102.12 12. INFORMATIVE SPEECH TOPICS

Informative speech topics can include people, things, events, phenomena, processes, ideas, and/or issues. Often the topic of a speech fits more than one of those categories. For example, a speech informing an audience about a scientific phenomenon might also inform that audience about the people who first discovered it and provide an overview of an issue to which it connects. The following table shows examples of different types of informative speech topics.

TOPICS

EXAMPLES


People

Examines individuals’ and groups’ effect on society

  • Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple

  • Kathryn Bigelow, film director

  • Alcoholics Anonymous, a substance-abuse support group

  • Someone the speaker knows personally

    998


Things or Phenomena

Examines characteristics of subjects that are not human

  • The history of ballet

  • The rise of the use of drones in warfare

  • The reintroduction of wolves into the American West


Events

Examines past and present events

  • The Peloponnesian War

  • The 2008 financial crisis

  • The Civil Rights Act of 1964


Processes

Examines, and often explains, how something works

  • How bees make honey

  • How killer whales communicate

  • How to throw a fastball


Ideas

Examines opinions, theories, and/or beliefs

  • Workplace ethics

  • Online privacy

  • String theory


Issues

Examines controversies to raise awareness of clashing viewpoints (rather than to take a position)

  • Impact of American anti-drug laws

  • Standardized testing in schools

  • Diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba