Building Your Topic

1. Building Your Topic

2. Topic Selection • Suiting Yourself— • Unless you are interested in your topic, your audience will not be • You need to know something about your topic already • You must become thoroughly informed about the topic—interest is not enough • The effect you have on your audience is based on their perception of your expertise, good intentions, and trustworthiness

3. Suiting your audience • Suiting Your Audience— • As you narrow a topic, determine what the audience wants or needs to hear. • Choose topics you find interesting • Don’t be afraid to talk about subjects your classmates know little about • Consider the group’s knowledge of the topic • Don’t bore an audience with a speech they have already heard before • Even if an audience has general knowledge of your topic, you can narrow it to present new or more detailed information

4. Narrowing your topic • Narrowing Your Topic • Failing to narrow the topic enough is usually one of the biggest mistakes made in speech preparation • Narrowing the topic makes the topic more manageable • Common sense will help you narrow your topic • When you select how you want to develop your speech, you have taken the first step toward narrowing your topic.

5. Order to build your speech • Start with dividing your topic into 3 areas • Then start researching for each area • Find your three sources for SM • Do the SM assignment • Finish your outline (including introduction and conclusion) • Start practicing speech (make sure it’s in front of someone) • Check due dates!!!