Aidar Akmaev
Disclosure: NOXI publishes this list and is one of the tools it mentions. Every topic works with any slides or none, and the facts come from the university, organiser and official pages listed under Sources.
Speech topics: 150 below, by type and audience, each with a one-line angle. Informative speeches explain without taking a side; persuasive speeches argue a claim of fact, value or policy. Quick picks: how honeybees make honey (middle school), phones stored during class (high school), how central banks set interest rates (college), meeting-free Fridays (work). Updated 9 November 2026.
A speech topic is only half chosen until you know two things: what the speech is for and who will be listening. So the 150 topics below are sorted first by type, informative, persuasive, motivational, demonstration, special occasion and funny, and then by audience, from middle school to the office, and each one carries a one-line angle that tells you what the speech does.
Before the lists, the difference between informative and persuasive speaking is explained from two university public speaking textbooks, because most assignments turn on it. If you use slides, they are the visual aid, not the speech: one idea per slide, and the words come from you.
In short
- The list150 speech topics numbered 1 to 150: informative 30, persuasive 30, motivational 20, demonstration 25, special occasion 20, funny 25, each split by middle school, high school, college and work.
- Informative or persuasiveAn informative speech explains and does not argue for a side; a persuasive speech asks the audience to accept a claim of fact, value or policy, or to act.
- How to pickStart from what you know and care about, narrow it until three good sources cover it, then check the time limit.
- TimeAbout 150 words a minute is an average English speaking rate, so a five-minute speech is roughly 750 words.
- SlidesOne idea per slide, no more than seven lines of text, and no type smaller than 22 point. Some competitions ban electronic visual aids: check first.
- Made for youSend your topic and your minutes to NOXI as one request; it plans the slides first, then you present full screen or export PowerPoint.
Key numbers
Which speech topics fit you: six quick routes
Start from the assignment or the occasion, not the topic. Each route names a list or a format and one fact from its own page, checked on 9 November 2026.
- If your teacher set an informative speech then the informative list, and name its type first: a history, a biography, a process, a concept, or categories, the five kinds Oklahoma State University's (OSU) speech textbook describes [5].
- If you must change minds or ask for action then the persuasive list, phrased as a proposition of fact, value or policy; for a call to action, the textbook recommends Monroe's five-step Motivated Sequence [6].
- If it is a speech and debate tournament then leave the slides at home: the NSDA's Informative Speaking is a 10-minute presentation, and its judging guide bars electronic equipment as a visual aid [9].
- If it is your first Toastmasters speech then the Ice Breaker: a story about you for 4 to 6 minutes, in any style, funny, informative or persuasive [10].
- If your slides are already in PowerPoint then rehearse with Speaker Coach: Microsoft's support page says it flags pacing, filler words and reading the slide text; it needs a microphone and an internet connection and works in English only [15].
- If you want the visual aid made from one request then NOXI: send your topic and your minutes, and NOXI sketches every slide before designing it, then you present full screen or export PowerPoint, with no watermark on the free plan too [1].
Informative vs persuasive speech: the difference, from two university textbooks
Oklahoma State University's open textbook Introduction to Speech Communication (2021) lists the general purposes of a speech as to inform, to persuade, to celebrate or to entertain [4]. The first two are the ones most assignments ask for, and the line between them is the one students cross by accident.
An informative speech conveys knowledge. The University of Minnesota's textbook Stand up, Speak out (2016) puts the test plainly: an informative speech "does not attempt to convince the audience that one thing is better than another" [2]. It also admits that the two overlap, since good information tends to persuade, and asks speakers to be honest about their own motive in choosing a topic [2]. The OSU text adds a warning about "faux" informative topics: a title such as why one president was a bad president sounds factual but is an opinion [5].
A persuasive speech asks the audience to accept a claim or to act; Minnesota's persuasion chapter covers four types of persuasive speech and three ways to organise one [3]. OSU names four kinds of claim, which it calls propositions [6]:
- Fact: a statement people dispute, with evidence on both sides, such as whether converting to solar energy can save homeowners money.
- Definition: what a word or concept means; more common in law and scholarship than in class.
- Value: carries a word like good, bad, just or harmful, and must define that word before arguing it.
- Policy: almost always contains "should", and calls for a change or an action.
The ideas are old. Aristotle's Rhetoric, as the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy summarises it, finds persuasion in the speaker's character (ethos), the listener's emotions (pathos) and the argument itself (logos), and it separates deliberative and judicial speeches from epideictic speech, which deals with praise and blame, the ancestor of today's special occasion speech [13].
The other four types on this page sit inside those two. A demonstration speech is an informative process speech, and OSU says a how-to speech must run in time order [5]. OSU treats a motivational speech as a specialised form of persuasive speaking, and a funny after-dinner speech as a humorous speech that makes a serious point [7].
