Public Speaking Tips : What Are You Going To Talk About?
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| How To Find Your Speech Topic? |
What
am I going to talk about?
This might be the first question which crosses your mind when you are asked to give a speech. Yes. Finding a topic for your speech is not always easy. At times it can be quite complicated and time consuming.
So
how do you choose a speech topic?
First,
take a deep breath. You can’t think of a speech topic when you are not relaxed.
Can you? Next, you can read some helpful tips I listed below.
Tips 1: Know Your Speech Purpose
If
you read my recent post titled ‘Why Are You Giving a Speech’, you should be
able to identify your speech purpose by now. Click here. If you have not read it, it is
alright. Let me explain about it to you very briefly.
In
order to decide what you are going to talk about, you must first determine why
you are speaking in the first place. Is it to inform your audience? Is it to
persuade your audience? Is it to entertain your listeners? Or is it to inspire
them?
Once
you have decided on your speech purpose, it will be easier for you to find your
speech topic.
Tips 2: Know Your Topics
One
important thing to remember is to find a topic that you really know about. Find
a topic which is related to what you do or based on your experience. In other
words, find a speech topic that you know by heart. Choose a topic that is close
to your heart. You can’t expect yourself to speak about skydiving if you have
never done it before, right?
By
understanding your topic well, it will be natural for you to talk about it. Your
knowledge and experience on the topic will add some credibility and good
quality to your speech. Thus, it will reflect your reputation as a speaker.
Tips 3: Find Topics That Interest People
Even
though you should choose a topic that you know well, there is one more thing
which you need to consider. You may need to review whether your speech topic
appeals to others or not. Will people want to listen to your speech topic?
No
matter how much you like the speech topic you have decided on, your audience
views and opinions are not to be ignored. They have to be interested in your
speech topic. They must also be able to relate to your speech topic.
What
is the point of delivering a speech when nobody is listening?
Tips 4: Know Your Audience
If
you wish to come up with the right speech topic, the next thing you must know
is who your audience are. The information regarding your audience is useful for
you to decide on what to talk about.
Find out about your audience:
Gender – You know what they say. Men are
from Mars, Women are from Venus (John Gray, 1992). Before you give a speech
find out whether your audience are of the same gender or both? When you choose
your speech topic, take into consideration whether the topic will gain your
audience’s attention (in terms of gender).
Age – Are your audience mostly young people or older people? Are they small
children? Are they mostly teenagers? Are they in their 30’s? Are they older,
wiser and more experienced? Or senior citizens?
The
age of your audience will determine the success of your speech. You must choose
a speech topic that is suitable for their age group. For example; I don’t think
your audience in their 70’s will be interested to listen to a speech topic
about Career Advancement. Well. Maybe some of them might. OH, you know what I
mean.
Background - This is important too. Before you
choose a speech topic, please find out more about your audience’s background.
Are they newbies? Are they well educated? Do they have any experience in what
you are going to talk about? Are they knowledgeable about the speech topic?
Let
say a speaker did not make an effort to find out about his audience’s
background. He went on giving a speech on ‘Public speaking basics’ without
realising his audience were mostly professional public speakers! I can’t
imagine the look on his face when he found out!
I
remember what a friend told me a few months ago. My friend was volunteering in
helping cancer patients in a hospital. There was a talk and the speaker was a
doctor. My friend said she and the other volunteers were having difficulties in
understanding the doctor’s speech. She said the doctor was talking about a
topic which only doctors and nurses can relate to. The doctor was also using
medical terms which they never heard off.
So
please do not make the same mistake. You will not be able to reach your
audience and get the message across if you choose the wrong speech topic for
them. You have to speak in a way that your audience will understand. You need
to choose a speech topic that your audience can relate to. You must speak
‘their language’. Otherwise, your speech is bound to fail before it even
started.
Sensitive Issues – This is something which
some speakers take for granted. When you choose a speech topic, please be
careful. Be aware of any sensitive issues. Do not choose a speech topic that
will offend others. Do not talk about or speak about a topic which may trigger
anger, hatred and frustrations. Be a
responsible speaker.
Tips 5: Know Your Event
Where
are you going to give a speech? Before you decide on what you going to talk
about, please find out about the event. Are you giving a speech during a
seminar? Is it at a class? Will it be at
a convention? Is it going to be a formal or informal event? Where is the
location or venue? Who will be there? Any special guest will attend the talk?
You might be asking what all these have to do with choosing your speech topic. You
see, by knowing your event you can actually avoid making some errors.
Let
me explain. Some topics may not be relevant to some venue, location or the
reason of the event. Therefore it is important to see what the event is all
about. If the event is a public event then the speech topic need to a general
topic which everyone can relate to. If the event is an informal event, the
speech topic can be more flexible.
What to do next?
After
you have considered the above tips, the next thing you can do is brainstorming
for ideas. Write down the speech topics and run through them one by one. See if
the topic serves your speech purpose. Make sure the topic is about something
you know well and will interest others. Find out if the speech topic is
suitable for your audience and the event.
Once
you know what you are going to talk about, select a good title for your speech.
Be creative and imaginative. You can come up with a catchy title but ensure
that the speech title does not confuse your audience with the content of your
speech. Some speakers pay too much attention in creating an appealing speech
title that they forget to focus on the content.
I
hope I have answered all your questions. As I said before, it can be
challenging to choose your speech topic yet it is not possible if you follow
the steps. Take your time and plan your speech.
Don’t
worry. Eventually, the ideas will come to you. Just believe in yourself. Good
luck. See you soon!
