# The 23 Greatest Commencement Speeches of All Time

> A Navy admiral's bed-making advice goes up against a novelist's quiet sermon on attention and a comedian's lesson in public failure. Funny, raw or wise, every one of these got passed around long after the caps were thrown.

*By YPB Team · Published October 30, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-23-greatest-commencement-speeches-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Steve Jobs, Stanford 2005** — score 1000/1000
   Jobs's "Stay hungry, stay foolish" address, built on three stories about connecting the dots, love and loss, and death.
2. **Robert De Niro, Tisch 2015** — score 603/1000
   De Niro's blunt welcome to a life of rejection for NYU's arts graduates.
3. **Conan O'Brien, Dartmouth 2011** — score 586/1000
   A comic speech that turned his Tonight Show exit into a lesson about failure and reinvention.
4. **William McRaven, Texas 2014** — score 586/1000
   The Navy SEAL admiral's "If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed" speech at UT Austin.
5. **Ellen DeGeneres, Tulane 2009** — score 586/1000
   Ellen's speech in post-Katrina New Orleans about being true to yourself.
6. **Jeff Bezos, Princeton 2010** — score 541/1000
   The "We are our choices" talk on the difference between gifts and choices.
7. **Taylor Swift, NYU 2022** — score 532/1000
   Swift's Yankee Stadium address on making mistakes, cringe and stepping into adulthood.
8. **Aaron Sorkin, Syracuse 2012** — score 532/1000
   The screenwriter's sharp advice to his alma mater on failure and doing the work.
9. **David Foster Wallace, Kenyon 2005** — score 469/1000
   The "This Is Water" speech about choosing what to pay attention to in everyday adult life.
10. **Matthew McConaughey, Houston 2015** — score 469/1000
   McConaughey's thirteen rules for life, delivered at the University of Houston.
11. **Oprah Winfrey, Harvard 2013** — score 469/1000
   Oprah on the lessons of her OWN network's rocky start and finding your true path.
12. **Stephen Colbert, Northwestern 2011** — score 397/1000
   Colbert's speech on improv, service and serving others as the path to fulfilment.
13. **Jim Carrey, MUM 2014** — score 397/1000
   Carrey's Maharishi University of Management talk on choosing love over fear.
14. **Denzel Washington, Penn 2011** — score 397/1000
   The "Fall forward" speech urging graduates to take risks and learn from failure.
15. **Tom Hanks, Harvard 2023** — score 313/1000
   Hanks's call for graduates to be among those who choose truth and the American ideal.
16. **Chadwick Boseman, Howard 2018** — score 313/1000
   Boseman's return to his alma mater with a call to embrace purpose over a career.
17. **Tim Minchin, UWA 2013** — score 313/1000
   Minchin's nine life lessons, from not chasing dreams to respecting teachers.
18. **Bill Gates, Harvard 2007** — score 313/1000
   The famous dropout returned for his degree and urged graduates to take on the world's worst inequities.
19. **J.K. Rowling, Harvard 2008** — score 313/1000
   Rowling's talk on the fringe benefits of failure and the importance of imagination.
20. **Natalie Portman, Harvard 2015** — score 313/1000
   Portman on insecurity, impostor feelings and how inexperience can be an asset.
21. **Abby Wambach, Barnard 2018** — score 313/1000
   The soccer star's "Wolfpack" speech on leading and demanding what you are worth.
22. **Sheryl Sandberg, Berkeley 2016** — score 213/1000
   Sandberg's first public reflections on grief and resilience after her husband's death.
23. **Will Ferrell, USC 2017** — score 0/1000
   Ferrell's mix of comedy and sincerity about fear and persistence, ending with a song.

Tags: celebrities, speeches, commencement, graduation