Same subject, two speeches
The quickest way to see the difference is to take one subject and write both purpose statements.
| Subject | Informative purpose | Persuasive claim | Claim type |
|---|---|---|---|
| School start times | How our school's bell schedule is set, and who decides | Our school should start later in the morning | Policy |
| Phones in class | The phone rules in three schools, side by side | Phones should be stored during class | Policy |
| AI tools | How a chatbot produces an answer | AI tools should be allowed in homework, with rules | Policy |
| Fast fashion | How a T-shirt is made, from cotton to shop | Fast fashion does more harm than good | Value |
| Four-day work week | What trials of a four-day week measured | A four-day week would make our team more productive | Fact |
How to pick a speech topic you can support with sources
The OSU textbook suggests starting with questions about yourself: what you care about most, what makes you angry or happy, and what information your audience needs to know [4]. Then narrow. Its own examples are students who propose the history of music or the Civil War, far too much for five to seven minutes; a specific topic makes the research easier, not harder [5].
Our rule of thumb before you commit: find three sources you could put on a slide, such as an official or primary page, a reference work and one dated report. If you cannot find them in twenty minutes, change the topic or narrow it again. For persuasive speeches, write the claim as one sentence and check that evidence exists on the other side too, because OSU's fact propositions are statements people dispute [6]. If a key claim has no source, change the claim, not the source.
Informative speech topics (30)
Each angle names the informative type: history, biography, process, concept or categories [5]. Keep opinions out until the question time; if you find yourself saying "should", move the topic to the persuasive list.
| # | Topic | Angle | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | How honeybees make honey | Process: follow one bee from flower to comb, one picture a step. | Middle school |
| 2 | The history of the bicycle | History of an object: one model per slide, oldest to newest. | Middle school |
| 3 | How volcanoes form | Process with one cutaway diagram; end with how scientists watch them. | Middle school |
| 4 | A scientist I admire | Biography: early life, the question, the discovery, the legacy. | Middle school |
| 5 | How the Moon's phases work | Concept: a lamp and a ball make it visible to the room. | Middle school |
| 6 | Why leaves change colour in autumn | Concept with before and after photos of one tree. | Middle school |
| 7 | How our city cleans its water | Process from reservoir to tap; your city's water report is the source. | Middle school |
| 8 | How elections work in our country | Process, one step a slide; the official election body is the source. | High school |
| 9 | The internet in five milestones | History as a timeline; one date and one picture a slide. | High school |
| 10 | How a new medicine is tested before approval | Process through the trial phases; cite your national medicines regulator only. | High school |
| 11 | What a credit score measures | Concept for students about to open accounts; check how it works where you live. | High school |
| 12 | How sleep affects memory | Concept from research reviews and a national health body; information, not advice. | High school |
| 13 | The life of an author on our syllabus | Biography that links three life events to the book. | High school |
| 14 | How music streaming pays artists | Process: follow one stream's money, using the platforms' own pages. | High school |
| 15 | Types of clouds and the weather they bring | Categories: one cloud type per slide; the national weather service as source. | High school |
| 16 | How scientists study the placebo effect | Concept with one study design drawn as a diagram. | College |
| 17 | The printing press and what it changed | History: before, the invention, three changes that followed. | College |
| 18 | How gene editing works | Process explained to non-specialists, one diagram per step. | College |
| 19 | How central banks set interest rates | Process from your central bank's own explainer page, with its date. | College |
| 20 | Three cognitive biases in everyday decisions | Categories: one bias, one example, one way to notice it. | College |
| 21 | How a paper gets peer reviewed | Process from submission to publication, with typical outcomes. | College |
| 22 | How a language becomes endangered | Concept with one case; UNESCO's language pages as the source. | College |
| 23 | The history of our university | History: founding, name changes, the campus today. | College |
| 24 | How our product is made, start to finish | Process for new hires, one station a slide. | Work |
| 25 | What customers ask us most, and the answers | Categories drawn from last quarter's support questions. | Work |
| 26 | How a budget gets approved here | Process: who signs what, and when. | Work |
| 27 | One regulation that shapes our work | Concept, checked by legal before the talk. | Work |
| 28 | Our company's history in five decisions | History told as choices, not dates. | Work |
| 29 | How phishing emails fool people | Categories: three warning signs, each with an anonymised example. | Work |
| 30 | One metric: what it means and how it is calculated | Concept: the formula, the trend and what moves it. | Work |
Persuasive speech topics (30)
Each topic is written as the claim you would defend, with its proposition type [6]. A persuasive speech is stronger when it states the strongest objection fairly and answers it, so every angle names the evidence to find.
