Steve Jobs – Stanford speech 2005

This is a rhetorical analyze of the speech of Steve Jobs when he delivered commencement speech “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.” to the graduates of Stanford University on June 12, 2005.

I noted three noteworthy elements in speech:

• It have a strong opening
• Theme of birth/death/rebirth.
• Simple structure

These three elements have a big importance how Steve Jobs have created his speech and also how he has include the rhetorical aspects ethos, Pathos and logos into it.

Steve Jobs opening the speech with “I am honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world.” He mention early in the speech that he never graduates from the collage (“I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I’ve ever gotten to a college graduation”) and this shows his humility about how great work the students does and also makes them to feel good and keep attention. He try to be personal and talking about rights and wrongs and his emotional feelings about his disappointment and bewilderment about his chose of collage, when he wasting his parents saved money to something he don’t wanted to be. Due to his stories, he creates a persona about himself and he makes himself out to be a person who carries on even in the darkest of times and who has overcome many obstacles when things didn’t look good. By describing life events and how close he was to death, he awoke much emotional feelings and aslo breaks down the barriers between his personality and professional roles.

Through Jobs strong opening and by present a persona of himself and talking about life experiences, creates the ethos aspect to this speech and by talking about death and as well happiness, makes a strong emotionality by the whole story. This also includes the rhetorical aspect pathos.

One more reason why this story awoke attention as the audiences and keep them interested during the whole speech are because of its simple structure (logos), which is a part of the aspect in rhetoric.

The speech can be divided in three parts.

He tells the audiences in the beginning of the speech “Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That’s it. No big deal. Just three stories.” This creates a curiosity, which is a good way to awake attention and engagement. 

VISUAL RHETORIC – The art of speaking and writing effectively

Visual rhetoric questions the persuasiveness of images, and the devices that are used to persuade us.

By using rhetoric in visual communication may be pass a message with a specific purpose. Questions about how a website can be designed for awake trustfulness and persuade the viewer it a serious company, and what a photographer tried to persuade the viewer. This things communicate the receivers through Ethos, Pathos and logos and they are together responsible for the persuasiveness of a message.

Ethos – is about the credibility of the rhetor, the person or organization who wants persuade the viewer.

This is a typical example of usage of the rhetorical tool ethos. By showing a prior and after picture of a man who tells he dropped 245 pounds by eating two subs a day, they persuades many people by eating subway sandwich will you lose weight.

Like Uncle Sam said – I want you for the US Army

Pathos – Tries to appeal to affect your emotions in order to persuade you.

Here is the visual language clear; by using Michelins tires will you save life, your and your children’s life! Including object that wakes much emotionality, as children or animals will pathos function strike hard.

Logos – Is about rational arguments, a form or arguments based on fact, logic and figures.

By using this picture tries the company to convince their audiences by drinking milk can you get super powers.  But the main purpose with the ad is to tell the message that calcium makes you stro