Decide what type of speech you would like to write. Your speech could be in any of the
following formats:
 Persuasive
 Motivational
 Informative
The Most Important part about any speech type: Look for topics that interest you and
that your audience might be interested in. Ask yourself why your topic matters.
Persuasive Speeches:
You could persuade your audience about FACTS. Persuade that your fact is true. Prove that
your claim is the best and defend yourself against oppositional ideas.
Example: Persuade your audience that space exploration is beneficial.
You could persuade your audience about VALUES. Persuade that something is right or
wrong, moral or immoral, valuable or worthless. Appeal to the beliefs and values of your listeners.
Example: Persuade your classmates that cheating at school is absolutely unacceptable.
You could persuade your audience about POLICIES/RULES. Persuade them that there is a
problem and get the audience to agree with your solution. Motivate them to act or change attitudes,
policies or rules. Appeal to human needs, reason and emotion.
Example: Persuade your public to keep the thermostat in your home at 68 F in winter and 72 F in
summer.
Possible Topics for a Persuasive Speech: (aliens and UFO’s, global warming, acid rain, rain forests, drunk
driving, Bermuda Triangle, dieting, etc.)
Motivational Speeches:
These speeches have the goal of convincing your audience to act or change a behaviour or a belief.
You’ll need to build in emotion for this type of speech. You’ll need to convince the audience to act or
believe in a certain way. Try to get them to agree to your proposal.
Example: Ask them to donate money towards a charity organization.
Ask yourself the following questions to help you plan your motivational speech.
What do you want to people to do after they hear your speech?
What behaviour or belief are you trying to change?
What level of agreement do you at least want to accomplish?
The following is a pattern you could follow to write a motivational speech:
STEP #1 ATTENTION
Get the attention of your audience. State the importance of your topic. List the main benefits of your
idea to arouse interest. You can start by stating the goal of your speech. Some sample starting
words are as follows:
Become involved in ..., Buy ..., Change ..., Choose ..., Do ..., Donate ..., Establish ..., Join ..., Make
..., Pay ..., Quit ..., Sell ..., Sign ..., Study ..., Support ..., Take ..., Volunteer ..., Vote ...
STEP #2 NEED
State the need for change. Show why it should concern the audience. Relate the issue or problem to
the values, attitudes, interests and needs of the listeners.
STEP #3 SATISFACTION
Satisfy the audience needs. Provide the details and interesting facts of your plan. Show how your
solution works.
STEP #4 VISUALIZATION
Visualize the benefits. That is the heart of your motivational speech topic. Illustrate the benefits with
examples, stories, comparisons, research data, and definitions. Tell your classmates what's in it for
them.
STEP #5 CALL TO ACTION
Call to action. Show the class what to do to put your ideas into action.
Possible Topics for a Motivational Speech: (involvement in an organization, commitment to be more
environmentally friendly, donate hair to cancer patients, etc.)
Informative Speeches:
This type of speech is the most popular for junior public speaking. This is a speech where you research a topic and
then use your research to inform the audience about a specific thing/idea.
Pick a topic that:
 Interests you - or at least a subject that feels good to you;
 That you think will interest your audience;
 And that the audience knows little about, but they want to know all about...
Just be informational, don't persuade. If you give your opinion or judgement and you attempt
to persuade the audience to act or agree, then it is a speech to persuade instead of to inform.
Bottomline: you, the public speaker, tries to communicate ideas in a powerful way!
Describe the various pros and cons, good and bad features of a subject.
Show how to do something, how something works or is made.
Stimulate your audience to visualize things you describe.
Offer special details or new information they think is a “Eureka!” thought.
Have a narrow speech topic. Pick a topic you can cover in a few minutes. Pick a topic that is
easy to research. Don’t pick a topic where it is going to be difficult to find information.
Possible Topics for an Informative Speech: (the history of the postage stamp, the snapping turtle, one member of
The Group of Seven, milk, the construction of the Parliament Buildings, the construction of the Rideau Canal, etc.)
Choose a topic you know a lot about and/or can easily research and explain in 3 – 5 minutes.
Some possible topics are listed below:
1. My trip abroad.
2. Monitoring butterflies in the field.
3. Aztec masks and their amazing stories.
4. Mythological monsters.
5. How to organize a fun weekend.
6. If I was born hundred years ago, I ...
7. African masks and their meaning.
8. Ancient Chinese emperors.
9. The Ice Age; when, how and the causes
10. Pollution sources in our world, and what to do
about them.
11. A Day In the life of a kid in Ancient Rome.
12. Discovering caves is cool.
13. Traditional fairy tales from around the world.
14. Puppets from Java, Indonesia.
15. The Diary of Anne Frank.
16. My penpal or better: emailpal.
17. The secrets of the Egypt King Tutankhamun.
18. If I was a journalist, I should investigate ...
19. If I won one million dollars, I would ...
20. When I'm grown up I want to become ...
21. Last weekend I was at ...
22. The funniest thing that ever happened to me.
23. Things that make you happy.
24. Ways I use to relax.
25. Favorite sports moments.
26. The character I want to be in a movie.
27. My most memorable vacation trip.
Animation characters and their voices.
Reasons to abandon grounding
Antarctica research of penguins.
Rodeo riding: how to survive more than 30 seconds
Aviation pioneers.
Strange world records
Celebrities, actors and actresses.
Skateboarding tips and tricks
Women’s Right to Vote
Greyhound racing
Foreign flags and their story.
The world would be a better place if…
1. What is your speech writing goal? What response do you want? What should your
audience think, feel, change, or do?
2. Write down one central speech idea in one short sentence. Test if your title
sounds okay by speaking it out loud in 5 seconds maximum. Catch attention!
3. Determine the interests of the audience. A good public speaker (and especially persuasive and
informative speakers) knows who they are, and knows their needs, concerns and expectations.
4. In the speech introduction you state why you have selected this speech topic.
5. Approach different views, factors, aspects, the supporting points, in your body text.
6. Find evidence to strengthen your arguments.
7. Effective speeches are based on conversational speech writing. Deliver your speech by heart with
note cards. It enhances your performance and it enables to make eye-contact. Each card contains
only one point.
9. The speech conclusion is after the introduction the most important part. Leave everyone with
something to think about.
Narrowing Down Your Speech Topic
You need to cover your topic in 3 to 5 minutes. This means that you need to have a very specific
focus. For example: “I’m going to talk about carburetors” should be "I am going to explain how to take apart a
carburetor." “In this speech, you will learn about zippers” should be "In this speech, you will learn how the zipper was first
invented."
Visit YouTube to check out the 6 videos by Tracey on How to Pick a Public Speech Topic: Picking a
Public Speaking Topic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f3ndBCx_JE&feature=BFa&list=SP1CD82EC02CDC40AC&lf=list_related