6 Engagement Lessons from Steve Carell’s Commencement Speech
I love real-world moments that show exactly what “moving a room” means. Actor Steve Carell’s 2025 commencement speech is one of them. I co-wrote this piece with my friend Sean Gannet of SFG Productions to break down what Carell did — and what you can borrow, no matter your audience.
By Lindsey Caplan & Sean Gannet
We reconnected as Northwestern University Radio/TV/Film alums and instantly bonded over something unexpected: a commencement speech.
Not just any speech. Steve Carell’s 2025 Northwestern commencement address. It’s funny. It's poignant. It’s gone viral for good reason. But more than that, it’s a masterclass in how to connect with an audience and leave them changed. (If you haven’t watched it yet, just stop what you’re doing and treat yourself to 17 mins of pure joy.)
Whether you’re delivering a keynote, kicking off a company offsite, or leading a team meeting… Carell’s approach is a playbook for how to make your words stick!
So we broke it down together.
1. Connection First, Message Second
Carell opens with deep audience awareness. He pokes fun at Northwestern’s infamous Dillo Day and this year’s chaos—an inside joke every NU student would get. It’s not performative pandering. It’s belonging. He himself didn’t attend NU, but his daughter is a Northwestern graduate, and his son is a current student.
Lindsey's take: “See them first.” Before you earn their attention, show them you understand who they are. Another way to do this is to show what you have in common with your audience.
Sean’s take: “Relate before you resonate.” You can’t move an audience until they feel like you’re one of them—or at least understand them and are on their side.
2. Chunked, Signposted, and Sticky
Carell gives us three big themes: kindness, listening, and respect. It’s the rule of three in action—familiar to both comedians and instructional designers.
And he orients the audience every step of the way “Today I’m going to talk about…” and “To recap…”
He doesn’t stop there. Each point gets a story. Often a joke. Sometimes heartfelt. And then, a concrete takeaway
This structure?
• Chunked themes
• Personal examples
• Emotional builds
• Clear calls to action
That’s how you move from your ideas being heard to remembered.
Lindsey’s reminder: Focus on how people will remember and retain your message, not just the message itself.
Sean’s insight: The fastest way to make something memorable is to create emotion around it. And the best way to create emotion? Storytelling.
3. The Dance Break: Not Just a Gimmick
Yes, that moment. It wasn’t random. It was relief. It was participation. It was pull, not push.
Carell invited thousands of graduates to rise, move, laugh, and feel something with him, not just listen to him.
Lindsey's analogy: Just like a wine tasting points out “notes of strawberry,” give your audience a role: something to notice, anticipate, or do. That’s how you shift them from passive listeners to active participants, even in what can traditionally be a very passive experience like a commencement.
Sean’s take: A dance break wouldn’t fly at most corporate events—and that’s the point. This moment worked because it was earned. It matched the emotion in the room and gave the audience a way to release it. You don’t need choreography to do that. You just need to create space for shared energy and spontaneity—on your terms, for your audience.
4. Earn the Emotion
The most personal story? He saved it until after the dance break. Why? Because laughter opened the room. Trust was built. Now he could go deeper. That’s sequencing. That’s emotional pacing.
Carell didn’t start with the big truth. He earned it. Start with laughter, earn the openness, and then go for impact.
Sean’s take: You warm up the audience by building trust. Once they’re listening, then you land the deeper emotional hook.
Lindsey’s take: Carell doesn’t open with vulnerability—he earns the emotional payoff by warming up the audience first. That sequencing makes the deeper stories land harder, because trust has been built.
5. Let the Real You Breathe
Right after the dance break, Carell’s out of breath. Literally winded. He doesn’t hide it. He says it out loud.
That honesty, however small, is what makes a speaker feel human, not rehearsed.
Sean's tip: The best speakers don’t pretend when something goes off script. They name it, own it, and move on. That moment of authenticity does more than polish ever could.
Lindsey’s tip: When you make your thinking visible, as Carell did, you bring people not just into your head, but more into the experience.
6. Don’t Just Say It. Let Them Feel It.
Carell tells the crowd at the top: “You won’t remember what I say.” But then he leaves them with something they will remember—how it felt.
Because as Lindsey says, people don’t change because of what is shared—they change when what’s shared affects them.
Our shared belief: The goal isn’t just to share content. It’s to move people.
Most of us won’t go viral with a dance break. It might even be seen as derivative now until this speech ends its virality. But we can create moments that feel personal, purposeful, and participatory.
Lindsey Caplan is a screenwriter turned organizational psychologist who helps HR and business leaders design group moments that drive engagement and move people to act