An informative speech is a presentation you give in front of an audience with the purpose of educating others about a specific topic. At first, this may seem a bit dull. In reality, if your topic is interesting, you are an engaging speaker, and you find a topic that interests you, it’s possible for you to deliver a very interesting informative speech.
If you need further proof of this, hit YouTube and watch Ted Talks for awhile. Chances are, you’ll find yourself going down a bit of an internet rabbit hole with these. They’re very interesting, and a good number of them are informative speeches.
The Purpose of an Informative Speech
The informative speech is different from other speeches in that it isn’t intended to get the audience to take any action. Some speeches are given to persuade people to believe a certain way, or to do something as a result of what they have been told. With an informative speech your goal is to educate your audience, to keep them engaged and interested in your speech, and to ensure that they remember what you’ve told them.
If you have a college level speech writing assignment, the best way forward is to find a great topic idea, and to an excellent public speaker. We can’t help you much with the second part, but we can suggest some really great topic ideas.
Sports And Fitness Topics
Sports, health, fitness, and well being are topics that are important to many people. Consider covering one of these interesting topics if this is an area where you have expertise to share.
- What is Intermittent Fasting And How Does it Impact The Body?
- Dehydration: a simple speech about the role of water in our lives
- Is One Meal a Day a Healthy Plan?
- The variety of healthy lifestyle choices
- The connection between health and happiness
- Modern health care: new issues, approaches, and technologies
- Mental hygiene: taking proper care of your brain
- Healthy eating vs. eating disorders
- Healthy habits and how to acquire them
- The Weirdest Things that People Still Eat
- New trends in healthy child development
- Germs: health risks related to the lack of hygiene
- Natural remedies for cold and cough
- Chronic neck and back pain: when it's time to see the doctor
- Informative speaking about heatstroke: first aid, potential risks, and outcomes
- Older adults and depression: symptoms, risks, and prevention
- Birth control: types of emergency contraception
- The Phenomenon of Ambidexterity and Its Probable Explanations
- Temperaments and Their Variations
- Developing a grateful approach toward others
- The most exotic food ever: a snapshot of world culture
- Food additives, their effects, and threats: be careful what you eat
- Food chains: mechanisms, efficiency, and revenue
- Providing food security: learning what meals consist of
- Food habits in different countries: learning the peculiarities of etiquette
- Food and nutrition: differences and similarities
- Food resources in impoverished countries: solving the problem
- Vegetarianism vs. Daily meat consumption
- Junk food and obesity
- How corporations shape our food preferences
- How technology has changed the food industry
- Undereating and overeating
- Caffeine addiction
- Mediterranean diet: pros and cons
- How climate change affects food supply and global hunger
- Food allergies
- The connection between sport and intelligence
- How Does Keto Work?
This wildly popular diet has helped many people meet their fitness goals. Explain the process of eating Keto, and how it impacts weight loss.
- What is The Impact of Exercise on Weight Loss?
- The Physics of Hitting a Baseball
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What is Tommy John Surgery?
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How do Athletes Come Back After Severe Injuries?
- How Does Sugar Impact Your Body?
Is sure addiction a real thing? How bad is sugar? Give an explainer speech on the effects sugar has in the minutes and hours after you eat it.
- How Does Obesity Impact Your Joints
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Explain High Intensity Training
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What Happens When You Eat Too Much Sugar?
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What is Burst Training?
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What is The Difference Between Cardio And Weight Training?
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How Does a Low Fat Diet Work?
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Are All Performance Enhancing Drugs Bad?
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How Does NCAA Eligibility Work?
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Should College Athletes Get Paid?
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What Behaviors Can Make College Athletes Ineligible?
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Why Are Professional Athletes Allowed to Play in The Olympics?
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What Exactly Happened at USA Gymnastics
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How Can Parents Protect Their Child Athlete?
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What is The Difference Between The Different Protein Powders on The Market?
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How do Growth Hormones Impact Athletic Performance?
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Why are Steroids Banned?
Political Topics
Politics and current events are always interesting to people. They’re also nearly always a good choice for an academic environment. Here are a few examples of these.
- Explain Brexit And Its Potential Impacts on The Rest of The World
The people of Britain voted to leave the EU. How did this come to be, and how will it affect other nations in the EU and elsewhere?
