What is a speech? It is a multipurpose oral presentation of some ideas in front of the target public. It can be informative, motivational, humorous, persuasive, and instructive. In other words, a speaker’s goal can be to:
- inform listeners about occasions, things, or personalities;
- inspire people to participate in important events;
- entertain the audience with funny stories and jokes;
- convince the public to take sides;
- give a plan about how to do something.
The success of speeches depends more on the chosen speech topics. People do not want to watch movies about things that are not interesting to them. The same one can say about speeches. Moreover, everything must sound logical. That is why one should try to select a hooky theme and structure a speech properly. How to do that? Look for the answers in this article below.
Start with a Search for Unique Ideas
The first thing to regard when looking for a good topic is to base one’s search on the required college discipline, the purpose, or the preferences of the target audience. Speakers should speak about things that will make everyone turn off their mobiles and get absorbed with every pronounced word. Below, one can see a table with a demonstrative list of ideas in various disciplines.
Topics | Disciplines |
---|---|
Should school libraries exclude classic books that contain offensive words, violence, and debauchery? | Art |
Is it possible to become successful today without an educational degree? | College and Career |
Will the country’s economy improve if people have only one day off, or will it cause more problems? | Economy and Work |
Should college curricula include classes that help to prevent stress, depression, and mental diseases? | Education |
Is it smart to close all zoos to let animals live freely? | Conservation and Environment |
Is it smart to baptize a child only after the kid accepts the canons of the religion consciously? | Religion |
Is it healthy and safe to force children to keep the eating habits of their parents, who are vegans or raw eaters? | Health and Care |
Should pharmaceutical companies take care of women more and create oral contraceptives for men? | Medicine |
What program can the government of the US create to stimulate people to donate their organs after death? | Politics and Society |
Can robots replace surgeons and other health specialists effectively? | Science and Technology |
As one can see, all topics are urgent and original. Students should try to find similar speech ideas. It is essential to catch the audience’s attention. That is why students should provide informative background to their theories, explanations, and suppositions.
These useful sources do help to introduce mind-blowing facts in a speech and become a better speaker:
- British Council (the organization helps students master communication skills)
- Harvard Business Review (the article provides tips about how to improve public speaking)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information (research describes the role of gestures in language use)
Create a Speech Outline and Follow It
Only a person who has mastered a language can speak in public impromptu. Others need to write a text of a speech like an essay. Every word must be to the point because the audience does not like to waste time on empty talks and boring speakers.
If you doubt that your speech is creative and influential, use the following three checking methods. First off, practice. Record your speech and watch the video. Secondly, let your friends or professional assistant evaluate your demonstration. Third, ask a professional editor to enhance the quality of the text. Be sure, these tips work!
A speech outline lets students see if everything goes smoothly. A great outline must include the following things:
- an introduction;
- a body;
- a conclusion.
As a rule, a good speech has several paragraphs. Each paragraph introduces a significant point of the main idea. A speaker’s job is to greet the audience, introduce the topic, and highlight the most essential information in thematic paragraphs that are separated by intonation from each other in an oral presentation. Afterward, it is necessary to say farewell impressively to show that a speaker takes care of the listener’s feelings and impressions.
A greeting should be brief. One should remember to mention both female and masculine personalities.
An introduction must be intriguing. Students can use provocative questions, shocking facts, or a catchy story to make the audience listen to them. Moreover, these hooks must relate to the main subject and object of the speech.
A body can have several sections. Each section should better start with a topic sentence to let listeners know what to expect. Speakers should manipulate impressive information. For example, one can explore reputable sources to introduce unforgettable statistics and citations.
A conclusion should not remind us of a boring retelling of the speech content. A speaker should draw the line but leave something behind it. It can be a question that the audience would like to answer after or a story with deep meaning.
To learn more about speeches, one can get acquainted with the following articles of true experts.
- How to Write a Speech for Graduation (guide)
- How to Be a Great Speech Writer (guide)
- Cable is Better Than Satellite Speech (sample)
- Typical Mistakes in Speech Writing (guide)
People often interpret speeches as entertaining performances of actors. That is why the best way is to become an actor who declares a memorable monologue like Hamlet. A speaker should take care not only about the message but also about the word selection and their logical and accurate presentation. Professional assistants can be very favorable. They help to create striking speeches and listen to students, check and improve their speaking skills.