HOW TO FIND A GREAT PERSUASIVE SPEAKING TOPIC:
1. Pick something you feel strongly about. If you don't feel strongly about your topic,
how are you going to persuade the audience to feel the same way? Students sometime
say, "But I don't feel strongly about anything!" Yes you do. Sit down with a piece of
paper and brainstorm. If you like baseball, give a speech for or against salary caps. If
you like rap music, give a speech on why rap music is not as violent as many people
think. You get the idea.
2. Avoid your "hot button" topics. Don't pick something you feel too strongly about.
Hot button topics are issues you feel so strongly about that it's hard for you to
understand where the other side is coming from. In order to give a good persuasive
speech, you need to understand the other side's point of view, because how else will
you change it?
3. Pick something controversial. It doesn't have to be extremely controversial, but you
do need to present a topic that not everyone agrees with. Otherwise there's no
persuasion going on, and it's not a very good persuasive speech. For example, don't
give a speech on why smoking is bad for your health. Who's going to disagree with
that? Instead, try giving a speech for or against a campus-wide smoking ban. Now
you have some controversy and a super topic.
4. Avoid "tired topics." Tired topics are those that students pick all the time and that
your instructor has heard over and over again. Yawn. Be creative.
5. Pick a current event. Having trouble thinking of a topic? Go read a newspaper.
What's going on in the world? If there's an election, endorse a candidate or a ballot
referendum.
6. Pick a campus or local issue. Are there controversial issues around campus? Are
there controversial issues in your college town? These topics will be very relevant to
your audience members.
7. Pick an issue of interest to the audience. Give a speech about cell phones, or music
downloads, or tuition hikes, or something the audience cares about. If they don't care
about your issue, they won't be persuaded.
8. Pick a smaller part of a big issue. Don't try to change people's mind about a huge
issue in your short speech, because you can't. Think you can change your classmates'
mind about abortion in a 6-8 minute speech? Of course not. However, you might
change their minds about a portion of this issue, like parental notification laws.
9. Be cautious with issues that some audience members might find offensive. Speech
topics that some students might consider to be racist, anti-gay, or something along
those lines are not great topics. Think about this: the object of this speech is to
persuade your audience. If some of your audience members feel offended on a
personal level, they sure aren't going to be persuaded. I'm a huge free speech
advocate, but you might consider finding another outlet to express certain ideas than a
persuasive speech.
Example Persuasive Speech Topics:
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Do schools have the right to search students’ lockers?
Should children be given sex education in schools, or should this be the responsibility of
the parents?
Should the state fund schools run by particular faiths?
Should schools require their students to wear a school uniform?
Are beauty contests harmful?
Should Physical Education in schools be compulsory?
Should parents be held morally and legally responsible for the actions/needs of their
children?
Should young people be subjected to curfews as a way to reduce crime?
Should doctors be allowed to prescribe contraception for girls under the age of 16?
Is physical force a justifiable method of punishing children?
Should governments be sending people into space?
Should governments negotiate with terrorists?
Can terrorism ever be justified?
Should negative advertising in political campaigns be banned?
Should governments censor material on the world wide web?
Should the government censor lyrics of songs that are violent or expletive, for example
“gangsta” rap?
Does television have a negative influence on society?
Should flag burning as a form of protest be prohibited?
Should the state be fully privatized?
Should ‘factory farming’ be banned?
Is it morally acceptable to experiment on non-human animals to develop products and
medicines that benefit human beings?
Should we be trying to prevent species becoming extinct? If so, why?
Should the present international ban on trading elephant ivory be lifted?
Should the international ban on the hunting of whales be lifted?
Should we ban the keeping of animals in zoos?
Should we ban the keeping of animals in circuses?
Should acts of hate be criminalized?
What acts should be considered hate crimes?
Is it correct for university authorities to ban hate speech?
Should schools be allowed to teach creationism alongside evolution as part of their
science curriculum?
Should examinations be replaced with other forms of assessment?
Should school students face mandatory drug-tests?
Should continued office for public officials be dependent on (successfully) taking a drug
test?
Should HIV positive workers have to tell their employers of their status?
Should sex offenders be named and shamed?
Can the assassination of a dictator be justified?
Should assisted suicide be legalized?
Should we legalize the sale of human organs?
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Should the numbers of women in the legislature be raised artificially?
Should mothers stay at home to raise their children?
Should prostitution be legalized?
Should the morning-after pill be banned?
Should popular consumerist images of women be banned because they are violent?
Should cell phone use in cars be banned?
Should gambling be legalized and regulated?
Should the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport be legalized?
Is sport really good for us?
POPULAR CULTURE TOPICS
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Reality television as a positive or negative cultural phenomenon
Plastic surgery programs
Makeover programs
Hip-hop music lyrics
Disney films
Images of women in the media
Images of minorities in the media
Images of homosexuals in the media
Illegal music downloading
Violent video games
Violent movies
Television, movie, music, or video game ratings
Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction"
Sexual imagery in the media
MySpace and Facebook as a cultural phenomenon
Internet cyberstalkers
Internet pornography
Internet filters
Internet privacy issues
The effect of cell phones on society
The effect of iPods on society
The amount of television and other media used by children
Advertising in the public schools
Advertising that targets children
Alcohol or cigarette advertising
Requirements for children's educational programming
Public radio/public television
Celebrity gossip and the paparazzi
SPORTS TOPICS
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Salary caps for professional athletes
Sports and steroid use
Funding issues for women's sports
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Publicity for women's sports
The use of the Olympic basketball "Dream Team"
Professional athletic strikes
Drafting of athletes out of high school
The rising price of tickets to professional games
Public funding of professional stadiums
Public funding of community sports programs
Academic expectations of college athletes
College sports recruitment practices
The benefit of team sports to children
Alcohol sales at sporting events
Athletes as role models
Beer commercials
Sports gambling
Violence and sports (hockey, boxing, etc.)
The commercialization of sports
Youth athletic participation in sports like gymnastics and figure skating