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Ge Elec 1 Lesson 4 f2f Handout
Ge Elec 1 Lesson 4 f2f Handout
WHAT IS A TOPIC?
topic – it is the subject of the speech. Or it is what your speech is all about.
Most people speak best about subjects with which they are most familiar. When thinking about a
topic, draw on your own knowledge and experience.
This happens when you decide to make your speech a learning experience for yourself and or your
audience. You may choose a subject about which you already have some knowledge or expertise but not
enough to prepare a speech without doing additional research.
Another thing that can help you if you are having trouble selecting a topic, you just need to do
BRAINSTORMING:
brainstorming – a method of generating ideas for speech topics by free association of words and
ideas. It’s writing down all of your thoughts and ideas.
There are a number of brainstorming procedures you can follow to get started.
1. Personal Inventory
2. Clustering
3. Reference Search
4. Internet Search
So, after brainstorming, or while choosing a topic, you need to determine your general purpose.
Determining purpose usually fall into one of two overlapping categories – to inform or to
persuade:
Once you have chosen a topic and a general purpose, you must narrow your choices to determine the
specific purpose of your speech.
GE ELEC 1 – Public Speaking & Persuasion
LESSON 4 - Selecting a Topic and a Purpose
specific purpose – a single infinitive phrase that states precisely what a speaker hopes to accomplish in
his/her speech
EXAMPLE:
Ineffective: Calendars.
More Effective: To inform my audience about the four major kinds of calendar used in the world
today.
Ineffective: To persuade my audience that the campus policy on student parking really stinks.
More Effective: To persuade my audience that the campus policy on student parking should be
revised to provide more spaces for students before 5 p.m.
Ineffective: To persuade my audience to become literacy tutors and donate time to the
Special Olympics.
Or,
Ineffective: To persuade my audience that something should be done about government IDs.
More Effective: To persuade my audience that the republic government should adopt a National
ID system for all Filipinos
GE ELEC 1 – Public Speaking & Persuasion
LESSON 4 - Selecting a Topic and a Purpose
Whenever you settle on your specific purpose, ask yourself the following questions about it:
central idea – a one-sentence statement that sums up or encapsulates the major ideas of a speech.
The central idea is a concise statement of what you expect to say. Sometimes, it is called the thesis
statement, the subject sentence, or the major thought. Another way to think of the central idea is as your
residual message.
residual message – what a speaker wants the audience to remember after it has forgotten everything
else in a speech.
EXAMPLE:
What makes a well-worded central idea? Essentially the same things that make a well-worded
specific purpose statement. The central idea:
(1) should be expressed in s full sentence;
(2) should not be in the form of a question;
(3) should avoid figurative language; and,
(4) should not be vague or overly general.