Since it was uploaded on Monday, the “epic” convocation speech video by Nicholas Selby has already gotten over two million views. With the slogan “you can do that,” the video went viral in only a matter of days, sending the Georgia Tech sophomore to Internet stardom. Comments on the video praised his speech, calling it one of the best convocation speeches ever. However, Selby’s attention took a negative turn when reports that the speech was plagiarized arose.
Gawker reported that aspects of the speech were taken from a speech in 2008 by Andy Stone, a Arizona State University debate team champion. Coincidentally, Stone was Selby’s high school speech coach.
Selby claimed that Stone allowed him to use some of his spech but some outlets still have their doubts. A Facebook post by Selby stated that the coach “was absolutely thrilled” when he asked him to use part of the original speech.
This is a shortened version of Selby’s speech from the freshman convocation at Georgia Tech.
Now check out Stone’s speech from 2008 (fast foward to around 8:40). See the similarities?