Good Speech Topics

What are good speech topics? A good topic for a particular speech depends on the purpose of the speech, but in general, they should meet two criteria.

First of all, the topic of your speech should be a subject that you are interested in talking about. When we speak about topics that interest us, we are likely to be more natural, more passionate and less nervous in our delivery. Good speech topics are subjects that we are very familiar with and comfortable talking about. This makes giving the speech a more pleasant experience for us and for the audience.

Speaking of the audience, this is the second element of choosing good speech topics. Remember that although it is important for you to be comfortable with your topic and to like what you are speaking about, it is NOT ABOUT YOU!

Speaking is communication with the audience so preparing a speech should involve a significant amount of attention to the needs and interests of the audience. Prior to choosing a topic for your speech, perform an audience analysis.

An audience analysis is simply a matter of determining the characteristics of your audience.

Consider their age, gender, and educational background. What do they need to know, what do they already know and what are they interested in? Having this information will help you choose the best speech topic as well as the appropriate language to use and method of presentation. For example, if you are speaking to young children on the general topic of fire prevention, you wouldn't choose the specific topic of furnace maintenance.

Choosing good speech topics is also a function of the purpose of the speech.

For informative speeches good topics might be selected from among your hobbies, interests, activities, heroes, and favorite recipes. Your speech could inform the audience about the topic or be a demonstration instructing your audience how to do one of your favorite activities.

For persuasive speeches, good speech topics might include controversial issues, volunteer opportunities and causes that need funding.

For an inspirational or motivational speech you might select a moving story as the centerpiece for a speech on the topic of making the most of life or overcoming challenges.

Where can you find good speech topics? The best speech topics come from your own experience and interests but if you are still stuck there are a number of places to look. Pick up a newspaper or a magazine and see what interesting stories are in the news. Browse an on-line news site or an encyclopedia. Many of the public speaking texts include a "topic finder." There are also a few places on-line to find good speech topics, like this site!

Check out good informative speech topics, good demonstration speech topics, good persuasive speech topics, good expository speech topics, good controversial speech topics and good impromptu speech topics for lists of topics that you may be interested in expanding on.

Remember that good speech topics are those that are interesting and easy for you to research and speak about. They meet the audience need and are focused in such a way that they are relevant and understandable to the audience.

They are most readily found in your own life and experience but you can also search newspapers, magazines, and the internet for the topic that is just right for the speech you are going to give.

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