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Chapter 5
SELECTING YOUR TOPIC AND PURPOSE
This chapter is devoted to the skills of identifying an appropriate topic and deciding on a specific
purpose and central idea. Additional materials in Chapter 17 provide more guidance on topic
selection--one of the biggest problems students identify. Many find the mind map method of topic
identification useful for generating a list of usable subjects.
Chapter Goals
At the end of this chapter, your students should be able to:
•
Choose your speech topic
•
Narrow your topic to fit the situation
•
Identify a general purpose and a specific purpose for your speech
•
Write a thesis statement that states your subject and its importance to the audience
•
Write a preview that summarizes your main points
At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
Have some idea of topics your students will choose. Knowing my student’s interests allows me to be
on the lookout for information they might be able to use in their speeches. For example, if I know a
student is interested in the topic of “extreme sports” and I see a teaser for a 20/20 segment devoted to
the topic of ice climbing, I might send the student an email or videotape the segment for her.
Chapter Outline
I.
Choose a topic.
A.
Assess the audience's need to know.
1.
The topic should be significant.
2.
It should have an element of novelty.
B.
Consider your personal interests.
1.
Draw from personal interests.
2.
Brainstorm your personal interests and experiences to generate a number of possible
topics.
3.
When you are interested in your subject, you can speak more passionately and focus
more on your message.
4.
Your enthusiasm can energize your audience.
C.
Develop topics from other courses; this also helps the speaker learn course concepts.
D.
Investigate current issues and events.
1.
Source material is commonly available in media coverage.
2.
The topic addresses a societal interest or need; thus, it passes the significance test.
E.
Consider international and cultural subjects that can be connected to listeners’ lives.
II.
Narrow the topic to fit time constraints.
A.
A mind map is a good way to let your ideas flow.
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III.
Choose the purpose and focus.
A.
Identify a general purpose, keeping in mind that purposes often overlap.
1.
Speeches that explain, teach, announce, describe, introduce or increase understanding
have the purpose "to inform."
2.
The intention to convince, nominate, reinforce cultural ideals, or motivate an audience to
action has the general purpose "to persuade."
3.
Humorous speeches hope "to entertain."
4.
Speeches “to commemorate” highlight and reinforce cultural ideals.
B.
Identify a specific purpose, a summary of the desired audience response.
1.
Purposes relating to thinking or beliefs aim for cognitive effects.
2.
Hoping to influence the audience's feelings targets affective or emotional effects.
3.
Moving the audience to act hopes for behavioral effects.
C.
Write a thesis statement or central idea that summarizes the main ideas of the speech.
1.
Phrase the thesis statement as a single declarative sentence that states the topic and
summarizes the speech's contents as simply and precisely as needed to guide the speaker
and the audience.
2.
Begin to formulate the central idea or thesis statement early, but revise it if necessary.
3.
State the thesis in the speech, generally in the introduction.
4.
Also include a preview or short summary of the major points developed in the speech.
Suggested Videos
Excerpts from a televised news broadcast
During the week you teach this chapter, collect excerpts
(perhaps 30 seconds from several stories) of news items.
•
Before you show the clips, ask students to look for broad and for specific topics in the news.
•
After the clip, elicit broad topics covered in the news (e.g., crime, education, music) and
specific topics (let's say the news story was about new neighborhood crime prevention
measures, a new charter school, and an up and coming rap artist).
•
Ask students to use the clip to spin off at least three more specific topics within the broader
subject. (application, analysis)
Discussion Topics
Need to Know. (p. 57) Emphasize audience analysis by discussing the questions at the end of the first
paragraph under “Assess Your Audience's Need to Know.” Give examples of topics with a
questionable need-to-know such as the dangers of drinking and driving, the importance of
wearing seatbelts, why everyone should join a sorority or fraternity, how to make chocolate chip
cookies, how to carve a jack-o-lantern. Ask students to decide if they would make good topics.
Why or why not? (analysis, evaluation)
Ethics in Practice: Are Any Topics Taboo? (pp. 57-58). Ask students to read the feature, and,
working in groups, to answer the discussion questions that follow.
