Oral

Presentation
Skills
Topic 3
01
Choosing a Topic
02
General Purpose
03
Specific Purpose
04
Assessment
 Choosing a
Topic

Topic: the subject of a speech

● Topics You Know A Lot About
● Topics You Want To Know More
About
 “When you look for a
speech topic, keep in mind
special expertise you may
have or sports, hobbies,
travel and other personal
experiences that would
make for an interesting
topic.”
 Brainstorming for Topics

Clustering

Personal Internet
Inventory Search
 Personal Inventory
Experien Beliefs
ces Skills
etc.
Hobbies Interest
Jot down anything that comes to mind, no matter how
silly or irrelevant it may seem. From this list may come a
general subject area out of which you can fashion a specific
topic.
 Clustering
Natural Plans/
Problems
Events
tornado terrorism Policies
Immigration reform
earthquake Election fraud Offshore drilling

People Places Things

Lady Gaga Afghanistan Twitter
Joe Biden My hometown movies

Events Processes Concepts

Graduation Cooking Indian food Medical ethics
Chinese New Year Learning CPR Buddhism
 02
GENERAL
PURPOSE
Determining the General Purpose
Determining the General
Purpose
Choose one of two overlapping categories

● To inform: explain, report, demonstrate

● To persuade: sell, advocate, defend

Be certain of exactly what you hope to achieve by speaking.

 Determinin
g the
Specific
Purpose
Focus on one aspect of a topic.

Topic: Music therapy

General Purpose: To inform
Specific Purpose: To inform my
audience about the benefits of
music therapy for people with
psychological or cognitive
disabilities.
 Choosing a
topic is the first
step in speech
preparation.
One way to come up with a good topic
is to think about issues on which you
hold strong opinions and beliefs.
Oral Presentation Assessment

Individua Positive
l Values
Your presentation should
Individual assessment -
highlight or promote
topic must be original
positive values

Choose a
Visual Aids
Topic
Get approval before Choose suitable visual aids
preparing your (posters, slideshows, videos
presentation outline etc.)