9/23/2022

Choosing a Topic
SELECTING
A TOPIC • The first step to speechmaking is choosing a topic. For speeches
outside the classroom, this is seldom a problem. Usually, the

AND speech topic is determined by the occasion, the audience, and

the speaker’s qualification.

A PURPOSE • In a public speaking class, students have great leeway in

selecting topics. This would appear to be an advantage, since it
allows you to talk about matters of personal interest. Yet, there
Chapter 4 are may be no facets of speech preparation that causes more
gnashing of teeth than selecting a topic.

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Topics YOU KNOW A LOT about

Most people speak best about subjects with which they are most familiar. When thinking
about a topic, draw on your own knowledge and experience. Think for a moment about
unusual experiences you may have had or special expertise you may have acquired. Here
topic – is the subject of the speech are some examples:
• How to Have a Successful Job Interview
• Reading Raises Comprehensive Skills
• A Guide on Archive of Our Own
There are two broad categories of potential topics for your classroom • Overcoming your Impostor Syndrome
speeches: • The Impossibility of Internet Anonymity
1. Topics you know a lot about and;
2. Subjects you want to know more about. Topics YOU WANT TO KNOW MORE about
• You may choose a subject about which you already have some knowledge or expertise
but not enough to prepare a speech without doing additional research. You may even
select a topic that you want to explore for the first time. This would be a perfect
opportunity to research a fascinating subject and turn it into a speech.

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Brainstorming for Topics

If you are having trouble selecting a topic, there are a number of continuation. . .
brainstorming procedures you can follow to get started.
1. Personal Inventory. 3. Reference Search.
First, make a list of your experiences, interests, hobbies, skills, BRAINSTORMING Browse through an encyclopedia, or some other reference work
– a method of
beliefs, and so forth. From this list may come a general subject generating ideas for until you come across what might be a good speech topic. One
area out of which you can fashion a specific topic. speech topics by free example is limiting yourself to letter ‘b’ of a dictionary.
association of words
2. Clustering. and ideas.
4. Internet Search.
If the first method does not work, try to use clustering – wherein One of the advantages of using the internet in this way is that
you create nine columns as follows: people, places, things, you can make your search more and more specific until you find
events, processes, concepts, natural phenomena, problems, and just the right subject.
plans and policies. Then, in each column, list the first five or six
items that come to mind.

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Determining the General Purpose Determining the Specific Purpose

You need to determine the general purpose of your speech. Usually, it will fall
into one of two overlapping categories – to inform or to persuade. Once you have chosen a topic and a general purpose, narrow your
choices to determine the specific purpose of your speech. The specific
1. To inform. purpose should focus on one aspect of a topic.
You act as a teacher or lecturer. The goal is to convey information SPECIFIC PURPOSE
clearly, accurately, and interestingly and aim to enhance the knowledge You should be able to state your specific purpose in a single infinitive – a single infinitive
GENERAL PURPOSE phrase (to inform my audience about …; to persuade my audience to …) phrase that states
and understanding of your listeners – to give them information they did – the broad goal of a that indicates precisely what you hope to accomplish with your speech. precisely what a
not have before. speech. speaker hopes to
2. To persuade. accomplish in their
Example: Topic: Music therapy speech.
You act as an advocate or a partisan and go beyond giving information to
General Purpose: to inform
supporting a cause. You want to change or structuralize the attitudes or
Specific Purpose: to inform my audience about the benefits of music
actions of your audience. The primary goal is to win over your listeners
therapy for people with psychological or cognitive
to your point of view – to get them to believe something or do disabilities.
something as a result of your speech.

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Tips for Formulating the Specific Purpose Statement continuation. . .