| # | Topic | Angle | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 31 | Lunch breaks should be longer | Policy: time how long classmates actually eat, then ask for a trial week. | Middle school |
| 32 | Every classroom should have plants | Policy with low stakes and easy evidence: cost, care, a volunteer rota. | Middle school |
| 33 | Weekend homework should be limited | Policy: survey your class and propose one clear rule. | Middle school |
| 34 | Reading for fun deserves time in the school day | Policy: propose ten minutes and say what it replaces. | Middle school |
| 35 | Students should learn to cook at school | Policy: one skill a term, and who would teach it. | Middle school |
| 36 | Recess should never be taken away as a punishment | Value, then policy: define fair, then propose another consequence. | Middle school |
| 37 | Every classroom should recycle paper | Policy: count the bins today and price the change. | Middle school |
| 38 | School should start later in the morning | Policy: your bell schedule plus sleep guidance from a national health body. | High school |
| 39 | Phones should be stored during class | Policy: give the other side its strongest form, then your rule. | High school |
| 40 | Every student should learn personal finance | Policy: propose one course and what it would cover. | High school |
| 41 | The voting age should be lowered to 16 | Policy on a contested question; present the opposing case fairly. | High school |
| 42 | Volunteering hours should count toward graduation | Policy: how many hours, verified by whom. | High school |
| 43 | Social media platforms should verify users' ages | Policy: cite the law where you live, with its date. | High school |
| 44 | Fast fashion does more harm than good | Value: define "harm" first, then show three kinds: to workers, to the planet, to your wallet. | High school |
| 45 | AI tools should be allowed in homework, with rules | Policy built on Monroe's sequence; ends with a draft of the rules. | High school |
| 46 | Syllabi should be published before registration | Policy: what students lose by choosing courses blind. | College |
| 47 | Open textbooks should replace paid ones in intro courses | Policy: cite your library's open textbook programme. | College |
| 48 | Internships should be paid | Value and policy; check what the law says where you study. | College |
| 49 | Admission tests should be optional | Policy: use your university's own published admissions data. | College |
| 50 | Cities should drop parking minimums | Policy: read your city's zoning code before you argue. | College |
| 51 | A four-day week would make workplaces more productive | Fact: needs trial results, and the trials that found less. | College |
| 52 | Every lecture should be recorded | Policy built on access; answer the attendance objection. | College |
| 53 | Campus dining should make plant-based meals the default | Policy: define default, with meat available on request. | College |
| 54 | We should try meeting-free Fridays | Policy: a one-month pilot with a measure agreed in advance. | Work |
| 55 | Every process should be written down | Value, then policy: what one missing document cost us. | Work |
| 56 | We should fund a mentorship programme | Policy: the cost, the first pairs, the date to review. | Work |
| 57 | Our website should meet accessibility standards | Policy: cite the standard your market uses and one failing page. | Work |
| 58 | Remote work should be a choice, not a perk | Value, then policy: define fair, then propose the rule. | Work |
| 59 | Everyone should get one paid course a year | Policy: the budget line and how to choose a course. | Work |
| 60 | Our next release should fix the top complaint first | Policy built on customer evidence, with one clear ask. | Work |
Motivational speech topics for students and teams (20)
A motivational speech aims to stir an emotion and then point it at an action [7]. Build it on one true story, yours or one you have permission to tell, and end with something the room can do this week.
| # | Topic | Angle | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61 | Mistakes are how you learn | One mistake you made and what it taught you. | Middle school |
| 62 | Be the friend you want to have | Three small kind acts and a one-week challenge. | Middle school |
| 63 | Small habits, big results | One habit kept for a month, with your own tracker. | Middle school |
| 64 | Why trying something new is worth it | The club or sport you almost did not join. | Middle school |
| 65 | You do not have to be loud to lead | Quiet leaders in your own school, named with permission. | Middle school |
| 66 | Your plan B can become your plan A | A change of plan that worked out, and why. | High school |
| 67 | Failing a test is not failing at life | Your story, then where students can find help at school. | High school |
| 68 | Life beyond the highlight reel | Comparison online, and one thing to try instead. | High school |
| 69 | Start before you feel ready | Three people who started small; ask the room for a first step. | High school |
| 70 | The courage to ask for help | Why asking is a skill, and who to ask here. | High school |
| 71 | The skills nobody grades | Follow-through, teamwork and listening, each with a story. | College |
| 72 | Choosing a path when you do not know what you want | Treat choices as experiments, not verdicts. | College |
| 73 | What my first job taught me | Three lessons, each one a short scene. | College |
| 74 | Finish what you start: the second half of the semester | Midterm reset with one action for tomorrow. | College |
| 75 | Your network starts in this room | End by asking everyone to meet two new people. | College |
| 76 | From burnout to boundaries | A personal story, one boundary each; information, not advice. | Work |
| 77 | Every project needs a why | One project that worked because people knew the reason. | Work |
| 78 | What a failed project taught us | Blameless story, three lessons, one change. | Work |
| 79 | The customer who reminds us why we work | A real story told with the customer's permission. | Work |
| 80 | Next year's goal, and your part in it | The vision in one sentence, then each team's piece. | Work |
Demonstration speech topics (25)
A demonstration, or how-to, speech teaches a process, and OSU's textbook says it must run in time order [5]. Show the real object where you can, one step per slide, and say "one way is" rather than "you must", since most tasks have more than one right method [5].
