Public Speaking - Need Ideas

alkady

I'm going to present in a public speaking project in a few weeks and I don't have any idea of what I'll be talking about.

I want to talk about business and issues related to it since this is a persuation speech, But the problem is I'm not talking in front of a mature audience, But a bunch of students in my class. And business is boring to them and i need some ideas of Social or Worldwide Issues that is of interest to 16-21 Yr olds.

thanks in advance for your suggestions, By the way I intend to start it off with a Chuck Norris facts, Anybody up to the level to suggest a good one, I was considering to go for:

After taking a steroids test doctors informed Chuck Norris that he had tested positive. He laughed upon receiving this information, and said "of course my urine tested positive, what do you think they make steroids from?"

or the one with Julius Caesar getting Roundhoused Kicked by Chuck.

jabapyth

Clarify "persuation speech", and why does it need to be on Buisness?

rightclickscott

alkady

Since many of you guys ask me to clarify what I'm saying;

I want to make my speech on business, But the problem is everytime I do, The whole class thinks its boring, Talking about politics is the same.

Thats why I need an idea to talk about which has global and/or social significance and try to convince them of my view.

I'm a great orator, But the problem is the things I talk about are too advanced for these people, Its like being the smartest guy in the dumbest room.

I could talk about animal rights, But then if I make it to the next level of the competion which is against the best of each classrooms. That becomes a problem. What more of a problem is the finals are school board wide, That means in front of important people from the school board, the local government and so on. Last year's event was talked about on CBC's NEWS which is a government owned TV Network.

Magebloom

You need to pic a topic that either means alot to them or will spark their imagination.

Take computer games, a global industry, alot of them play games so they'll be interested, if you want to bring the social side of it in, look at online gaming, just find a topic and twist it to their interests

Assiez

You could talk about the new economies starting in some of the bigger MMORPGs. How people could trade virtual gold for real money and etc. On the same line, you could talk about government intervention in virtual worlds. There has been several cases where courts have ordered that virtual goods be returned as a result of theft etc. This would bring up the interesting topic of just how much power do governments have in virtual worlds that exist beyond physical boundaries. Also could the government tax goods bought and sold in games? Just some food for thought.

Good luck, and I know how you feel, I'm a pretty good public speaker as well, but coming up with a good topic is hard. I just gave a speech in front of my grade about prejudices against mentally handicapped people, but that's because I have some personal experience working with them. I just suggest that you find something interesting to both you and your audience.

And about the Chuck Norris jokes. I think they're great, but try to find one that actually applies to your topic. I would find it pretty odd if you said the following.

"Chuck Norris's tears can cure cancer, too bad he never cries. The economic crisis in ___ is ___."

The transition's rough and distracting, sure it'll get your audience's attention quickly, but you'll lose it quickly too.

Just my 2 cents... actually that was more of a my $1.50.