Choosing Your Topic. (pp. 57-59) Use news clips described in Suggested Videos to help students
find topics, or use a suggestion from Teaching Idea 5.1 "Identifying Topics" in the Supplemental
Resources section. (application, synthesis)
General Purposes. (pp. 60-61) Select several broad topics and divide the class into groups. Have each
group select a topic and make a diagram similar to Figure 5.3. (application)
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Narrowing the Topic, Purpose, and Focus. (pp. 59-60) Develop this skill by selecting a topic, such as
developing good study skills, and having students identify a cognitive, an affective, and a
behavioral purpose that relates to it. (application, synthesis)
General Purpose, Specific Purpose, and Thesis Statement. (pp. 60-65) This would make a good in-
class small group activity. Divide students into groups and assign each one to select two general
topics from a list you have prepared and decide together on a general purpose, specific purpose
statement, thesis statement, and preview for an impromptu speech on the subject. Have a
spokesperson from each group summarize their work. Then, invite volunteers to actually give a
one-minute speech on one of the topics. (application, synthesis)
Critical Thinking Exercises
(See p. 66 of the textbook for Critical Thinking Exercises)
Application Exercises
(See p. 66 of the textbook for Application Exercises)
Internet Activities
You can access instructor’s resources at http://www.cengage.com/us/. You will need your instructor’s
access code. Students and instructors may also go to MindTap to find a broad range of resources that
will help students better understand the material in the chapter, complete assignments, and succeed
on tests. MindTap also features speech videos with critical viewing questions, speech outlines, and
transcripts.
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Supplemental Resources
•
Teaching Idea 5.1: Identifying Topics
•
Research Note 5.1: Accountants and Classroom Presentations
Teaching Idea 5.1: Identifying Topics
Purpose: To generate a number of speech topics that students can use throughout the term.
Procedure: Use one or more of the following ideas:
•
On the board put a variety of broad categories such as people, places, issues, events, processes,
controversial issues, international topics, concepts or ideas. Suggest a couple of topics within each
category (people: musicians, politicians) then have small groups of students identify additional
narrowed subjects within the category. Collect their work. After class type up the suggested
topics and make a handout that you distribute during the next class session. Or have a recorder
from each group put their group’s list in the course’s email folder.
•
Instead of using the board, write broad categories onto separate transparencies. Give each small
group a transparency and have them make a mind map on it. Save the transparencies and use
them throughout the chapter and throughout the term whenever students need to choose speech
topics.
•
Bring 6-7 sheets of newsprint and felt pens to class. Divide the class into groups of 3 or 4. Assign
a category to each group and have the members come up with a list of topics within each
category. Tape or pin these sheets around the room and discuss them. After class, roll up the lists
and store them for use with Chapters 16 (Informative Speaking) and 17 (Persuasive Speaking).
•
Use excerpts from TV news, as described in Suggested Videos, to identify significant topics of
interest or significance to the broad audience that views television. Stop after each story and
identify possible informative and persuasive purposes you might develop for the broader topic.
➢
For instance, hurricanes recently battered the eastern seaboard. Topic possibilities: hurricane
staging (informative), different types of hurricanes (informative), destructive hurricanes in
history (informative), buying special hurricane/flood insurance (persuasive), emergency
preparedness measures to take before a hurricane (persuasive).
•
Bring in a number of current magazines. Lead a group discussion of topic possibilities from the
cover page of just one magazine. (Magazines such as Time or Newsweek work best.)
➢
Example: a Time with a cover headline that read, “The Hottest Jobs of the Future.” Topic
possibilities—What jobs are up and coming? What will our offices look like? Will good
service become more valued? Which careers will flourish? Which careers will vanish? Etc.
After students get the idea, divide the class into pairs or groups of three and give each a
current magazine. Ask them to identify five good topics from their magazine cover and write
their list on the board.
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Research Note 5.1. Accountants and Classroom Presentations
Source: InfoTrac College Edition Article A11583351
Lucinda Van Alst & James Schmitte. (1991, October). Practitioner’s guide to making student
presentations. (Management of an accounting practice). The CPA Journal, 61(10), 74-78.
The authors are practicing accountants who give advice to professional who are invited to make
presentations to college students, either in classroom presentations or for groups such as Beta
Alpha Psi, the financial information honorary for students and professionals. Their article
provides information about timing, topic selection, and so on that you could use with Chapter 5
(audience analysis) and Chapter 6 (selecting your topic and purpose). They also discuss visual
aids which you could use with Chapter 12.
Abstract:
“Presentations aimed at introducing students to the professional world of accounting offer
accounting firms the opportunity to enhance on-campus recruiting activities. Small firms, in
particular, should take advantage of this chance to display the financial attractiveness of non-national
firms, as compared to the much larger national firms, through a show of their viability and
professionalism. Crucial to a presentation is the
selection
of a suitable
topic
or theme with the
assistance of the school's faculty, the use of sufficient lead time in the preparation of the presentation,
and the development of a detailed and logical outline of the presentation. Other useful tips in
enhancing student presentations are presented.”