| # | Topic | Angle | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 81 | How to fold a paper plane that flies far | Five folds, then a test flight in the room. | Middle school |
| 82 | How to make a simple bird feeder | Materials slide, four steps, where to hang it. | Middle school |
| 83 | How to tie three useful knots | One knot per slide, with a rope in your hands. | Middle school |
| 84 | How to draw a cartoon face in five steps | Draw live while each step shows on the screen. | Middle school |
| 85 | How to care for a houseplant | Light, water, soil, one plant on the desk. | Middle school |
| 86 | How to pack your school bag the night before | A checklist the class can copy. | Middle school |
| 87 | How to budget your first paycheck | A simple sheet built line by line. | High school |
| 88 | How to fix a bike puncture | Tools slide, six steps, a wheel on the table. | High school |
| 89 | How to write an email asking for a part-time job | Subject line, opening, ask, sign-off, one example. | High school |
| 90 | How to make a study timetable you actually keep | Build one for next week in front of the class. | High school |
| 91 | How to cook a simple tomato sauce | Ingredients, five steps, a food safety line. | High school |
| 92 | How to edit a short video on your phone | Trim, order, captions, export, with screenshots. | High school |
| 93 | How to read a research paper in 20 minutes | Abstract, figures, conclusion, then methods, timed live. | College |
| 94 | How to cite a source in APA style | One citation built part by part; follow the edition your course uses. | College |
| 95 | How to brew pour-over coffee | Grind, rinse, bloom, pour, with the times you measured. | College |
| 96 | How to turn a spreadsheet into a clear chart | Pick the chart, label it, cut the clutter. | College |
| 97 | How to turn on two-step sign-in | Generic steps, then where to find the setting in common apps. | College |
| 98 | How to plan a week of meals on a student budget | Plan, list, shop, cook once, with your receipt. | College |
| 99 | How to give peer feedback that helps | Observe, describe the effect, suggest one change; role-play it. | College |
| 100 | How to run a 15-minute stand-up | Three questions per person, one parking lot, a timer. | Work |
| 101 | How to write a subject line people open | Five before and after pairs. | Work |
| 102 | How to file an expense claim in our tool | Screens in order, the three common mistakes. | Work |
| 103 | How to give a product demo in five minutes | Problem, one path through the product, the result. | Work |
| 104 | How to write an out-of-office reply that helps | Dates, who to contact, what waits. | Work |
| 105 | How to write a one-page project brief | Goal, scope, owner, dates, risks, built live. | Work |
Special occasion speech topics (20)
OSU's textbook describes eleven kinds of special occasion speech, from introductions and toasts to eulogies and commencement addresses, each with its own shape [7]. Two of its timings help: a speech of introduction in under two minutes, and a speech presenting an award that may run up to five [7].
| # | Topic | Angle | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 106 | Introducing a guest speaker at assembly | Under two minutes: the topic, why they are qualified, why listen. | Middle school |
| 107 | A thank-you to a teacher who is leaving | Farewell: three moments the class remembers. | Middle school |
| 108 | Accepting a class award | Thank the givers, credit your helpers, say what it means. | Middle school |
| 109 | Welcoming families to a school open day | Welcome, what is on, where to go, thanks. | Middle school |
| 110 | Graduation speech: what our class learned | Commencement: celebrate the class, not yourself. | High school |
| 111 | Student council election speech | One promise you can keep, and how. | High school |
| 112 | Speech at the team's end-of-season dinner | One line of praise for every player. | High school |
| 113 | Toast at a school formal | Brief: congratulate, appreciate, raise a glass of juice. | High school |
| 114 | Presenting an award to a classmate | What the award is, what they did, the others who tried. | High school |
| 115 | A memorial tribute to a teacher or classmate | Eulogy in three moves: praise, lament, console. | High school |
| 116 | Birthday toast for a friend | One story, one wish, under two minutes. | College |
| 117 | Department graduation address | One lesson, one thanks, one hope for the class. | College |
| 118 | Dedicating a new club room or mural | Your link to it, why it matters, who it honours. | College |
| 119 | Introducing a visiting lecturer | Hook, topic, credentials, then hand over the stage. | College |
| 120 | Best man or maid of honour speech | A toast: brief, kind, stories cleared with the couple. | College |
| 121 | Retirement speech for a colleague | Farewell and praise: their years in three scenes. | Work |
| 122 | Welcoming new hires | Who we are, what the first week holds, who to ask. | Work |
| 123 | Accepting an employee award | Thank, credit the team, put it in perspective. | Work |
| 124 | Opening remarks at a company event | Welcome, why we are here, the running order. | Work |
| 125 | Year-end thank-you to the team | Five wins, named people, one line about next year. | Work |
Funny speech topics with a serious point (25)
OSU describes after-dinner speeches as humorous speeches that make a serious point, and insists they are speeches, not stand-up routines [7]. So every angle below names the point the joke carries. Keep the target yourself or a situation, never a person in the room.
