Choose Your Topic (^57)
WHAT SHALL I talk about? Many students find that choosing appropriate
topics for classroom speeches is challenging because the assignment is
so open-ended compared to other settings such as weddings or workplace
meetings where a topic is more obvious. For example, if you’re scheduled to
present a report at work, the subject will be your most recent project. However,
in speech classrooms you’re generally not assigned a specific topic so you
must choose from thousands of potential subjects. It can’t be too broad or too
complex (after all, most classroom assignments are limited by time); it should
interest your audience, as well as you; it should be relevant; it should be novel—
you must consider many factors. Topic selection falls into the canon of invention,
and this chapter will give you guidelines for choosing your topic, narrowing it to a
ChaPter 5 Selecting Your Topic and Purpose
Choose Your Topic
Is there a surefire method for selecting a topic that suits you, your audience, and the
occasion? No. However, several guidelines can make the task easier. As you consider
a specific topic, first think of your audience. Then look for things to talk about in four
additional places: your personal interests and experiences, other courses you’re taking,
current events, and international and cultural subjects.Assess Your Audience’s Need to Know
Before you settle on a topic, keep two fundamental things in mind: significance and
novelty. Everyday topics can result in interesting speeches.^1 However, the key is to find
a significant subject—one that needs to be discussed in order to increase your audience’s
knowledge, bring about a desirable change, or highlight important cultural values and
beliefs.^2 Try to think from your audience’s perspective by asking questions such as these.
Are they familiar with the subject? What more do they need to know? Do they care
about it? Does it affect their finances? Their future? Their health? Will it appeal to their
curiosity? Chapter 6 provides additional information on audience analysis.
Novelty is another fundamental principle for maintaining interest and speaking to a
need. That is, either present something relatively unfamiliar or take a creative look at a
familiar topic.^3 Going over well-known procedures such as how to make chocolate-chip
cookies can waste your listener’s time. But can these topics be appropriate? Yes, if you
take a novel approach. For example, you might talk about the history of the famous Toll
House recipe, explain why it is associated with the Nestlé company, or describe how the
cookie became so popular.^4 Many of these facts would be novel and potentially valuable,
even to a gluten-intolerant listener.
In summary, these two principles—choosing a topic that meets some audience need
and presenting your subject in a novel way—are foundational. If your listeners already
know a lot about your subject, dig for supplementary information, or select another topic.Read, highlight, and take
notes online.I
n a BusinessWeek article, “The Ethics of Talking Politics at Work,”^5 Bruce Weinstein
argues that people should, for ethical reasons, avoid four topics at work: politics, religion,
sex, and money. These topics cause disagreement and raise strong passions, which impair
workplace productivity. Weinstein cites five ethical principles: do no harm, make things
better, respect others, be fair, and be loving. While this advice may be reasonable for the
workplace, should we in some contexts address topics that cause disagreement, raise
strong passions, or make people uncomfortable? For example, some audiences might feel
anxious about racial or religious topics, but should we publicly address race or religion,
with their potential for creating discomfort? Arguably, directly tackling these topics can
increase understanding of diverse perspectives, invite respect for a variety of viewpoints,
and make American society better overall.ethiCs in
praCtiCe are any topics taboo?(continued)Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.