- Provide Information About The Paris Treaty
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What is a Dreamer?
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How do Tariffs Work?
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What is Universal Basic Income?
Some people believe that a universal basic income will become necessary in the near future. Give a speech explaining how UBI works, and detailing the reasons why some people think it’s inevitable.
- Explain The Relationship Between North And South Korea?
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Describe a Challenge Faced by Your Local Government
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How does the electoral college work?
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What is the difference between Parliament and Congress
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What do Cabinet Members do?
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What is a Trade War?
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How Did The Cold War Impact The United States And The Soviet Union?
Humorous Topics
Not all topics have to be serious. If you’ve watched the above mentioned Ted Talks, you know that humor is often used to make speeches more effective. It’s also perfectly fine to use humor as an element in your speeches. This can help you keep the audience’s attention a bit better, and make your speech more enjoyable for all.
- Weird And Wacky Facts About The Human Body
- Craziest Kings And Queens Throughout Time
- Reasons people like conspiracy theories so much
- The Stories Behind Your Favorite Memes
Chances are at least some of your classmates are fans of this contemporary form of expression and humor. Some memes are completely fictional, but others have an interesting story behind them. Entertain your class and earn a good grade by delivering an informative speech about memes.
- The Science of Telling a Lie
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Insignificant Events That Changed History
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Odd Habits of Old Presidents
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How to Tell a Joke
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What is a Dad Joke Anyway?
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What would school life be like if lessons were taught at night?
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If Facebook ads are so annoying, why do companies use them?
- Why do hiccups occur and how to stop them
- Best and worst reasons to skip your school classes
- Off-duty: what teachers do when they are not teaching
- Why do rock stars break their guitars on stage?
- Why dogs are human's best friends – not cats
- Fat and fabulous: things to learn from your cat
- The dangers of family dinners and how to avoid them
- Things you really shouldn't say on your first date
- Procrastination for creative people: the art of doing nothing
- A summary of Star Wars – it's not as confusing as you think
- Reasons why people find offensive jokes funny
Social Issues
Sadly, every culture is impacted by poverty, violence, pollution, and oppression. Your assignment could be your chance to educate people on a pressing issue that impacts many people.
- The Impact of Lack of Clean Water on Society
- Gun Violence Statistics Across Multiple Nations
- How Poverty Impacts Healthcare Delivery
Poverty doesn’t just leave many people without insurance, it also impacts the ability of healthcare providers to deliver services. Lack of community resources, and the inability to draw healthcare providers to impoverished areas means that fewer people get the care they need. Write a speech that explain healthcare delivery, then explain how poverty up ends models that work elsewhere.
- Explain a Government Program Related to Opiate Addiction
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What is The Wage Gap?
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How Does The Food Stamp Program Help Americans?
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Do Undocumented Immigrants Receive Welfare Benefits?
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How Does Child Support Work?
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Domestic violence
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Education in America vs. education in Europe
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Why is education important?
- Education and unemployment: the reasonability of studying
- The difference between education and personality development
- Education helps reach the career goals… and shapes them
- Technological advances in promoting a better quality of education
- Current issues in education and the means to solve them
- Education for groups of ESL speakers: challenges and solutions
- Inclusive education: current breakthroughs and challenges
- Project-based learning to improve student’s grades and efforts
- Common Core standards
- Humor in education: how a good sense of humor can affect the learning environment.
- Diversity in education. How differences in one's ethnic background can affect their perception of the studied material and what teachers can do about it.
- Web-based education
- Does Constant Studying Make any Sense?
- Bullying at School: Old Problem, New Solutions
- Testing is not scary: standard and creative assessment methods for your class
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How Can Disabled People Find Resources?
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What Are my Rights as an Unemployed Person?
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How Can I Collect Child Support?
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Can Felons Receive TANF?
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What is Work For Welfare?
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Can I go to School And Receive Benefits?
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What Does a Caseworker Do?
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Halo - Its Origin and Perceptions in Different Cultures
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The Willamette Meteorite: Myths and the Truth
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The Theory of Pyramid Creation
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Cultural Assimilation: The Process, Causes and Results
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How to Approach an Unfamiliar Culture
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The Concepts of Leadership and Work Organization
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The Concept of Faith
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Eating Disorders and Mass Media
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A human is no king of nature: reasons to throw people off the throne
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The wonders of genetic science
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Which types of societies are incomparable and why?
