Also known as a categorical pattern, the topical pattern is based on organization into categories, such as persons, places, things, or processes. Thus you might use it to describe the various departments in an organization, the characteristics of a successful employment interview, or the reasons for giving a charitable contribution to a specific organization.

One key concern when selecting this approach is the sequencing of topics, that is, which topic to offer first, second, and so on. Depending on the circumstances, you might choose an ascending or descending order, for example, according to increasing or decreasing importance, familiarity, or topic complexity. The primacy–recency effect can offer some guidance in that it notes that audiences are most likely to remember points you raise at the very beginning (primacy) or at the very end (recency) of a message, indicating that you might place your strongest point first or last so that your audience members keep it in mind long after the end of your presentation.