Public Speaking

Choose Your Topic (^59)
Selecting a personal topic has obvious advantages. When you are interested in
your subject, you can speak more passionately and focus more on your message than on
yourself or your insecurities. Your enthusiasm can also energize your audience—after
all, what is more boring than a bored speaker?

Look for Topics from Other Courses

Look for speech topics in your academic major or in other courses you are taking.

Here are just a few examples:

•   Music—dissonance, composer Hector Berlioz, music frisson

•   Cognitive science—neuroimaging, brain anatomy, cognitive dissonance

•   Health—prescription drug addiction, sleep deprivation, meningitis

Preparing a speech on an interesting topic from another class has the added

advantage of helping you learn that subject better; however, some topics are obviously

so complex that even an expert could not explain them in a short speech.^8

Don’t hesitate to use topics you have researched for a project in another course, if

appropriate. For example, Bralee wrote a paper on product placement in the media for one

course. She also used material from that research in her classroom speech. Although her

speech included information that the paper did not, and vice versa, she adapted her pur-

pose, her organizational pattern, and her language to meet two very different assignments.

Diversity

in praCtiCe

Consider international and Cultural topics

Explore your cultural heritage and experiences or consider global aspects of your

major to find subjects. For instance, Ryan, who has Basque ancestors, chose to speak

about the Basque artist, Jorge Oteiza. (His tribute is in Appendix B.) Bailey, who

went on a service trip to Africa, chose the topic of AIDS in Swaziland. She helped

students understand how US agencies and US tax dollars are involved in fighting

AIDS in African countries. A film studies major might investigate a director or film

genre from another country or a different cultural group. International trade, global

investments, and international crime—all are topics of increasing importance in the

twenty-first century. Contemporary cultural topics are easily found on the Internet.

As with all topics, it’s essential to connect with your listeners’ here-and-now

concerns. For example, a subject such as drones in a war zone a continent away

might seem far removed from your campus world. But there are ways to link your

classmates with the topic. Would they empathize with people who lose family

members to drone strikes? What about tax dollars that pay for military drones?

What do they know about surveillance drones in the United States? Could you

link the topic to fundamental values, such as the desire for a world at peace or for

freedom and justice for all? Your challenge is to help your audience understand

the significance and relevance of your subject.

Investigate Current Events

News sources and television shows are other good topic sources. Skim newspaper or

magazine headlines or surf Internet news sites, jotting down current issues that interest

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