Choosing a Topic for your Speech

For many people, one of the most difficult tasks of the actual speech presentation is choosing a topic. Selecting the perfect topic is a delicate balance between what is alluring to the audience, what is appealing to you, the speaker, and what is appropriate for the occasion/environment where the speech is to be given. Many thoughts may go through your mind wondering if the audience will actually be interested in the topic you have chosen or if you will have enough information to create a successful speech. The audience is the most important component of any speech; thus, by knowing your audience on a personal level through the completion of the audience analysis, the chosen topic should reflect as many aspects of the audience as possible. Consequently, because finding a topic can be such a difficult chore, there is a four-step process that will make the headache of topic selection virtually disappear!

Generating Ideas

When given the opportunity at speech delivery, the first thing you must do when choosing the perfect topic is condition yourself to sit down with a paper and pen in a quiet environment perhaps with soothing music playing in the background which allows you to jot down the responses to the following questions.

  • What are your hobbies?
  • What are your special interests?
  • What are some topics that have recently been presented in the news/media?
  • Is there a certain topic about which you feel the audience should be educated?

By broadly answering these questions, you will find yourself with a wealth of possible topics in which to present for your speech. Look over your answers and find a couple of topics that meets your needs as well as the needs of your audience.

Background Information

Once you have 2-3 topics in mind, it is time to do a bit of research to look at some general background information about these topics. By simply typing the chosen topics, one by one, into a search engine (Google, Yahoo, Dogpile) on the Internet, you will be able to read some pertinent information about the topics to better judge if that certain topic would be suitable for your speech. When gauging this, keep in mind yourself, your audience, and the message that you are attempting to convey.

Finding You Speech Topic

By now, you should have 2-3 possible speech topics complete with some general background information about each. Take a look at the questions that you answered in step one and choose the topic that most closely relates to your answers, keeping in mind your audience and whether you are willing to research this in detail. This will become the topic of your speech. Once you have your topic, it is time to develop the topic sentence.

Write the Topic Statement

The topic statement expresses your chosen speech topic and gives it purpose. As you begin to research in detail and write your speech, you will rely on your topic statement to guide you and help keep you committed and focused to the topic at hand. The topic statement should be as specific as possible to your chosen topic with detailed language that grabs the attention of the audience and allows them to know exactly about what your speech will discuss. The topic statement is the first thing that your audience will hear and in the short amount of time that it takes to deliver this first sentence, the audience will have already made the judgment as to whether they want to listen or tune out the remainder of your speech. The importance of creating an intriguing topic statement is essential to the success of your speech.

As you can see, the four-step process of topic selection makes it easy to select a theme in which to develop a one-of-a-kind speech. By allowing yourself to creatively answer each question in step one, generate ideas, sets the overall tone of your developing speech. As you initiate background information, the topics begin to “come alive” creating some interesting themes in which to speak about. During the narrowing phase, the actual topic for you speech emerges and allows you to create an alluring topic statement which gives worthiness to your speech.

Structuring Your Speech

No matter what the reason is for delivering your speech, to inform, entertain, or persuade, there is a basic structure for all speeches that allows the organization of information to come together in a logical manner enabling the audience to follow along as you speak.

As you begin to research and organize ideas you would like to include in your presentation, it is logical to arrange the ideas into an outline format. With this outline, you are able to see your speech come together in a layout that allows you to verbalize your ideas. In essence, a speech outline provides a way to organize your ideas clearly so that when you deliver your speech, it will be in a logical, structured manner. There are only three basic parts of a speech outline, however, the more detailed you are, the better your speech will be, and the better your speech is, the more interested your audience is likely to be.

The first component of the speech outline is the introduction in which you state the topic of your speech (remember: your topic statement) and introduce your audience to the main points of your speech. The introduction should last about 1 minute, containing rich language that will win your audience or convince your audience that you have the authority to speak about the given topic, perhaps with humor. Use this time to lay a solid foundation so that the audience is grounded into your topic and explain ways in which the audience is connected to your topic.

Once your audience is connected, it is time to move onto the body of your speech. In the body, you should pick 3-4 main points that you want the audience to remember and develop these during your speech. The body of your speech should only last 20 minutes to ensure that the audience does not become bored with what you have to say. During the body presentation of your speech, be sure to thoroughly discuss your topic and if necessary provide pros and cons along with possible solutions. Always remember to present you own evaluation to your audience so that they can have a unique perspective on the topic so that the people in whom you are presenting can make educated opinions based on your speech. This is also the time to prove what you are saying is accurate.  You can provide statistics, diagrams, or pictures that portray the trustworthiness of your character as a speaker.

Once you have completed the body, a proper conclusion is in order to complete your speech. In the conclusion phase of your speech, it is imperative that you remind the audience of the main points that you want them to remember.

Because you have thoroughly explained each main point, the audience may have forgotten the exact main points. Therefore, it is up to you, the speaker, to provide a subtle reminder of the purpose of your speech by restating the main points. It is also extremely important to restate exactly what you want your audience to know as an outcome of listening to your speech. Typically, people remember the first 8 minutes of a speech and the very last statement that you make. Therefore, not only is your topic statement important, but your concluding statement will be the main aspect that your audience will remember.

Structuring your speech into an introduction, body, and conclusion will make certain that your audience is able to follow your speech easily in order to really absorb what you are saying.

Below is the basic structure for all speeches complete with questions to help you write and deliver an effective speech in which the audience will learn more about any topic that you choose to present.

Introduction

  • What is the overall topic of your speech?
  • Why should the audience listen to your speech?
  • What will your 3-4 main points be?

Body

  • What are your individual main points?
  • What information are you going to present to support you main points?

Conclusion

  • What were the 3-4 main points of your speech?
  • Specifically, what do you want the audience to remember?

With any speech, it is important to create a basic structure in which the audience can easily follow. By using the basic speech structure provided above, your speeches are certain to achieve any purpose, to inform, to persuade, or to entertain.