Randy Pausch's Speech Analysis

When first looking at Paul Roberts’ essay, “How to Say Nothing in 500 Words” and Randy Pausch’s speech, “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”, there does not appear to be much similarity. However, the text shows Pausch uses several techniques to better the understanding of the message. Although people might view “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams” as a comedic, inspirational speech, a closer look at the text reveals Pausch taking the obvious and expanding it, stating the obvious and not beating around the bush, and taking the less usual point of view on the topic.
In saying that Pausch uses Roberts essay as a foundation, the first example would be Pausch calling a fool a fool, or stating the obvious and not beating around the bush.

However, he takes the less usual side of things and turns it into a life guide. That is the biggest "head fake" of them all. Throughout the entire speech the audience is amazed at how positive, cheerful, and upbeat he is but that's the beauty of it. It allows the audience to feel inspired but at the end they realize what the speech is truly about. Pausch doesn't start out by telling the audience what the true intentions are. He takes the less traveled side of allowing them to get sucked into the speech and then hitting the audience with his true intentions. Pausch did not intend on using his diagnosis to his advantage; however, the audience became emotionally attached to him due to his condition. The speech focuses on all the dreams Pausch once had and transforms each dream into a lesson. He then states at the very end of his speech, “It is not about achieving your dreams but living your life. If you lead your life the right way, the karma will take care of itself, the dreams will come to you.” In “To An Athlete Dying Young”, Housman describes an athlete reaching the peak of his glory shortly before dying. (“To”) Similarly, Pausch reaches the peak of his glory shortly after passing away. However, he uses that glory to better future