Oprah Winfrey did a wonderful job giving this speech, especially since it was in front of a large audience. First of all, for the most part, the way she started her speech was great and respectful congratulating the class of 2008 on a job well done. Throughout the speech, she told the audience little stories about her life and found a way to connect it to the audience and how her life lessons could help them become better people in the future. Oprah Winfrey uses several quotes throughout her speech that show she was very credible. The best quote of all is from Dr. King, who says, “Not everyone can be great…because anyone can serve.” You do not need to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. » The speech began with Oprah Winfrey telling a story about being a good girl and how she didn't want anyone to know that she knew who she was. Even though his goddaughter was graduating that day, I really didn't see the point in spending about five minutes telling the story. Even though it was a special occasion for her, it still didn't really concern me. The language she used during her speech in this section was correct. For me, it wasn't a strong opening and she could have done a better job setting up this opening. It was wonderful to see how Oprah Winfrey expressed the importance of education and how she got started in her profession. It inspired me to pursue my education wholeheartedly even though, like her, I was one credit short of graduating. She connected with the audience while expressing what her life was like at that time. The tone of voice kept changing, which helps the hearing...... middle of paper ......ion to be very memorable for me. I remember her saying that to be happy, you have to give back. Giving back is the true form of happiness because you make someone else happy, which helps brighten your spirit. I also remember her saying that when faced with a difficulty, it was best to help someone else and that by helping them, that is exactly how we would get out of our situation. Oprah Winfrey's conclusion gave the listener something to look forward to and also, in a way, a call to action. To show exactly what she encountered, she followed up on her call to action by giving them a surprise. Surprise was the last thing she expressed, she did when she said she believes everything is better when shared and she gave the class two books that are important to her. Overall, she did a great job presenting the speech to the Stanford University Class of 2008..