your audience to share your forward-looking perspective and inspire them to consider the long-term implications of their actions.
Appeal to Emotions
“Will you be clever at the expense of others, or will you be kind?”
Using emotional appeal is another hallmark of successful communicators.
Bezos establishes emotional connections through the story about his grandmother, then guides its flow throughout his speech, using it to engage, persuade, and inspire. As he tells his stories and makes his points, he increases the emotional resonance, aiming to reach its peak on time for his final call to action.
His delivery is slow and empathic, as if engaging in a heart-to-heart with those in the audience. The stories about his grandparents and his exploits as a child inventor are lighthearted. His emotional intensity increases, however, as he begins addressing the audience directly.
By rattling off 12 consecutive rhetorical questions, he ups the emotional tempo, setting the ground for his finale, the Call To Action.
Aim to connect meaningfully with your audience as Bezos did in this address. Build emotional connections for effective communication, then build the emotion to a climax.
Marketer Takeaways
As a professional communicator, here are the public speaking tips we can learn from Jeff Bezos’ 2010 Princeton speech:
- Use personal anecdotes to engage your audience. Personal stories make you relatable and your message more memorable.
- Use contrasts to highlight ideas. Contrasts can clarify complex concepts and help you make your points.
- Ask rhetorical questions to involve your audience. Our minds are programmed to seek answers to questions. Rhetorical questions spark introspection and encourage engagement.
- Appeal to emotions to build connections. Emotions guide attention, prioritize information, and impact decision-making.
- Give your audience something to do. Call for action at the emotional peak of your speech.
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