Why Everyone Listened When Yash Mehta Spoke At His University In America

It's that time of year with graduation ceremonies, dinners, parties and presents. It's the biggest day of a graduate's educational experience, and their favorite part seems to be when the ceremony is all over and they can have some "real fun." Everyone jokes about how the graduation speeches are too long, too boring, not targeted to the students, and that few people seem to really remember anything from them.

Recently, however, I had the opportunity to listen to a truly inspirational speaker. It was one of the best graduation speeches I have ever heard, and it wasn't given by a famous celebrity or athlete or musician, but by a graduating senior - a young person. It wasn't just that he had near perfect tone of voice, eye contact, and hand gestures. Or that he never once looked at his notes to figure out what he was going to say. It wasn't even that he was simply polite and respectful to the administration.

It was all of those things and more. Yash Mehta, the graduating senior the class picked to represent them as commencement speaker, was poised and professional. He gave a clear, concise, and compelling talk. And it was funny, too. It resonated with the audience when he spoke about procrastination and pizza, going to early morning classes and awkwardly attending networking events to get jobs.

So what was so special about this speech? He helped the graduating students to remember what is truly important - that each one of them, by attending a top-ranked institution, has been given opportunities that so many others will never have. They are special because they are "outliers," as author Malcolm Gladwell might have described them. In his book, "Outliers," Gladwell explained that it helps to understand outliers by looking at what is around them - their culture, family and communities. So Mehta challenged the graduating students to look around and see those people in their families, communities, etc. that have enabled them to be outliers. For just a few moments, it got those graduating students to remember what chances and opportunities they had received. The silence and reflection in the large stadium was noticeable. They seemed to recall (as did we all) that an education is a precious and unique gift. All of us seemed to pause and realize that so many others in the world do not have these educational opportunities that sometimes we take for granted.

But, he didn't end his speech there. He challenged his fellow graduating students to remember that with this opportunity they must now use their new education along with their ethics and values to give back to society and "do good" for the world. That they cannot simply do what they have done in classes "to solve and find x," but rather that they have to find "y." And not really "y," but why - they need to find their purpose - their "why" in life. Why they are here in this world, what will they accomplish, what makes each of them unique.

Often, graduation speakers challenge the audience to give more, do more and be more. Hearing this from any speaker is important, but when you hear one of your fellow classmates truly challenge you to be grateful for the opportunity you have been given and remind you that you have a responsibility to make the world a better place, the words impact you in a much more profound way. When you hear a fellow student tell you to find your purpose in life and live your life in pursuit of your purpose, it resonates with you. It reminds you that the education you just experienced was not just about the social times and fun, but it was also about preparing you for the journey you can now embark on where you truly can influence the world. Our graduating college students get this. They want to make a tremendous difference. And, they want to be reminded that they can and they must. Mehta gave them the graduation message they wanted and needed to hear. He showed us how powerful a graduation speech can be.



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Joyce E. A. Russell is the senior associate dean at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business. She is a licensed industrial and organizational psychologist and has more than 25 years of experience coaching executives and consulting on leadership, career management, and negotiations. She can be reached at jrussell@rhsmith.umd.edu.

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