| # | Topic | Angle: the serious point | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|
| 126 | Why my pet should be class president | What makes a good leader. | Middle school |
| 127 | The secret life of my homework | Where the time really goes. | Middle school |
| 128 | The mystery of the missing socks | How to investigate with evidence. | Middle school |
| 129 | If my school bag could talk | What we carry, and what we could leave behind. | Middle school |
| 130 | A day in the life of a pencil | How everyday things are made. | Middle school |
| 131 | Vegetables deserve a better reputation | One nutrition fact from a national health source. | Middle school |
| 132 | How to survive the family group chat | Communicating across generations. | High school |
| 133 | Confessions of a professional procrastinator | The one trick that finally worked for you. | High school |
| 134 | The unwritten rules of the school cafeteria | How belonging works. | High school |
| 135 | The twelve alarms it takes to wake me up | Sleep habits, with a national health source. | High school |
| 136 | Why adults keep asking what you want to be | Plans change, and that is fine. | High school |
| 137 | How to lose a board game gracefully | Sportsmanship off the field. | High school |
| 138 | Things I believed as a child | How we learn to check what we are told. | High school |
| 139 | A field guide to group project members | Roles that make a team work; keep it kind. | College |
| 140 | My student budget, measured in instant noodles | Simple budgeting. | College |
| 141 | Why every roommate needs a contract | Agreeing on rules before the fight. | College |
| 142 | The all-nighter, and why I quit | Sleep and memory, from a reliable source. | College |
| 143 | Decoding emails from professors | Clear, polite writing. | College |
| 144 | Explaining my major to my grandparents | Plain language for any audience. | College |
| 145 | Reply-all: a survival guide | Email etiquette. | Work |
| 146 | The meeting that could have been an email | When a meeting is worth it. | Work |
| 147 | A field guide to the office kitchen | Shared spaces and small courtesies. | Work |
| 148 | My keyboard shortcuts, ranked | Small habits that save time. | Work |
| 149 | Jargon bingo: what we really mean | Plain language at work. | Work |
| 150 | If our team were a sports team | Every role matters. | Work |
Speech topics by audience: middle school, high school, college and work
The same 150 topics, regrouped so you can scan only your own rows.
Speech topics for middle school students (35)
Topics 1 to 7, 31 to 37, 61 to 65, 81 to 86, 106 to 109 and 126 to 131. Quick picks: how honeybees make honey (1), every classroom should have plants (32), how to tie three useful knots (83). Pick a subject a student can show with an object or a picture. UNESCO's guidance of 7 September 2023 proposes an age limit of 13 for AI tools in the classroom [14], so for younger pupils the teacher or a parent makes any slides built with AI.
Speech topics for high school students (40)
Topics 8 to 15, 38 to 45, 66 to 70, 87 to 92, 110 to 115 and 132 to 138. Quick picks: phones should be stored during class (39), how elections work in our country (8), confessions of a professional procrastinator (133). High school is where persuasive speaking starts to count, so practise naming the proposition type and the strongest objection.
Speech topics for college students (39)
Topics 16 to 23, 46 to 53, 71 to 75, 93 to 99, 116 to 120 and 139 to 144. Quick picks: how central banks set interest rates (19), syllabi should be published before registration (46), how to read a research paper in 20 minutes (93). College speeches are graded on evidence, so cite every number on the slide it appears on.
Speech topics for work (36)
Topics 24 to 30, 54 to 60, 76 to 80, 100 to 105, 121 to 125 and 145 to 150. Quick picks: we should try meeting-free Fridays (54), how phishing emails fool people (29), retirement speech for a colleague (121). At work, end every speech with an owner and a date, even a funny one. For broader deck ideas by audience, see our sister page of presentation topics.
