Telling Your Story

In his talk on stories, Lin-Manuel Miranda explains the importance of sharing your story. The actor and writer gives an entertaining commencement address to the graduating class of the University of Pennsylvania. The speech begins by describing the ways in which the historic city of Philadelphia and larger state of Pennsylvania were omitted from the speaker's Tony Award-winning musical Hamilton. This serves as a greater theme for the rest of the talk on stories -- that the parts which are left out are not any less important.

In fact, the teller of the story significantly impacts the story being told. While some aspects are dramatized and highlighted, others are ignored. However, every individual's story is important. The speaker also uses the example of immigration and two personal anecdotes of his own to bring this point home.