1. Write the purpose statement as a full infinitive phrase, not as a fragment. 4. Limit your purpose statement to one distinct idea.
Ineffective: Calendars.
There are purpose statements that express two unrelated ideas, either of which could be the subject of the
More Effective: To inform my audience about the four major kinds of calendar used in the world today.
speech. The easiest remedy is to select one or the other as a focus for your presentation.
2. Express your purpose as a statement, not as a question. Ineffective: To persuade my audience to become literacy tutors and donate time to the Special Olympics.
The question might arouse the curiosity of an audience, but it gives no indication about what direction the More Effective: To persuade my audience to become literacy tutors.
speech will take or what the speaker hopes to accomplish. OR
Ineffective: What is Dia de los Muertos? More Effective: To persuade my audience to donate time to the Special Olympics.
More Effective: To inform my audience about the history of Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos. 5. Make sure your specific purpose is not too vague or general.
3. Avoid figurative language in your purpose statement. An ineffective purpose statement that is too broad and ill-defined gives no clues about what the speaker
Figurative language can reinforce ideas within a speech - but it is often too dangerous to make a specific believes should be done about a topic. An effective purpose statement should be sharp and concise.
statement in such a way as a specific statement. Ineffective: To persuade my audience that something should be done about medical care.
Ineffective: To persuade my audience that the campus policy on student parking really stinks. More Effective: To persuade my audience that the federal government should adopt a system of national
More Effective: To persuade my audience that the campus policy on student parking should be revised to health insurance for all people in the United States.
provide more spaces for students before 5 p.m.

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Questions to Ask about Your Specific Purpose

Whenever you settle on your specific purpose, ask yourself the Phrasing the Central Idea CENTRAL IDEA
following questions about it: –a one-sentence
statement that sums
The specific purpose of a speech is what you hope to up or encapsulates
1. Does my purpose meet the assignment? the major ideas of a
accomplish. The central idea is a concise statement of what
speech.
2. Can I accomplish my purpose in the time allotted? you expect to say. Sometimes called the thesis, the subject
3. Is the purpose relevant to my audience? sentence, or the major thought, it is usually expressed as a
RESIDUAL
simple, declarative sentence. Another way to think of the MESSAGE
4. Is the purpose too trivial for my audience? central idea is as your residual message. what a speaker
wants the audience to
5. Is the purpose too technical for my audience? remember after it has
forgotten everything
else in a speech.

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Example: Guidelines for the Central Idea

Topic: Music therapy What makes a well-worded central idea? Essentially the same things
General Purpose: To inform that make a well-worded specific purpose statement. The central idea:
Specific Purpose: To explain the benefits of music therapy for people with
psychological or cognitive disabilities.
(1) should be expressed in s full sentence;
Central Idea: Music therapy developed as a formal mode of treatment
during the twentieth century, utilizes several methods, and is (2) should not be in the form of a question;
explained by several theories that account for its success. (3) should avoid figurative language; and,
It shows how the speaker might start with a broad subject (music therapy) that becomes (4) should not be vague or overly general.
narrower and narrower. Notice also how much more the central idea suggests about the
content of the speech. From it, we can expect the speaker to address three main points –
1) summarizing the development of music therapy, 2) looking at methods of music therapy,
and the 3) exploring theories that account for the success of music therapy.

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Paying college athletes a monthly salary is a good idea. Ineffective

What are nanorobots? Ineffective
1 Too general and does not convey the speaker’s viewpoint sharply and
clearly. 3 Phrased as a question and does not encapsulate the main points to be
Because college athletes in revenue-producing sports such as football and basketball developed in the speech.
generate millions of dollars in revenue for their schools, the NCAA should allow such Microscopic in size, nanorobots are being developed for use in
athletes to receive a $300 monthly salary as part of their scholarships. More effective medicine, weaponry, and daily life. More effective

Problem of fad diets. Ineffective Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is an awesome place for vacation. Ineffective

Not a complete sentence, does not reveal enough the content of the 4 Use of figurative language. “awesome” does not indicate the
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speech and should identifiy the problems of fad diets. characteristics of the place and what the speaker intends to discuss.
Although fad diets produce quick weight loss, they can lead to serious health problems Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula has many attractions for vacationers, including a war
by creating deficiencies in vitamins and minerals and by breaking down muscle tissue climate, excellent food, and extensive Mayan ruins. More effective
as well as fat. More effective

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