---
title: '''Be the Truth'': Watch Oprah''s Inspirational USC Commencement Speech'
description: Oprah Winfrey gave a rousing speech to USC graduates. Here's the advice she passed along.
authors:
  - name: Kristen Bahler
    role: Managing Editor
    url: https://money.com/author/kristen-bahler/
    bio: Kristen Bahler has spent more than a decade turning culture, work and consumer spending trends into conversation-driving stories. Today, she leads Money's sponsored content channel and reader-favorite franchises like Best Places to Live and Best Places to Travel.
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      - Taxes
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published: '2018-05-11T20:35:37.000Z'
modified: '2018-05-11T20:35:37.000Z'
section: Education
tags:
  - Best colleges
  - graduation
  - Oprah
word_count: 152
canonical: https://money.com/oprah-usc-annenberg-speech/
type: Article
source: structured-blocks
---

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![Oprah Winfrey, center, addresses USC Annenberg Class of 2018 at the Shrine Auditorium, in Los Angeles, May 11, 2018.](https://img.money.com/2018/05/180511-oprah-commencement.jpg)
*Oprah Winfrey, center, addresses USC Annenberg Class of 2018 at the Shrine Auditorium, in Los Angeles, May 11, 2018.*

No one can say “GRADDUUUAAATES” quite like Oprah Winfrey.

Speaking to about 900 of them at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School commencement on Friday, she urged the audience of future journalists to “be the truth” that short attention spans, misinformation, and fake news has stripped away.

“In about an hour and a half, you’re going to be catapulted into a world that appears to have gone off its rocker,” she warned. “Media is now being used to erode trust ... the solution is each and every one of you.”

Winfrey also gave some practical advice all graduating seniors — journalists or otherwise — can put to good use:

Eat a good breakfast ("It really pays off")  
Pay your bills on time  
Make your bed  
Invest in a quality mattress  
Don't "cheap out on your shoes."

Oh, and "vote, vote, vote."

Watch the entire speech in the video below.

[Watch video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VM-KDqvsS4)

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