Did Usher Write His Own Commencement Speech? (Yeah!)

Image credit: Emory University

Have you ever had to make a presentation or give a speech that meant a lot to you, one in which you hoped to hit just the right note, make just the right connections, leave just the right impression? If so, you probably worked hard on it, revising over and over, getting advice, tweaking it right up to the last moment. Pretty much like Usher did for his 2025 commencement address at Emory University, though he had a publicist and team of professional advisers while you probably relied on friends or family members. In this New York Times article from May 2025, national correspondent Alan Blinder takes a close-up look at Usher’s speech composing process, trying to capture the recursive dynamic that drove Usher from start to finish. Here’s your chance to experience some of that process—and perhaps compare it to your own. 

Read it here.

EXPLORE, REFLECT, SPEAK UP.

1. The title of the article gives away the answer to its own question in a final parenthesis: “Yeah!” In Blinder’s view, Usher wrote his own commencement speech, though he worked with collaborators to do so pretty much throughout. Why might Blinder have chosen to answer his question right in the title, when he could have left it to be resolved within the article itself?  Do you agree with Blinder? Did his unusual title influence your thinking about Usher’s authorial role? Why or why not? 

2. Blinder uses captioned video clips of Usher talking about his speech as well as edited and annotated passages from Usher’s drafts to try to capture his process of revision and re-revision. How successful did you find these strategies? In what ways did they help you see into Usher’s writing process? In what ways, if any, were some of them a distraction—or even an irritation? How would you have advised Blinder to make them more effective? 

3. LET’S TALK. With two or three classmates, watch Usher’s full speech (use the link at the end of Blinder’s article). Then spend some time exploring your various reactions: what most impressed you about the speech, or what was most memorable to you, and why? Looking back at the goals Usher articulates in the Blinder article, which of them does he accomplish (and how does he do so?). Are there any he fails to accomplish? Where in the speech does Usher connect most strongly to his audience, and how specifically did he make those strong connections? 

4. AND NOW WRITE. One of Usher’s advisers suggested that Usher “talk about the times he fell down and then got back up.” Usher took the advice and included a personal anecdote he had never spoken about in public before: his placement in “special education classes” that left him deeply discouraged. Think of a time in your life when you “fell down.”  In a page or two, describe what happened to you, how it made you feel, and how you managed to “get back up” from it. What lessons did you learn from that experience?