CMNS 101 Fundamentals of Communication

The best topics for a persuasive speech, particularly a persuasive speech of policy (how people and organizations approach problems and plan/pursue strategies to change something in their area of authority), start with a problem that can be solved.   

There are a variety of questions you should ask yourself when thinking about a persuasive speech topic:  

• What are some of the problems that exist in my local community?  

• What is a problem I (or someone I know) experience(s) frequently?  

• Is that problem solvable? (think about the scope or scale of the problem)  

• What are there other viewpoints on the issue that you need to consider?  What is required to solve the problem?  

• What are the resources required, who is responsible or capable of solving the problem, and what can individual audience members do to help the process?   

Here are some additional ideas to consider when choosing a topic:

• Choose a topic that is (relatively) new to you!  You may consider taking some time to explore a topic that you do not yet know about and/or one that you want to learn more about.  Perhaps you recently read, saw, or experienced something that you would like to research and share with your audience.  Maybe you began your process with not knowing which side you support on an issue, and you take some time to research both sides of an issue and determine which you support.  You can use this presentation as an opportunity to learn more about that topic and can then talk about this process in your presentation.  Using the research that you have gathered will help you as you explain to the audience why they should share your perspective on the item at hand.
• Choose a topic that you already know about and feel strongly that your audience should share your views on this topic.  For this type of presentation, you will be taking your knowledge and expanding it.  You can search for items that support your side and also take some time to review the data provided by those that support the opposite side of the issue

Public Speaking Copyright © by Dr. Layne Goodman; Amber Green, M.A.; and Various is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

If you are looking for a topic and need some ideas or inspiration, browsing certain library databases can help introduce you to current themes or controversies.

Open the Opposing Viewpoints database and scroll down to see issues to browse. 

Open SIRS Issues Researcher database and you'll see a section called, "Need help choosing a topic?"