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№ 2013.006 — Knox College — Commencement address
Ed Helms
Field: arts
Ed Helms, drawing on his own career path from film editor to comedian, argues that fear should be treated not as a command to retreat but as useful information. He recounts how examining his fears revealed his true desire to pursue comedy and how confronting the fear of bombing onstage helped him improve. He urges graduates to orient their lives toward discovery rather than avoiding failure, and to trust their instincts and passions.
Key moments
- 01 Opening jokes about Knox, its mascot, and liberal arts education
- 02 Reframing fear as information that identifies our ignorance
- 03 Story of leaving an editing career to pursue comedy in New York
- 04 Learning from bombing onstage and using audience reaction as data
- 05 Closing call to live through fear and pursue discovery
Transcript
The full transcript is hosted by the original publisher. Commencement Archive links to the source rather than republishing copyrighted text.
Read the full transcript at source →Provenance
Imported from NPR commencement archive; cross-referenced with Open Commencement DB
NPR archive last updated in 2015; destination availability has not been exhaustively rechecked | Open Commencement DB transcript; not independently verified against the original recording