When selecting a topic for a speech, you consider the following criteria.
1. Personal Relevance--Are you interested/passionate about it? Will you invest the time/energy to make the topic come alive for the audience?
2. Audience Relevance- Can I make the topic interesting/appealing to my audience?
3. Timeliness- Does the topic relate to today and what's going on in society?
4. Scope- Can I develop enough content/arguments around my topic and make it interesting? Is the topic too broad that you can't cover it well enough in the time you're given?
5. Research- Can I find enough supporting material on the topic that is current/valid?
6. Uniqueness--Is this topic new or has it been done a lot so that the audience will tune it out? How can I put a unique spin on the topic?
Some great websites for topics.
www.time.com
www.newsweek.com
www.scientificamerican.com
www.utne.com
www.salon.com
www.csmonitor.com
www.nationalgeographic.com
www.popularscience.com
www.theonion.com
www.funnyordie.com
www.psychologytoday.com
Now it's time to write your thesis. Your thesis statement is important because you a. establish the purpose of the entire speech b. give a specific focus/argument for you speech; therefore, it's important to write a strong thesis statement.
Bad One- My topic is dream therapy. We need more cancer research.
Better- Dream therapy opens new doors to patients' mental and physical health using a phenomena already present within the psyche. If we don't focus more of our money for cancer research on just treatment but also prevention, we will face serious economic and societal consequences for years to come.
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