Persuasive Topics

Jessica: Gay Adoption Rights (For)

Zach: Cell Phones in the Car (For or against)

April: Why You Shouldn’t Smoke or Start Smoking (For)

Korie: Donating Organs (For)

Chris:

Kellie: Why You Should Go to College (FOR)

(Once Chris decides and once Zach selects whether he is 'for' or 'against' then I will update this post)

Good topics overall!

Before you select a topic

H

OW 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. Here are a list of tired persuasive speaking topics to avoid.
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 findinganother outlet to express certain ideas than a persuasive speech.

10 Topics

1. How college will be better than high school.
2. 3 Different ways to eat an oreo cookie.
3. Best pick up line.
4. Why junk food is useful.

good speech topics!! :)

-You are an ant. Convince an anteater to not eat you.

-Tell us how to make a new friend.

-tell us how to make your favorite meal!

-why drama is pointless.

-explain how you have a pet, and how it should win the greatest pet ever award!

-how to tell if your cat, dog or fish need counseling.

10 Ideas for Improptu Speeches

1) Music
2) Cars
3) Movies
4) Global Warming
5) Books
6) Moral Issues
7) Useless Comments
8) Your effect on other peoples sanity
9) Underage Alcohol Consumption
10) Drama

Impromptu Speech List...10 ideas!!!!

Laughter

If you were an animal what would you be!

If you were the teacher how would this class be different

Convince us that homework is harmful for your health

You are a salesperson try selling the shirt you have on!

Convince the class to vote for you for president!

Tell us how to become a millionaire

tell us how to make a new friend!

10 Speech topics for impromptu

Cash for clunkers
Annoying people who don't know what they are talking about
Clocks that don't work
Gum under desks
Deer Hunting
Realizing your goldfish is dead
Social Security
Old Cars
How to change a tire
Your favorite food

Topics For Impromptu Speech

http://www.best-speech-topics.com/good-impromptu-speech-topics.html

Impromptu Speech

http://www.speech-topics-help.com/impromptu-speech-topics.html

http://homeworktips.about.com/od/speechclass/a/fastspeech.htm

http://www.creativekeys.net/PowerfulPresentations/article1015.html

Zach: ;I think that your speech could have been a lot better if you would have finished your speech. everyone loves music, so you had a good speech topic, you could have made it more interesting and better.

Chris: your speech was good, i learned some things about cars and how to take care of it. good job on your speech!

Whitney: overall your speech was okay. you need to practice more, and annunciate your words. your very monotone, and you need to fluctuate your tone.

Response to Speeches to Inform Cont'd

Whitney- Your speech had good information.
Next time I would try to practice more so you don't stumble over as many words.
And I would try to find a visual next time, it makes the speech more fun to listen to.

Zach- Your speech would have been awesome if you would have finished it.
I thought you had good information.

Kellie- I definitely talked too fast again.
Hopefully next time I will talk normal.
I felt more comfortable this time, but I thought the first speech was more fun to give.

I think Everyone did a pretty decent job, but there were a few that were really good. I really liked Aprils speech, It was a really big problem and it is something that affects most of us. She also had really good visuals.
Kellie- Good job on the speech, I learned about the holladay, but you talked fast towards the end.
Jessica- Good job, it was very informative, and emotional.
Korie- You did a good job but need more eye contact.
April- Your speech was very interesting and the topic was perfect because most of the audience probably has pets.
Whitney- You did a good job, but it was very short, and at times I had trouble staying interested
Zach- Good job on what you did get done, I was actually mad because you didn't have it done.

Speeches to Inform

I pretty much think every one did really good, except me, mine was a fail, it was only half done. I think Chris's speech was probably the one that caught my attention the most because I am more into cars then I am halloween and the other speeches (I don't even remember the other speeches).

April- Yours was depressing, but it was a really good speech, it caught everyones attention and it was well planned but was smooth so it didn't look like a routine.

Response to Speech to inform!

I think over all everyone did a pretty well job.

Kellie did a good job telling people about Halloween and it was pretty interesting to find out some thing I didn't know I also really liked her CANDY!!! :)

Korie did a good visual and it was very interesting and it definitely was focused on the grade! :)

April: I think I did pretty good... I like my visual :) and I thought mine was interesting! I learned a lot!

Chris: I liked your speech a lot and it made me realize I have to get my oil changed so I am going on friday! You visual was also really good and so I didn't know what some of those things were :)

Jessica: Your speech made me sad and I thought it was good that you put your own experiences into your speech because it made it less boring, because you know what happens from experiences... I think a way to help though is to kind of make a better flow of you paper... I felt like you jumped around a lot but overall it was very good and got the point across

Whitney: I think your speech was interesting and like I said about Jessica's speech I liked how you added your own experiences to your speech it made it more interesting :) I think practicing helps with being able to not mess up on words... you get lost in your speech... You need to fluctuate your voice more...

Zach: Your speech would have been better if you would have finished it and maybe show a visual :)

Response to inform speech

April: your speech was great:) and I learned a lot about animal shelters and what they do to the poor animals when they kill them.

Kellie: halloween is amazing, and I think you did great on your speech. talked a little bit to fast at the beginning but then you slowed down and took your time! It was great!

Jessica: I like how you picked a topic so close to home! it was very touching to you. but you did a good job. I think that you should practice your speech a bit more to make it a little bit better and know where your spot is after you look up. other then that it was good!

Me: I think i did an okay job, It was kind of a nerve wrecking topic to talk about in front of a whole bunch of my class mates. but oh well. I guess it turned out okay.

Response to Speeches to Inform

April- Your speech was great :)
It was very interesting, and your visual was awesome.
Now I want to adopt a dog!

Jessica- I thought your speech was good :)
It was very emotional, and I liked how you could relate to it.
I think you are very strong for finishing your speech!

Korie- Haha I loved your speech :)
I'm glad I now know more about sex.
It was very informative, I think this kind of thing should be taught more throughout the school.
Good Job!

Chris- I thought your speech was good, the visual was nice because I didn't really know what any of the stuff you were talking about was until I saw it, except for the oil. :)

Whitney's Post (her computer wasn't working)

Kellie Did very well kept me interested 

Korie-Very well done like all the addeds. 

April- Very funny job well done 

Chris- Nice speech did a good job 

Zack-Nice job 

Jessica- Very funny still laughing about it job well done

Response to Speech to Entertain.

Overall I thought my speech was pretty good... I guess I'm just very nervous and it probably comes out when I talk, I was very shaky and I think I moved my feet a little when I was talking. I didn't think my speech was terrible though and I got some laughs :) I thought I did a half way decent job!

I think my speech was pretty good, somethings I could do better next time is probably know my speech more, memorize it more, and try not to be so nervous. Any responses let me know! :)

Respond to Speech to Entertain

I think that I did a pretty good job for my first speech. I should have slowed down at the beginning of my story,so that people would be able to understand what I was talking about. Pre-reading with different people was very helpful, So that I found some of my mistakes so then I could fix them.

Kellie: You did a great job, and made people laugh. some advice would be to go a little bit slower at the beginning of your story.

April: your speech was really good, it made people laugh, and you took your time telling your story.

Whitney: you did a good job at making eye contact with people. ONe thing that you may want to practice is reading your speech several times, so that you dont lose your place while your giving your speech. The movie clip was a great idea to use for your props.

Jessica: I think your speech was good. I do think that you should have went into more description and more detail about that night and your lovely date.

Response to Speech to Entertain

Overall I thought my speech went ok, besides the fact that I went way to fast in the beginning. By the end of my speech I felt a lot more comfortable. I wish I would have practiced my speech a little bit more, and next time I will probably take my speech home the night before to read it out loud to someone in my family.
~Kellie

Responses to My Broken Arm by Zach Padgett

Any comments on my speech?

Speeches to Entertain

I thought that every one did a great job, considering that this was the first time getting up in front of a new group of people and speaking.

Korie:  I thought her topic was really funny.  I liked that she asked questions "Have any of you lost a cell phone?  Have any of you dug through the subway trash to find a cell phone."  I think it would have been great if she would have called on Andrew and asked him about his experience digging through the trash.  It would have been a great way to lead into her speech.  I know April must not have enjoyed digging through the trash! :) 

Needs to work on slowing down.  

Whitney:  I thought she had a nice topic because she was writing about a movie and place that really inspired her.  I think that her visual was nice--everyone in the room was paying attention during that time.  And it was great that she introduced her visual.  I think she could work on tone and make sure that she emphasizes important parts in her speech.  

April:  I thought she did a really good job of speaking in a story-telling voice.  She used a lot of gestures throughout her speech which helped keep her audience's attention.  I think she could work on eye-contact a bit more and hold eye-contact for a longer period of time.

Zach: Zach had a great speaking voice.  It was loud and everyone could hear him.  I love the description of his arm breaking and the school nurse.  He got some laughs from this.   Good job.  Eye-contact and gestures need some work.  Overall, the audience was engaged and liked his speech.

Jessica:  I loved Jessica's quote at the beginning of her speech.  She seemed a bit timid and shy to tell this story about her first blind date.  That's okay, it's natural to feel this way when you are performing for the first time.  I liked her pace.  I thought she went slow and was careful to follow through with the lines of her speech.  I do think she will need to work on eye contact and pausing between questions to give her audience time to answer and respond.

Kellie:

I really enjoyed hearing this story about Danielle.  Most every one knows Danielle and could picture her popping up in someone else's tube.  I like that Kellie created suspense in her speech by discussing how she was a terrible swimmer and how Danielle was a great swimmer.  The audience was engaged and waiting for the embarrassing moment.  She had great tone and fluctuation in her voice.  She can work on eye-contact and making sure she slows down at the beginning of her speech.

Christopher Robin:

I thought your speech was great.  I wished that Chris would have included a visual--like the pictures of his ruined tires.  I think he would have got more laughs from that.  Chris needs to work on looking up and holding eye-contact for a longer period of time.  I think he needs to work on tone and consider fluctuation.  He naturally speaks in a soft tone so I think some of the word activities might help him feel more comfortable changing his speech.  Show a little more enthusiasm.  SMILE! :)

Great job overall!  I think by the end of this semester you will feel a lot more comfortable about speaking in front of a large group.  Keep it up! 

response to speeches to entertain

I think I did okay in my speech, but I was nervous. I think that I need to work on my gestures, I don't know if I even had any. I also need to work on not swaying back and forth, and need more eye contact.

SAREA ROX!!!!!!!!!

Test

Im attempting a post.

And So It Begins. . .

In this class it is very important that we learn how to give advice and ask questions about speech performances.  I hope that you will utilize the blog before and after speeches.  We will spend time focusing on five major areas with any given speech: 1) Using proper voice 2) Making eye contact 3) Posture 4) Gesturing 5) Facial Expression.  Expect this class to be fun!  I usually don't give homework in this class because much of what we are doing is writing speeches, editing, and performing them in front of your other classmates.  Again, make use of the blog to help each other become better speakers and better communicators!  Enjoy!