Speech Topics

Archive for January, 2010

“What I Did Last Summer” Can be Boring and is Overused

You must realize that children are as involved as adults—and often are frightened by — current events.

You can actually kill two birds with one stone by taking a fear a child has, examine it, research it, and write about it together. Not only could the speech be appealing to other students, it could help resolve the fear altogether by the speech targeting facts.

Yes, we all know that news headlines can be misleading and much has to do with the media’s ratings. Can we, instead, turn the horrific headlines into beneficial speeches presented by children so that fear is replaced with facts? Yes.

The “Gloom and Doom” of Scientific Forecasts for the Planet can Make for Great Speeches

One girl I think about made it her own campaign at home: recycling in her bedroom. She explained in a speech how she did it and how she compelled other students and family members to do likewise: just make a few paper-bag containers that discards are tossed into.

This young girl not only made it her mission to recycle her ‘own stuff’ in her home, but enlisted ‘green’ stores throughout her local area to donate reusable bags for the collecting of ‘stuff’.

She explained that while separating bottles, aluminum, and other recyclable material was great in a couple of trash cans out in the yard, she wanted to show more distinctly how her used soda bottles, paper, and other recyclable ‘trash’ led to good things to help the planet.

Discussing Your Child’s Ambitions Leads to Great Speech Topics

Find something on television or in the newspaper that relates to your child’s own ambitions and use it to start a dialog with him or her.

WHY do they want to build homes, nurse the sick, become a mathematician, or another other integral person in a particular career field?

WHY is being a police man or woman like being “Batman,” the avenger of corruption?

This gives you, as the parent, even more opportunity to explore what your ‘little person’ is all about and his or her dreams for their lives.

Jot down notes as you go and ask “interview” questions such as, “How would you fix it” and “Why is your way better than others?”

Remember that great speeches have often been formed in young minds, those yet untainted by the perceptions of other influences.

Speech Topics for Younger Children Tell a Story

Invite your child to discuss something at school that made them mad or made them think.

Together, research the topic and find information that could be helpful in situations where children do not feel they are listened to.

Describe alternatives and how your community could start a foundation for after-school exam help and what people might be interested. Can you appeal to your local newspaper, government, or a television station to highlight a request for your local “special needs?”

Younger children often talk about other kids who are behind in studies or need special attention. Focus on just one issue and allow your child to talk about it. It will give you the substance in helping you and your community in understanding the issue and some possible remedies to help heal.

Focus on a Child’s Talents for Great Speech Topics

All children possess untarnished talent.

You might have another “Edison” inventor on your hands or a child who knows how to make running scores in a sport.

How are these things accomplished? Are there great resources on the internet to help you build “the greatest” elementary or middle school science project? How did you do your research? What books were read?

Treat Your Child’s Speech like a Science Project

You and your child are “Investigators,” meaning that you are both involved with “solving the crime” in regard to what your subject matter is.

Go to the Internet, ask friends for input, but most of all, leave your child to be the expert.

“Out of the Mouth of Babe’s” was not a trite quote; often children are the most truthful and respective authors on subject matter for speeches.

Watch, Read, and Listen to the Local News in Your Area to Find the Best Speech Topics

• Your local news media, including television, newspaper, and talk radio offer an abundance of speech topics that are sure not to bore an audience.The fact is, television stations, newspaper publishers, and radio stations must create enough daily appeal to keep their ratings – yet avoid stepping on advertising sponsors’ toes.

•  Therefore, only the ‘cream of the crop’ in the news makes it and much of choosing what is aired and printed has to do with how much the topic will resonate with the public.

•  Different news publishers have different demographics that describe their readership’s and listener’s ‘common threads’ such as: location, age, and education level are among the top descriptive categories of an audience.By having demographics fully understood, this also helps publishers and station managers weed out content that could be considered inappropriate for its audience.

Great Speeches and Speech Topics are Targeted to the Audience

•  Think about this: television anchors can do an entire ‘speech’ within a minute or two. Television news is a batch of “little speeches” that answer ‘who, what, why, how, and when’.

•  When formulating your speech, you need to address these questions as well in order to avoid leaving your audience confused and with more questions.

