“Hotty Toddy’ has no real meaning,
but it means everything for students, fans, and alumni.
It is a greeting, cheer, and secret handshake
all rolled into one.”

— Doug Ward, ESPN

• If you were asked to deliver a commencement speech, what would your theme and key message be for the graduating class of 2025?

• Do you have a favorite commencement speaker or speech that you have watched more than one time?

• If your commencement speech had a quote that would be attributed to you for the rest of your life, what would it be?

It is the time of year when I read about and watch commencement speakers. YouTube shares the best of the best or the most watched. Over the years, I have some favorites. I like those with buoyancy and humor. I want to be transported, uplifted, and given a direction to pursue.

I was once asked to deliver a commencement speech for a local technical college. I was much younger then, but very confident in my speaking skills. Finally, I settled on a theme that I was passionate about and believed to be responsible life advice.

Today, if I were invited to give a commencement speech, I would struggle to review what I know or have experienced that could be inspirational or helpful to someone several generations younger than myself. I would twist and turn while searching for something meaty, meaningful, and original.

I would review YouTube and search for the most quoted. I did that while holding the questions I have posed to you. I found celebrities and corporate leaders. I found Valedictorians and poets. I discovered well-worn speeches and quotes from the past 200 years. I received something from each one of them and will include one that was positioned on YouTube as the most watched commencement speech of the previous ten years. The link will be at the end of this blog. But please don’t look now. I don’t want you to get distracted or influenced!

Yet, it will take me some time to answer my own questions and come up with a single quote that I would be proud to put out in the world as my contribution to the commencement speech content.

Abraham Lincoln once said, “If I am to speak ten minutes, I need a week for preparation; if an hour, I am ready now.”

Today, I understand better what he was communicating then. To be clear, concise, and compelling requires great thought.

If you ask me a question that leads to a story, I will be a waterfall of words tumbling out with no end. Sometimes, I meander and forget the point I had wanted to make. But, if I am given a finite amount of time — and the expectation that I will deliver an impactful message that considers the audience’s needs — well, that may take me a while.

I have not landed on my quote or theme or metaphor. Not yet. But below are some of the more recent ones that I found during my search.

I am still very curious to hear what you would say to a class of new graduates.

Please share and enjoy every graduation you are attending this spring!