Speech topics for 5 minutes and other time limits
Length decides scope. At about 150 words a minute [11], here is roughly how much you can say and how many slides suit the clock. The slide counts follow OSU's advice that a ten-minute speech probably needs fewer than ten slides [8]; our guide to how many slides per minute covers more formats.
| Minutes | About this many words | Slides (our plan) | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | 150 to 300 | 0 to 1 | A speech of introduction, under two minutes [7], or a toast (106, 113, 116) |
| 3 | 450 | 2 to 3 | One demonstration or one funny bit (81, 128) |
| 4 to 6 | 600 to 900 | 4 to 5 | Toastmasters Ice Breaker [10]; many class speeches (39, 54, 93) |
| 5 to 7 | 750 to 1,050 | 5 to 6 | The five to seven minutes in OSU's topic example [5] (8, 19) |
| 10 | 1,500 | fewer than 10 | NSDA Informative Speaking, with no electronic visual aids [9] |
| Under 18 | up to 2,700 | 8 to 15 | A TEDx-style talk; 3 to 9 minutes is ideal for one idea [12] |
Speech outlines by type, with the slides in order
Use one of these shapes, then write the speech in your own words. Each structure comes from the source named; where a line says "our shape", the structure is ours, and every slide count is our planning advice for about five minutes. For the first thirty seconds, our guide on how to start a presentation has eight openings, and for the last thirty, how to end a presentation.
| Type | Shape | Slides for 5 minutes |
|---|---|---|
| Informative | Introduction, two or three main points, conclusion; the NSDA's judges look for two or three components presented logically [9] | 5: title, 3 points, recap |
| Persuasive, policy | Monroe's sequence: attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, action [6] | 6: one per step, plus one for the strongest objection |
| Persuasive, value | Define the value word, give the arguments for, answer the reservations [6] | 5: claim, definition, 2 arguments, reservations |
| Motivational | Stir an emotion, then give it something to do [7]; our shape: one story, the turn, the lesson, one action for the room | 4: the scene, the turn, the lesson, the ask |
| Demonstration | Steps in time order, with the real object if you can [5] | 1 for materials, 1 per step, 1 for the result |
| Introduction of a speaker | Hook, the topic, why the speaker is qualified, why listen, welcome [7] | 0 or 1: the speaker's name and talk title |
| Acceptance | Thank the givers, thank those who helped, put the honour in perspective [7] | None needed |
| Funny | Write the serious informative or persuasive speech at about two-thirds of the time, then add the humour and test it on real people [7] | 5: one picture per funny moment |
Topic 45, persuasive (high school): AI tools should be allowed in homework, with rules (6 slides, 5 minutes)
- Attention. A question on the screen: "Who used an AI tool this week?" Hands up, then your claim in one sentence.
- Need. Today's rule at your school, quoted with its date, and what happens when nobody knows where the line is.
- Satisfaction. Your proposal: three rules, such as say when you used it, keep your drafts, never for tests.
- Objection. The strongest worry, that students stop thinking, and your answer to it. OSU places this "meeting objections" move inside the satisfaction step [6]; here it gets its own slide.
- Visualization. The same homework a month later, with the rules and without them.
- Action. Ask the class to vote on the three rules and send the result to the student council by Friday.
Topic 93, demonstration (college): how to read a research paper in 20 minutes (6 slides, 6 minutes)
- The problem. The paper you were assigned and the 20 minutes you have; show the timer you would set.
- The abstract. Read it once, then write the question the paper answers in one line.
- The figures. Look at every figure and its caption before any paragraph.
- The conclusion. Check whether it answers the question you wrote down.
- The methods. Only now: who, how many, how measured, and what was left out.
- The result. A five-line summary of one real paper, written this way, and the time it took you.
Topic 106, special occasion (middle school): introducing a guest speaker (1 slide, under 2 minutes)
- Hook. One sentence on why today's topic matters to this school.
- The topic. The talk's title and what it will cover, in general terms.
- Why this speaker. Two facts about their work, checked with them beforehand.
- Why listen. What the audience will be able to do or understand afterwards.
- Welcome. Say their name clearly, lead the applause and step aside. The only slide shows the speaker's name and talk title.
What to check before you give the speech
A good topic fails on small things. Run this list the day before.
- The assignment's rules.The type, the time limit and whether visual aids are allowed. The NSDA's Informative Speaking bars electronic equipment as a visual aid [9]; a class may expect slides.
- Every fact has a source on the slide.Dates and numbers from the official page, with the day you opened it. Every fact on this page was read on 9 November 2026.
- Informative stays informative.If a sentence says "should", it belongs in a persuasive speech. In a persuasive one, state the strongest objection fairly [6].