•  Look closely to how the news is delivered; are who, what, how, why, and when addressed? Of course it is because professional journalists know instinctively how to answer those questions—they same questions their audience would have.

•  This is why most journalists begin their news coverage with a statement such as, “On October 5, 2009, a young boy of the St. Martin area accidentally fired his father’s rifle, killing a prize horse,” for example.

The Best Speech Topics are Often Found in Questions

Using the above example of a boy accidentally shooting a prized horse, what questions come to mind? Brainstorm on paper as if you were doing an interview with the family. How did the boy get a hold of the rifle? Has the boy had mental problems or disobedience issues? Why wasn’t the rifle more securely stored?

1. Ask these questions and you will wind up with several potential speech topics such as:

2. Should parents be fined for unsecured weapons? Should minor children be banned from using weapons at family gatherings (e.g. target practice)?…and so forth.

3. Paying close attention to the local news (as well as international news) can lead to great speech topics from questions that still remain.

Many speech topics can exist right in the schoolyard.

• For example, dress codes make for great speech topics; what dress codes do you feel are unfair? Are students prohibited from wearing body art such as tattoos and piercings? Who made up the rules? Do school dress codes violate civil rights?

• Other speech topics that can found at school can be written around:

1. Cafeteria and snack foods: healthy or not? Is it cheaper and healthier to bring your lunch and snacks from home?

2. Is the playground safe?

3. Should your school be “locked down” during school hours?

• If you are asked to give a speech at work, usually these speeches are focused on motivation, leadership, and success but speech topics can also be focused on employer/employee issues.

• Persuasive speeches can serve as a catalyst for change and are gaining momentum as the ‘peaceful way’ to speak out on issues that frustrate workers and employers. However, the most effective speech topics cast a positive light on potential solutions after identifying the problem.

• Such speech topics often then lead to ‘water cooler’ chats about positive solutions instead of being focused simply on the existing problem.

• Motivational speeches can be effectively written around an impacting quote and then geared toward the issue. “Rome wasn’t built in a day” can lead to “Positive steps for ABC Company to Consider with Cost Reduction.”

• Speeches that are written entirely based from one’s own perspective are usually not well-accepted.

• You want your speech to speak to your audience and show facts and figures that substantiate your position on the topic. You also want to be sure to show the other side of an argument or issue and explain why those explanations are not the best solutions.

New! Speech Topics Coming Soon!

Please be aware that this site is currently being overhauled and updated with new topics currently in process:

Speech Topics by Request:

1. How to Write a Persuasive Speech
2. The Anatomy of a Speech
3. How to Hold Your Audience’s Attention
4. Proper Formatting for High School Speeches
5. Speech Topics for Elementary School Children
6. “ for High School Kids
7. “ for College Students
8. “ for Business
9. Using PowerPoint and Other Visual Aids to Enhance Your Speech
10. Keeping Your Speech On Topic
11. Don’t READ Your Speech: Memorization Tips
12. The Best Speeches are on Topics You Know
13. Take a Course in Writing and Giving Speeches
14. Tips on Losing the Speech-Giving Jitters
15. Using Current Events for Speeches – HOT!
16. Practice Makes Perfect: Tips for Practicing Your Speech
17. Getting Feedback on Your Speech Before You Give It
18. Engaging the Audience When Giving a Speech or Presentation
19. Speeches vs. Presentations: What Are Their Differences?
20. Writing a Speech for Your Job
21. Writing a Speech for a Particular Audience
22. Writing Speeches that Take a Stand
23. Giving a Speech for Weddings and Other Special Occasions
24. How to Write a Good Acceptance Speech
25. The Best Way to Write a Speech for a PowerPoint Presentation
26. The Importance of Body Language in Speech-Giving
27. Tips for Writing Speeches that are Not Offensive
28. Why Speeches are Important in Leadership and Meetings
29. Impress Your Boss with a Speech on How to Improve Your Company
30. Creating Water-Cooler Speeches for  Work

Please check back often for the new articles and feel free to send in comments and feedback.

Also let us know if you need an article on a topic not listed and/or a request for one of the topics currently listed that you would like to read right away.

Thanks for your help and feedback!

All of you are helping to make this site the best speech website on the Internet today!

Shawna