Chapter 4 Choosing a Speech Topic and Purpose
Chapter Objectives
Discuss how an understanding of the speech situation can help you develop a speech topic.
Describe how an understanding of your and your audiences’ interests can help you develop a
speech topic.
Explain why having passion or strong feelings about a speech topic can interest an audience.
Define brainstorming.
Describe two techniques of brainstorming.
List the three types of speech purposes, and explain how they differ.
Explain the difference between a statement of purpose and a thesis statement.
Lecture Outline
I. The ancient Greeks and Romans termed the process of developing and researching a speech
invention, which is the first step of speech creation.
II. Developing a Dynamite Topic
A. Learning Objectives
1. Discuss how an understanding of the speech situation can help you develop a
speech topic.
2. Describe how an understanding of your and your audiences’ interests can help
you develop a speech topic.
3. Explain why having passion or strong feelings about a speech topic can interest
an audience.
B. When coming up with a topic, you should be able to answer three basic questions:
1. What is the speaking situation?
2. What topics are interesting and relevant to me?
3. What topics will be interesting and relevant to my audience?
C. Consider the Speech Situation
1. The speech situation primarily concerns the reason you are giving a speech, but
also includes the constraints of what can be said that are identified during audience
analysis.
D. Consider Your Own Interests
1. Audiences are often more interested in speeches when the speaker seems
genuinely interested in the topic.
2. Selecting a topic that interests you has a lot to do with how you feel about topic.
Therefore, when you select a topic, it should mean something to you.
E. Consider Your Audience
1. When choosing a speech topic you must consider the interests and needs of your
listeners, because the fundamental purpose of a speaker is to build a sense of community
with the audience.
III. Mind Storm: Concept Mapping and Other Explosives
A. Learning Objectives
1. Define brainstorming.
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2. Describe two techniques of brainstorming.
B. Once you know the constraints of your speech, you can develop possible topic ideas
through the creative process of brainstorming.
C. Getting Unstuck with Word Association
1. Word association was first developed by Sigmund Freud to encourage shy
patients to open up; however the technique is also helpful when brainstorming topic
ideas.
2. First, write down an idea. Then, write down the next word or concept that comes
to mind based on what the first word reminds you of.
3. Keep writing down terms until you have a full page of words and ideas that are
related in some way. It will then be easier to identify links and commonalities.
D. Concept Mapping
1. A concept map is a visual representation of the relationships between different
concepts, usually depicted with arrows and lines.
2. This visual technique for brainstorming is very similar to word association,
except that your focus is more on the association or relation between words and concepts,
and less on the words or concepts themselves.
E. Research
1. Research involves looking through materials, usually printed, online, or archived,
in search of information, background, and context for something that you want to learn
more about.
IV. Narrowing Your Topic: What’s Your Purpose?
A. Learning Objective
1. List the three types of speech purposes, and explain how they differ.
B. Begin narrowing your topic by asking yourself about the general purpose of the speech.
1. All public speeches can be categorized by
one of three general speech purposes:
a)
To inform or teach (increasing listeners’ understanding or awareness)
b)
To persuade or seduce (altering listeners’ beliefs or encouraging
specific actions)
c)
To celebrate, honor, or mourn (bringing a community together in
speech on a special occasion, such as a birth, a death, or a toast at a party)
V. From Topic to Thesis
A. Learning Objective
1. Explain the difference between a statement of purpose and a thesis statement.
B. A thesis statement (sometimes also referred to as a central idea) is a single sentence that
expresses the topic and purpose of the speech.
1. Often the thesis statement overlaps significantly with the purpose of a speech, but
not always.
2. To write your thesis statement, you must be very clear about your purpose or
reason for speaking first.
3. Your thesis statement should be more engaging than your statement of purpose
and may indicate your purpose only indirectly.
C. Once you have a topic, purpose, and a draft of a thesis statement, you are ready to do
further research and begin preparing and organizing your speech.
Key Terms
Invention: the process of discovering materials and arguments for a speech.
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Speech situation: refers to both the exigency or reason for giving the speech as well as those things that
constrain what can be said. The primary characteristic of the speech situation is the reason and purpose of
a speech. Secondary elements include the space and place of a speech, as well as the characteristics of the
audience.
Brainstorming: the creative process of developing ideas and solutions to problems.
Concept map: visual representation of the relationships between different concepts, usually depicted
with arrows and lines.
General speech purpose: answers the question “why” with regard to the topic, audience, and occasion.
Specific purpose statement: a single sentence that explains the specific topic and goal of your
presentation.
Thesis statement: a single sentence that expresses the topic and purpose of a speech.