- Slides support, never compete.One idea per slide, no more than seven lines of seven words, and type no smaller than 22 point [8]. Keep your speaking points on cards, not on the screen.
- The speech fits the time.Rehearse twice with a timer. At about 150 words a minute, five minutes is roughly 750 words [11].
- The people in your stories agreed.Toasts, roasts and tributes use stories and photos only with permission. Quote famous speeches by title and one short line at most, with the speaker's name.
- The file opens in the room.Test it on the computer you will use, and keep a PDF copy on your phone or a stick.
Make the visual aid in NOXI: one topic, one request
If you would rather have the slides made for you, take your topic and your minutes and send them as one request. NOXI 2.0, described in the NOXI 2.0 launch article, opens Home with the Presentation format already picked. It plans every slide before designing any, keeps one idea per slide when you ask, and lets you present full screen or export PowerPoint [1]. The speech itself stays yours; the deck is the visual aid.
A 6-slide visual aid for a 5-minute persuasive speech to my Grade 10 class: "AI tools should be allowed in homework, with rules". Follow Monroe's Motivated Sequence: attention, need, satisfaction, then one slide for the strongest objection, then visualization and action. One idea per slide, large type, no more than seven lines of text, one picture per slide.
A 6-slide visual aid for a 6-minute informative speech for an introductory communication course: "How central banks set interest rates". Process order, one step per slide, a simple diagram on each, neutral wording with no opinion. Search for current facts and keep each source on its slide.
A 4-slide photo backdrop for a 3-minute retirement speech for our colleague Sam, who led the warehouse team: a title slide, three slides for three moments in Sam's years with us, each with a short caption. Warm and simple, no bullet points, no charts.
Step 1. Open the Presentation format
Go to noxi.ai and sign in or create a free account; no credit card is needed. Home opens with Presentation already picked.
Step 2. Send your topic and your minutes as one request
Paste a prompt above, or write your own with the topic, the speech type, the minutes, the audience and "one idea per slide". Attach your notes or outline if you have them, then press Create.
Step 3. Let NOXI plan the slides first
NOXI sketches every slide before designing any, picks a style from its design library of more than ninety styles, and writes several slides at once. When the topic needs current facts, it searches the live web, and every fact keeps its source in the deck as an inline link, a footnote or a sources list; when a fact cannot be confirmed, it leaves a clear field for you to fill.
Step 4. Match the slides to your speech
Change the outline order so the slides follow your speech, and ask in the chat, for example "cut slide 3 to one sentence" or "make slide 5 a timeline", or edit by hand. NOXI changes only what you asked for, and every change after the deck is made is free.
Step 5. Present full screen or export PowerPoint
Present full screen with the Cinematic, Editorial or Lively motion style, or none, or export PowerPoint with editable text boxes. Each file is compared with the slides before the download appears, and downloads carry no watermark, on the free plan too.
NOXI is free to start: the free plan covers five documents a month (a deck counts as one), and every change after that, by chat or by hand, is free. For more ideas to build from, see our presentation ideas and, for a talk that opens 2027, our New Year presentation ideas. If nerves are the worry, our public speaking statistics page shows how common the fear is.
Frequently asked questions
- What are good speech topics?
- Good speech topics fit the assignment's type, the audience and the clock. For middle school, how honeybees make honey; for high school, phones stored during class; for college, how central banks set interest rates; for work, meeting-free Fridays. This page lists 150, sorted by six speech types and four audiences, each with a one-line angle.
- What is the difference between informative and persuasive speech topics?
- An informative speech explains a subject without arguing for a side; the University of Minnesota's textbook says it does not try to convince the audience that one thing is better. A persuasive speech defends a claim of fact, value or policy. If your purpose sentence contains "should", the topic is persuasive.
- What are good persuasive speech topics for high school students?
- Choose a claim you can support with sources and an objection you can answer: phones should be stored during class, school should start later in the morning, every student should learn personal finance, or AI tools should be allowed in homework with rules. Monroe's five steps give a five-minute policy speech its shape.
- What are easy speech topics for middle school students?
- Pick something you can show: how honeybees make honey, how to tie three useful knots, or why my pet should be class president. Use one picture and one sentence per slide. UNESCO's 2023 guidance proposes an age limit of 13 for AI tools in the classroom, so for younger pupils a teacher or parent makes any AI-built slides.
- What are good speech topics for college students?
- College speeches are graded on evidence, so choose topics with clear sources: how central banks set interest rates, how a paper gets peer reviewed, internships should be paid, admission tests should be optional, or how to read a research paper in 20 minutes. Cite each number on the slide where it appears.
- What are funny speech topics that still make a point?
