Steve Jobs’ Motivational Speech 

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Steve Jobs gives the listeners a reason to care. He talks about his own experience and is not ashamed to share his failure with his audience. He uses intriguing and provocative questions about getting fired from a company he himself founded. The question sparks the audience’s strong feelings such as confusion, annoyance, or even anger.

Watch this Steve Job motivational speech.

Vocabulary Questions:

1. What does “devastating” mean? Use it in a sentence.
2. What does this statement mean “Sometimes life’s going to hit you in the head with a brick.”?
3. What does the expression “to dawn on (someone)” mean? Use it in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

1. Does the speaker use intriguing, provocative questions? Why does he use them?
2. What do you find interesting/useful/helpful or useless/boring about the speech? Why?
3. What does failure teach you?
4. Share your thoughts on this statement, “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”.