Chapter Summary
The goal of Chapter 4: Choosing a Speech Topic and Purpose is to teach st udents the first steps in
delivering a speech, na mely, determining the topic and the purpose of the spe ech. This cha pter explains
the three fact ors to consider when try ing to dete rmine the topic a nd purpose of a spee ch: the speaking
situation, your own interests, and y our audience’s interests. Next, the chapter delves into brainstor ming
techniques as an eff ective way to develop a topic. Several specific techniques are dis cussed, including
research, word association, and concept mapping.
The three purposes of a speech—to inform, to persuade, and to celebrate, honor, or mourn—are presented
next. The chapter concludes by highlighting the next step, which is to turn a topic into a thesis statement.
Discussion Questions
1. Chapter 1 of Speech Craft mentions several meanings for the word craft in connection to writing
speeches. How does the word invention in Chapter 4 relate to the idea of craft and speech craft?
2. Good topic choices reflect your passion and personal investment. Sometimes speakers have no choice
in their topics. How would you approach developing a topic that you had no investment or interest in?
(For example, salt.) Explain your answer using terms from the chapter and examples to illustrate.
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3. Good topic choices fit the situation. How would you approach a speech where the topic and situation
don’t match well? Explain how you would respond to this scenario. Use ideas from the chapter and
provide examples for support.
You have successfully completed a fundraiser for your student club and you raised more money than you
anticipated. You prepared a lighthearted, entertaining presentation to talk about the club’s success. When
you arrive at the club meeting, you learn about an accident that put a popular member in the hospital and
the tone is solemn. The president insists you give your report anyway. You realize your topic does not fit
the situation. What would you say?
4. When writing your thesis statement, what are some points to consider while deciding how closely the
wording should parallel the specific purpose? Give ideas from the chapter and examples to support your
answer.
5. The chapter says that a topic must mean something to the speaker and the audience and should reflect
intersecting interests. How does this statement relate to themes discussed in other chapters? Explain using
terms from the book and illustrate with ideas.
A: Initially the discussion should cover the “who cares?” question. From there, it should extend
to the book’s theme about how speeches reflect the intersection of interests and meaning making
Activities for in-class work or homework
Variations on brainstorming and mind mapping
1. Traditional mind map as gallery walk
As discussed in the chapter, have students mind map speech topics and purpose statements in
groups. Design the activity to fit class chemistry, learning needs, and the situation. Instructors
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3. Pinventories: Brainstorming with digital apps
When students resort to Google for a speech topic, they find topic lists (“100 killer persuasive
5. Meaningful topics
Students can focus speech topics to align them with audience interests with this activity. Students
can use paper, writing in columns or Venn diagrams, but the kinesthetic form is best. Use sticky
notes for brainstorming responses and something like washi tape or masking tape to create Venn
chapter.
Directions:
1. Brainstorm all the things
you want to
say
about your topic. What are you interested in?
Work at a rapid pace.
2. Brainstorm about all the things your audience probably thinks about your topic. What
interests them? What do they know? What should they
know? What might turn them off?
should not write their names on the cards.
2. Share the assignment instructions:
We are going to watch several speech videos on the same general subject. The location of
3. Play the videos.
4. Collect the cards and review them with the class as a whole.
As part of the group discussion, ask students questions regarding their thought processes. For example,
how easy or challenging was it to figure out the purpose of each speech, and why?
Part 2
Preparing for the Assignment
Come up with a broad subject to share with the class.
Assignment Instructions for the Instructor
2. Give the class 5 minutes to come up with as many topics from this subject as possible. Each
3. Once time is called, have everyone share their lists. They will be shocked at how many individual
topics can come from one broad subject!
3. Breaking It Down by Brainstorming
The goal of this activity is to determine which brainstorming techniques work best for what type of
speech situation, purpose, and subject.
Preparing for the Assignment
Assignment Instructions for the Instructor
2. Have students brainstorm
specific topics for each card.
Students can choose any type of brainstorming activities they wish, which can include the
ones discussed in this chapter as well as others, such as freewriting and listing.
Students may also start with one type of brainstorming activity and then switch to another if
they are having difficulty generating a topic with that specific technique.
3. In the end, each student should come up with a specific topic for each card, along with a specific
brainstorming technique accompanying it.
4. Instruct students to break their topics down further into thesis statements.
5. Have students share both their thought process and proposed speech topics, noting which
brainstorming technique they used for each and why.
Throughout the activity, students should keep their thought process in mind and even jot down notes as
they progress.
More Resources
1. Two popular apps for concept mapping are Mindomo and Sketchboard. The apps are freemium (free
with paid upgrades).
2. “Mapping your research ideas” is a 3-minute video on how to make concept maps. Search “ucla library
3. Expert Village has a series of six videos on choosing and narrowing a topic (2008). Viewing order is: #
5. A longer video about mind mapping incorporates a sketchnoting perspective and explains how to use
mind mapping for visual notetaking. It can be found by searching “a mind mapping approach to your
sketchnotes.” This video explains how mind mapping shows hierarchy and relationships, which students
will find useful. Good for a flipped class.
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