- Funny speeches work when the joke carries a serious point, as in the after-dinner speech OSU's textbook describes: reply-all as a survival guide, about email manners; the all-nighter and why I quit, about sleep; or a field guide to group project members, about roles. Make yourself or a situation the target, never someone in the room.
- What are good demonstration speech topics?
- Choose a process you can show with a real object in a few steps: folding a paper plane, fixing a bike puncture, budgeting a first paycheck, brewing pour-over coffee or running a 15-minute stand-up. Present the steps in time order, one per slide, and say "one way is" rather than "you must".
- How long is a 5-minute speech, and which speech topics for 5 minutes work?
- At about 150 words a minute, an average English speaking rate, five minutes is roughly 750 words, enough for one claim and three reasons or one process in five steps. Narrow topics fit: phones stored during class, how to read a research paper, or a thank-you to a teacher who is leaving.
- Should I use slides as a visual aid for a speech?
- Use them when they help the audience see something: a diagram, a photo, one number. Keep one idea per slide, no more than seven lines of text and type of at least 22 point. Check the rules first: the NSDA's Informative Speaking event does not allow electronic equipment as a visual aid.
- Can NOXI make the slides for my speech, and is it free?
- Yes. Send NOXI your topic, the speech type and your minutes as one request; it plans every slide first, then designs the deck, and you present full screen or export PowerPoint without a watermark. The free plan covers five documents a month, and every change after that is free. The speech stays yours.
Sources
Every page below was opened on 9 November 2026, signed out, with no cookie banner accepted, no form filled and nothing downloaded. The topics, angles and slide counts are our own; no speech text is reproduced.
- [1] NOXI: its 2.0 product record (formats, planning before design, design library, research with sources, editing, export, present and share, price, no watermark, no credit card), and the NOXI 2.0 launch article, published 3 November 2026 and linked above.
- [2] University of Minnesota, Stand up, Speak out (2016), Chapter 16: Informative Speaking: an informative speech conveys knowledge and does not advocate a course of action; informative and persuasive speaking overlap; opened 9 November 2026.
- [3] University of Minnesota, Stand up, Speak out (2016), Chapter 17: Persuasive Speaking: four types of persuasive speech and three organisational patterns for persuasive speeches; opened 9 November 2026.
- [4] Oklahoma State University, Introduction to Speech Communication (2021), 7.2 The Topic, General Purpose, Specific Purpose, and Thesis: general purposes to inform, persuade, celebrate or entertain; questions for finding a topic; opened 9 November 2026.
- [5] Oklahoma State University, 14.2 Types of Informative Speeches (history, biography, processes, ideas and concepts, categories; how-to speeches in time order) and 14.3 Guidelines for Selecting an Informative Speech Topic (specific topics; faux informative topics; five to seven minutes in its example); opened 9 November 2026.
- [6] Oklahoma State University, 17.6 Constructing a Persuasive Speech: propositions of fact, definition, value and policy; Monroe's Motivated Sequence (1951): attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, action; opened 9 November 2026.
- [7] Oklahoma State University, 18.2 Types of Special Occasion Speeches: introductions under two minutes, presentations up to five minutes, acceptance in three parts, toasts, roasts, eulogies, farewells, commencements, after-dinner and motivational speeches; opened 9 November 2026.
- [8] Oklahoma State University, 13.4 Using Presentation Slides: one message per slide, the 7 x 7 rule, text no smaller than 22 point, fewer than ten slides for a ten-minute speech; opened 9 November 2026.
- [9] National Speech & Debate Association, How To Judge Informative Speaking: a 10-minute presentation; visual aids optional; no electronic equipment as a visual aid; opened 9 November 2026.
- [10] Toastmasters International, Pathways: The Ice Breaker, a Toastmaster magazine sidebar by Kate McClare, DTM: a story about you for 4 to 6 minutes, in any style; opened 9 November 2026.
- [11] National Center for Voice and Speech, Voice Qualities tutorial: an average speaking rate of about 150 words per minute for English speakers in the United States; opened 9 November 2026.
- [12] TED, TEDx Rules: talks typically under 18 minutes, 3 to 9 minutes ideal for a focused idea; opened 9 November 2026.
- [13] Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Aristotle's Rhetoric (first published 2 May 2002, substantive revision 15 March 2022): persuasion through character, emotion and argument; deliberative, judicial and epideictic speech; opened 9 November 2026.
- [14] UNESCO, UNESCO: Governments must quickly regulate Generative AI in schools, 7 September 2023: its guidance proposes an age limit of 13 for AI tools in the classroom; opened 9 November 2026.
- [15] Microsoft Support, Rehearse your slide show with Speaker Coach: feedback on pacing, filler words and reading the slide text; needs a microphone and an internet connection; English only; opened in a browser on 9 November 2026.
