Speech Topics: How to Become a Motivational Speaker

Are you an engaging speaker who has had many interesting, rewarding experiences? Motivate yourself to motivate others and get paid for doing so.

Steps:

• Evaluate your special message. Consider what it is that you have to say that would be of value to others--have you experienced great adversity, or received some special education? In order to succeed as a motivational speaker, you must have something special to deliver.
• Carve out your niche. Motivational speaking is, in many ways, a product that must be sold. Why should someone pay to hear you impart your message? Be able to articulate your unique experiences and explain exactly how you can inspire others.
• Create an outline of your presentation. This will be used not only to provide a framework for your talk but also as a marketing piece for potential clients. Furthermore, many people are visual learners and can gain more from a visual representation than a spoken one.
• Contact large, not-for-profit corporations and professional groups and make it clear you are available. While there is nothing wrong with directly asking for a gig, announcing your availability will let them feel privileged to work with you.
• Contact speakers' bureaus and notify them of your availability. Some speakers' bureaus charge you to list your services, others charge nothing. Most bureaus take a percentage for acting as your agent. Search for "speakers' bureaus" on the Internet.
• Be willing to work for free to get your name out. Once others hear your interesting story or experience, they may want to hire you. Inform everyone you know that you are looking for organizations who want a good motivational speaker. Volunteer to speak at service clubs in your area.
• Write and publish articles or books if possible, in order to establish yourself as an authority in your subject. You do not need to publish a book people will find in the local bookstore. Post to websites like wikiHow and submit to on-line magazines and blogs.
• Draw up a written agreement, or contract, for all engagements. The written agreement should contain, among other matters, how the fees will be paid (e.g., cash, check, over time), how long you are expected to speak, whether you will be reimbursed for travel expenses, and the time and date. This will help to avoid any disputes at a later time.

Tips:

• Join a local Toastmasters Club. You will learn and practice everything you need to know when presenting a Motivational Speech, as well as any other type of speech.
• Dress consistent with the perception you wish to convey. If you want to convey professionalism and success, business attire is probably best. Some motivational speakers use clothing to make a point in their presentation.
• Speak clearly and repeat your main messages at least three times.
• Keep it fun and lively. Audience participation is a great way for adults to learn, and you can do this in any number of ways. For example, one speaker handed out raisins and slowly took the audience through the life of that raisin and all that had to happen for that raisin to be in their hands. This kind of activity makes the audience feel part of the speech and facilitates learning. Remember that any activities must be relevant to the topic you are speaking on.

Warnings:

• If you forget what to say or begin to get nervous in front of a large crowd, stop, take a deep breath, and speak from the heart. Your audience will be happy to hear your honest experiences.
• One of the best ways to overcome nervousness is to focus on how you can serve your audience instead of worrying about what they are thinking about you.

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Speech Topics for Younger Audience

Here are speech topics for kids

General

1. My Pop Idol
2. What is science?
3. On this day in history
4. Study techniques
5. Which language they like?
6. What is ABC's and 123's?
7. Story telling
8. Healthy Eating
9. Television
10. School interviews
11. Which Game they like?
12. Self Behavior
13. What is homework help?
14. What is Math?
15. Colour blindness
16. What is Social Science?
17. 25 uses for a _____ (paper/ electricity)
18. My dream holiday (e.g. Walking a donkey in Ireland)
19. Demo about Shapes and Colors
20. 5 easy to grow vegetables
21. What I'd do if I won the lottery
22. How to have your cake and eat it

Nature

1. Is an owl really wise?
2. The secret life of an eel
3. Wolves in the living room - how the wolf evolved into of the domestic dog
4. A day in the life of a Beluga Whale
5. Cats and lions - how do they compare?
6. Why Dolphins jump out of the water

Books

1. Tom Sawyer
2. Little Women
3. Pride and Prejudice
4. All quiet on the western front
5. A tale of two cities

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Speech Topics: How to Prepare and Give a Speech

speech topics
Have you just found out you need to give a speech? And you're feeling a little nervous about it? Here's a step-by-step guide to help you prepare a speech on any topic.
Steps:

1. Identify the topic of your speech. If it is up to you to select the topic, choose a subject that you know well and target it so that is appropriate for your audience.

2. Research your subject. If it is not a subject with which you are familiar, start with the most general background sources that you can find. Good examples include an encyclopedia, the internet or a newspaper such as the NY Times.

3. Know how many minutes you have to speak. This is very important because you don't want to risk having too little or too much to say. You may also want to budget in time for questions at the end. Practice the speech after it is written, to get an idea of how much time it will take you to deliver it.

4. Know your audience. Discuss things that the audience might specifically be interested in. For example, if you are giving a speech to a group of plant enthusiasts at the Botanical Gardens, speak about plants, aromatic uses of plants, famous botanists or biodiversity etc.

5. Write a succinct, single-sentence statement about your subject. This is similar to a thesis statement for a written paper. This statement is the foundation for your speech.

6. Outline the rest of your speech on index cards as you would outline a paper. Do not write out the speech. The outline is there to trigger your memory, not to give you a script. There should be no more than 3 - 5 subtopics that support your main statement. Make sure you know enough about each subtopic to speak briefly on each one.

7. Use one card for the introduction. This will include your main statement (or some variation of it). Use one or two cards for each subtopic and one for the conclusion which refers back to the main statement.

8. Write brief sentence fragments or even single words. These words or fragments should be ones that remind you about what you want to cover for that subtopic on each subtopic card or cards. They will act as triggers for your main points.

9. Practice your speech in front of a friend or a mirror. Practice looking at your audience more and your cards less. Time the length of the speech and tailor its length as needed. Remember - the greater crime is to bore the audience with a too long speech. Better to have a short and well-rehearsed one than a monologue that sends everyone into reverie.

10. Pretend that you are an expert talking to your friends when you give the speech. Most of the people in the room don't know the material better than you do. You are sharing information with them.

11. Make eye contact with members of your audience. Speak slowly and breathe slowly. If eye contact is too intense for you, look just above their heads at a point such as a clock or a painting. Try to not focus intently on one place, however - move your eyes around a bit.

12. Do not leave the podium immediately after you finish giving your speech. Count up to 15 in your head before leaving the podium. If there is an option for questions, it always engages the audience more to respond from the podium than to return to a seated position and attempt to answer questions.

Tips:

* Don't write out the speech. You can't read aloud as dynamically as you can talk about your topic. And if you're reading, you won't be making eye contact with your audience.

* Don't over research. There is only so much information the audience is capable of digesting and remaining alert to listen to.

* Slow down. We all speak more quickly in front of a room than we think we do. No one ever gave a public talk too slowly.

* Dress to impress. You will feel better and look better doing it.

* Use index cards or have them even if you don't think you will need them -just in case.

* Stay calm.

* Use words such as "we" and "ours" instead of "me" and mine". "You" should also be avoided because it will seem like you are blaming the audience. (During a persuasive speech)

* When you are going to say important things, you should keep quiet for some seconds before saying the point, it will hold the attention of the audience. Then after you've said the point, you should again keep quiet, it will give the audience time to digest what you said.

* If possible, use visual or audio aids.

* Humor is always a plus!

* To avoid speaking too quickly, emphasize hard consonants (d, k, t and so on).

Related:

How to Select a Topic for a Speech

How to Choose a Topic for an Informative Speech

Persuasive Speech Topics

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