Comparing Jon Stewart's Speech To William And Mary University

Jon Stewart, a comedian and an Alumni of William and Mary University, delivered a very entertaining yet, informative speech to the graduating class of William and Mary. He informed the graduates about what to expect in the real world and a little bit on his experience at the university. He mentions that “College is something you complete, life is something you experience” (Stewart, 2004, 12:09). I find these words to be quite encouraging because a lot of college students spend so much time into the school work that they forget to enjoy their experience. When giving his speech Stewart had two sets of audiences to speak to which was the family and friends of the graduates and the graduates. Although he had two sets to speak to, he tailored his speech to the graduates of William and Mary. Furthermore, Jon audience enjoyed his speech and what’s more important than having the attention of your audience.

Being that he is a comedian Jon was very entertaining when giving his speech. Although, entertainment is much needed when sitting through a graduation ceremony, I felt as though he incorporated too much throughout his address. When starting his address, he cleared his throat a numerous amount of times. Not only that but, Jon also said thank you to his audience a lot of times as well and also used some provocative language. I get the point of him being a comedian, but when delivering a speech, such as that, he should have used language that was appropriate for the occasion. With his high confidence he was able to deliver his speech in high volume and with great clarity which made is speech effective. I did notice that when he would say “real world” (Stewart, 2004, 4:03), he would get tongue twisted, but the rest of his speech was articulated and pronounced