Step 1: Select Your Topic and Purpose

Your first step in preparing to give a speech is to select your topic and purpose.

Your Topic

A suitable speech topic should be (1) worthwhile, dealing with matters of substance; (2) appropriate to you and your audience; (3) limited in scope; and (4) sensitive and appropriate to the culture in which the speech takes place. Let's consider each briefly. First, the topic should be worthwhile; it should address an issue that has significant implications for the audience. The topic must be important enough to merit the time and attention of a group of intelligent and educated persons.

Second, a suitable topic is appropriateto you as the speaker, to the audience you'll address, and to the occasion.

The topic also should be appropriate for the occasion.

Third, topics must be limited in scope. Probably the most common mistake made by beginning speakers is to attempt to cover a huge topic in five minutes. The history of Egypt, why our tax structure should be changed, or the sociology of filmsuch topics try to cover too much. With too broad a topic, all the speaker succeeds in doing is telling the audience what it already knows.

Finally, topics need to be culturally sensitive. In many Arab, Asian, and African cultures, discussing sex in an audience of both men and women would be considered offensive. In other cultures (that of Scandinavia is a good example), sex is expected to be discussed openly and without embarrassment or discomfort. Each culture has its own tabootopics – subjects that should be avoided, especially by visitors from other cultures. For example, Roger Axtell in Dos and Taboos around the World (1993) reсommends that visitors from the United States avoid discussing politics, language differences between French and Flemish, and religion in Belgium; family, religion, jobs, and negative comments on bullfighting in Spain; World War II in Japan; politics, religion, corruption, and foreign aid in the Philippines; and race, local politics, and religion in the Caribbean.

Не знайшли потрібну інформацію? Скористайтесь пошуком google:

Генерація сторінки за: 0.004 сек.