Once you’ve determined a very general topic—from your interests or an instructor’s assignment—you’ll need to start amassing information, thinking creatively, and considering problems and solutions related to your topic. This is a process known as brainstorming.

In brainstorming, you might consider using a technique for identifying potential topics called clustering (R. E. Smith, 1993). It begins with a core idea from which the writer branches out into a web of related thoughts and ideas. Rather than generating a list of ideas, clustering “spills” ideas in a visual way. To begin, simply write a main word or phrase in a circle; then create a web or collection of ideas inspired by the nucleus word or phrase. See Figure 12.1 for a sample of clustering for the nucleus phrase country music. As the process continues, you’ll be struck by some concepts that might be suitable topics for your speech. In a sense, it’s like Googling your own brain, starting out with a word or concept and branching to form a web of links to related thoughts.