Persuasive Speech Topics

The quest for persuasive speech topics can be a daunting one. How do you go about choosing the right speech topic for your presentation? The answer is deceptively simple, yet does require some thought on your part. Start by considering your audience. What are they interested in? What are their needs and desires? What do you want to persuade them to do, think or feel about the topic? These are all questions that you should consider before beginning the process of choosing one out of the variety of persuasive speech topics available.

Let's say, for example, that you were going to address a group of business commuters. Perhaps you decided that a persuasive speech topic might be “Airline Safety”. That's a pretty ambiguous topic, in and of itself. You would do better to state your topic as a statement, such as “Airline Safety in the Post 9/11 World”. That's a good start, but can we do better?

The answer, of course, is, “yes”, we can do better. A persuasive speech topic starts with a debate style question: “Has Airline Safety Measurably Improved in our Post 9/11 World?” This type of speech topic has several advantages. First, it's a question. Ask someone a question, and their minds will immediately begin looking for an answer. The rest of your speech will be devoted to answering that question. The second reason is that this is an open question; that is, you can choose which side of the question you want to persuade your audience with. In simplest terms, you can say yes or no, and spend the rest of your time presenting your supporting arguments.

Now back to our original question: How do you choose the right speech topic for your audience? The truth of the matter is that just about anything can be a persuasive speech topic. It's not the topic that matters but how you present that topic to your audience. You could give a presentation to a disability group with a topic covering how to be a top ranked NFL star, if you presented it correctly. At first blush, talking about becoming a pro football player to a disability group doesn't seem to make much sense, does it?

But what if your talk was was a motivational one? On the surface, your speech topic appears to be potentially inappropriate, however, talking about the motivational techniques that star athletes use to become the best on the field is highly appropriate, and even relevant to the disabled. With the challenges that the disabled face on a daily basis, motivational and peak performance techniques would be a boon to their daily lives. All of a sudden, talking about sports stars to this audience makes a certain amount of sense.

Persuasive speech topics can be direct, such as talking about airline safety to a group of airline employees, or they can be representative, such as talking about football stars to a disability group. Your topic can be used as a metaphor, an allegory, or an example, or it can be a direct address of the real world needs and concerns of your audience. How you approach the group is up to you. Your goal is simply to persuade them of something. Persuasive speech topics, then, can be anything that you deem appropriate for the group you will be addressing, and helps them to understand your point of view, even if it diverges from theirs.