This Nobel Prize winning champion of the anti-apartheid movement presented a message of hope mixed with urgency that transcends our current economic slowdown and the dismal job prospects most of these graduate face.
You would expect preachers to be effective communicators. After all, that’s a big part of their job. But Tutu’s address is a template all of us can use in our professional and personal lives as we attempt to get our ideas to others:
- Connect with your audience – it took Tutu all of 30 seconds to bond with the thousands in the stadium. Once he had us, he never let go. We were captivated and a bit disappointed when he had to end his speech.
- Humor is the universal language – Tutu’s jokes, stories, and often self-deprecating humor dissolved any age and cultural barriers that might have existed between him and the twenty-somethings in the caps and gowns or, as he called them, those “blue-clad creatures.” At one point he laughed so hard at his own joke, he almost lost his train of thought.
- Finish strong – I won’t spoil the ending, but his last words to us were more than memorable…they were haunting. As we communicate, we need to leave our audience with an indelible mark that won’t easily wash away.
As the father of one of those “blue clad creatures” I left the ceremony uplifted by Tutu’s optimism and passion and re-energized to be a better steward of what God has entrusted me.
And, by the way, guess who UNC’s cross-town rival, Duke University, had as their commencement speaker that same morning? Oprah. UNC wins again….
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