- What is social discrimination and why does it take place today?
- Why is patriotism and how does it work today?
- What is the difference between patriotism and nationalism?
- Why society always needs idols like actors, political figures, and other?
- Why easier professions are much better paid than the ones that need much more training and special preparations?
- Does racial discrimination exist among police?
- Why governments of many countries support homeless people?
- Who are millennials and which future can they expect?
- Can military be career become a fulfilling choice for women?
Legal Topics
- Do Students Have Legal Rights When They’re in School?
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When Can You Refuse a Search?
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How do Taxes Work?
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How Can a Convicted Felon Regain Their Voting Rights?
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What Are Your Rights When You Get Pulled Over?
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Who Can Use Medical Marijuana?
Many states have passed medical marijuana legislation, but what does that mean? In some cases use of limited to people with very serious, even fatal, illnesses. In other states, nearly anyone can get a prescription card. Explain what it takes to become a medical marijuana patient based on the laws in several states.
- How do Plea Bargains Work?
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When Can a Judge be Recalled?
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What is Tort Reform?
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What is Excessive Force?
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How will a Defense Attorney Protect You?
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When Should You Invoke The Fifth Amendment
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What Are Punitive Damages?
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What Should You do if Your Are Sued?
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How do You Sue Someone in Small Claims Court?
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What Happens if Your Employer Violates Labor Laws?
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How does Bond Work?
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Prison Overcrowding
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Why are the taxes for an electric car?
- Drinking age rules: why and when did they appear?
- What is pledging guilty and what are the benefits?
- What are anti-trust crimes and how to prevent them?
- Minimum wage laws in different countries: why are they so different?
- Why smoking in public places should be illegal?
- Do homosexual have a marriage right?
- Can abortion become illegal?
- Legalization of drugs. How does it work?
- Should government support illegal immigrants?
Business Topics
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How do You Make a Website?
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What is an S Corp?
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What is a Partnership?
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How do Businesses Pay Taxes?
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How Does Payroll Work?
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What is Content Marketing?
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How do I Know if I Needs Workmen’s Comp?
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How do I Handle an Accusation of Sexual Harassment at my Business?
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What Licenses do I Need to Open a Business?
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How do I Market my Business on Social Media?
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How Should I Handle Customer Complaints?
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Can The SBA Help Me?
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Does my Business Need an App?
Literary And Creative
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How do I Write my First Novel?
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Should I Self Publish?
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How do I Sell my Book on Amazon?
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Where Can I Earn Money From my Poetry?
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How do I Use Canva?
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How do I Sell my Art on Etsy?
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What Does it Take to be Creative?
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Finding The Perfect Art School
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Mastering a Musical Instrument as an Adult
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Musical instruments and character peculiarities
- The role of music in society
- Music therapy and its effects
- Music as a mixture of art and industry: 21st century pop culture
- Musical theater
- The most notable person in music history
- How musical development has changed in the 21st century
- Musical expression: definition and the modern interpretation
- Babies and music
- Everybody hurts: how listening to sad music can enhance mood
- How early musical training can be beneficial
- Music is not entertainment but a tool for empowerment
- How earphones affect hearing acuity in adolescents and adults
- What EEG tells us about our brains during music listening
- Music for stroke or brain trauma rehabilitation
- How different types of music affect our mood
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The Work of a Museum Curator
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An Overview of The Different Styles of Dance
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The Art of Auditioning
Visual Aids For Your Speech
Should you use visual aids during your informative speech? That depends. If your instructor allows it, and you have time, maybe. If there are images that help you drive home your lesson, or if you would benefit from a whiteboard, these things can help you deliver a more impactful speech. Just be careful about using a prop to ‘hide behind’ or to use as a gimmick.
Getting Ready For Your Big Moment
It’s perfectly natural to feel nervous about giving a speech, even if it is in front of a small group. However, you can reduce your nerves quite a bit if you are well-rehearsed. Go over your speech frequently. If you can nearly deliver the whole thing without referring to your notes, that’s perfect. You’ll deliver a speech much more naturally than you would if you have to read from your notecards.
Final Thoughts
Try out one or two of these topic ideas for your next informative speech assignment. Hopefully you’ll enjoy both writing and delivering your speech assignment
