Stir Up your Juices 🙂
- What occupies your time? Why and how do you enjoy that?
- What are your hobbies?
- What do you enjoy doing together with your friends?
- What do you do at clubs, other voluntary initiatives, or activities?
- What kind of books, readings appeal to you, and why?
- From different subjects or topics from what you learn at school, what interests you more?
- What kind of experiences has stayed close to your heart? What emotions do they inspire in you (whether that is happiness, fear, challenge, anxiety, fun, etc.)?
- What worries you, what brings anxiety to you?
- What are your dreams and goals?
- Which movies did you enjoy? Which movies left a lasting impression on you? Why?
- Describe a problem you’ve solved or a question you’d like to explain?
- What were your favorite events (e.g., performances, exhibits, competitions, conferences, etc.) in recent years?
- Did any of the current events intrigued you or made you think?
- Are there any new ideas, topics, or subjects that intrigue you? What are those? Why?
- What brings fun and excitement to your life?
- Is there a belief or an idea that you have challenged or would like to do so? Why?
Your Speech Project Objective(s)
At Toastmasters, you prepare for a speech to achieve a specific project’s objectives. The speech topic should make it easier for you to accomplish the project objectives.
Examples:
- If your speech project is about researching a topic:
- Would sharing a personal story help? Probably not, as you won’t have much room to conduct research and use it.
- Would a speech topic on nanotechnology work? Probably yes, since the theme would create an opportunity to do research, compile ideas and present them with your speech.
- If your speech project is about using vocal variety:
- Would telling a story help? Probably yes. Voice inflections can help you develop emotional connections; dialogues in your account can easily lend themselves to vocal variety.
- Would sharing a personal experience help? Probably yes.
- Would presenting a technical topic help? Yes, and No.
- Yes, if you consciously attempt to inject passion into your delivery. (It would still be more difficult compared to the first two options.)
- No, if the focus on content takes away from your ability to engage emotionally.
Note: Maintain a speech bank for yourself. Whenever an idea pops in, please write it down. The speech bank can come in very handy while brainstorming speech topics for your next presentation(s).