10 Life Lessons: Bill Mcraven's Commencement Speech
10 Life Lessons
On May 17th, 2014, Admiral William “Bill” McRaven, gave one of the most memorable commencement speeches, entitled “10 Life Lessons”, to the graduating class of 2014 at the University of Texas at Austin. On that day in May, there were over 8,000 students graduating, not to mention the families and factuality of those graduating students in attendance as well. ADM. McRaven at the time was the 9th Commander of the Special Operations Command. He had spent over 35 years in the United States Navy as a SEAL Officer, and had attributed many great things to the United States. Such fine examples of his work range from the capture of Sadaam Hussien, to the raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound, and many more. ADM. McRaven’s speech to the …show more content…
An example of the establishment of his credibility or trust is by personal branding as a Navy SEAL, stating, “I have been a Navy SEAL for 36 years. But it all began when I left UT for Basic SEAL training in Coronado, California”(10), he then uses vivid language and stories to draw the audience in more to the speech giving them details of how hard the SEAL training was, “Basic SEAL training is six months of long torturous runs in the soft sand, midnight swims in the cold water off San Diego, obstacles courses, unending calisthenics, days without sleep and always being cold, wet and miserable”(10). At the beginning of the speech there is some humor used to try and draw the audience in, but the overall essence of the speech is formal. Admiral McRaven’s will not know the outcome of his speech given that day. Nor will the over 8,000 students, faculty, and staffs in attendance, one can only assume that the inspiration given forth by this will greatly impact all those who leant an ear. “If you do these things, then the next generation and the generations that follow will live in a world far better than the one we have today”(48), which was said by Admiral McRaven, knowing that the effect had on all who witnessed; seen or heard the speech will not be known for future generations to
On May 17th, 2014, Admiral William “Bill” McRaven, gave one of the most memorable commencement speeches, entitled “10 Life Lessons”, to the graduating class of 2014 at the University of Texas at Austin. On that day in May, there were over 8,000 students graduating, not to mention the families and factuality of those graduating students in attendance as well. ADM. McRaven at the time was the 9th Commander of the Special Operations Command. He had spent over 35 years in the United States Navy as a SEAL Officer, and had attributed many great things to the United States. Such fine examples of his work range from the capture of Sadaam Hussien, to the raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound, and many more. ADM. McRaven’s speech to the …show more content…
An example of the establishment of his credibility or trust is by personal branding as a Navy SEAL, stating, “I have been a Navy SEAL for 36 years. But it all began when I left UT for Basic SEAL training in Coronado, California”(10), he then uses vivid language and stories to draw the audience in more to the speech giving them details of how hard the SEAL training was, “Basic SEAL training is six months of long torturous runs in the soft sand, midnight swims in the cold water off San Diego, obstacles courses, unending calisthenics, days without sleep and always being cold, wet and miserable”(10). At the beginning of the speech there is some humor used to try and draw the audience in, but the overall essence of the speech is formal. Admiral McRaven’s will not know the outcome of his speech given that day. Nor will the over 8,000 students, faculty, and staffs in attendance, one can only assume that the inspiration given forth by this will greatly impact all those who leant an ear. “If you do these things, then the next generation and the generations that follow will live in a world far better than the one we have today”(48), which was said by Admiral McRaven, knowing that the effect had on all who witnessed; seen or heard the speech will not be known for future generations to