Do you have an important presentation coming up? Do you have an opportunity to speak at your friend’s Birthday party, a wedding, a graduation, or award ceremony? Do you just want to make up a speech for fun? If you answered yes to any of those questions, this article is for you!
If you are new here, or if you just want a refresher on how to come up with a speech topic, then go check out the blog post titled “Want to Speak but Don’t Know What to Speak About?” It will give you another look into how to come up with a topic for your speech. Today’s post is focused on looking into how to use 3 special tips to come up with a speech topic that you are passionate about.* (*As the aforementioned blog states, you might not always be able to come up with your own topic. Sometimes there are restrictions on topics you can choose for an assignment or restrictions on the viewpoints you can take on them. And that’s okay! Just make sure to follow the directions and guidelines when creating your speech.)
The 3 tips I will be showing you today can drastically change your speech for the better. They will make your speech much easier to give and much easier for you to be passionate about it. They are quite simple, really, but they contribute so much. To use them, see if the topic you have in mind checks all three boxes- if it does, you’re all good!
Know. Do you know your topic well? If so, do you know enough information to talk about it for the designated time? If not, what can you do to get to know your topic better? Once you know your topic well, check if the information you are presenting will be relevant and necessary, and remove any unnecessary details that won’t serve the audience or contribute to the impact of your speech. For example, if you don’t know much about the topic of literature throughout history, then can you learn more about your topic? What can you do to learn more about it? If not, then what other topics could you consider?
Love. Do you love what you are talking about? (You, of course, don’t have to actually love it in the literal way, but do you feel passionate about what you are talking about?) If so, is there a reason why you feel the way you do about the topic? If not, is there any specific aspect of the topic that you feel strongly about? Develop these ideas in your speech. If you have a hobby or an interest that could make for an interesting speech topic? For example, if you like animals, you could argue for what you think is the best breed of cat, or if fish are better pets than horses, etc.
Care. Finally, (and this is just as important as your speech being relevant to you) is your speech topic relevant to the audience? Would they care? If so, great! If you don’t think so, is there anything about your topic that could capture their interest better than the aspects you were previously focused on? For example, if you are doing a mandatory presentation about law for a project, what is something that you know your audience can relate to? Can you relate law to that topic?
By combining these tips together, you can create an effective, simple, and easy-to-remember checklist for all the speeches you may give in the future. Good luck with your speeches and most importantly, have fun creating your speech!
