O’Hair, Stewart, and Rubenstein identified six general types of informative speech topics: objects, people, events, concepts, processes, and issues (O’Hair, et al., 2007).
Objects: Your speech may include how objects are designed, how they function, and what they mean. For example, a student of one of our coauthors gave a speech on the design of corsets, using a mannequin to demonstrate how corsets were placed on women and the amount of force necessary to lace one up. Or you may speak about an artifact and what it means to a certain culture. For instance, the belt (and color of the belt) is significant to the karate culture.
People: People-based speeches tend to be biography-oriented. Such topics could include recounting an individual’s achievements and explaining why the person is important in history. Some speakers, who are famous themselves, will focus on their own lives and how various events shaped who they ultimately became. Dottie Walters is most noted as being the first female in the United States to run an advertising agency. In addition to her work in advertising, Dottie also spent a great deal of time as a professional speaker. She often would tell the story about her early years in advertising when she would push around a stroller with her daughter inside as she went from business to business trying to generate interest in her copywriting abilities. You don’t have to be famous, however, to give a people-based speech. Instead, you could inform your audience about a historical or contemporary hero whose achievements are not widely known.
Events: These are typically either historical or contemporary. For example, you could deliver a speech on a specific battle of World War II or a specific event that changed the course of history. If you’re a history buff, event-oriented speeches may be right up your alley. There are countless historical events that many people aren’t familiar with and would find interesting. You could also inform your audience about a more recent or contemporary event. Some examples include concerts, plays, and arts festivals; athletic competitions; and natural phenomena, such as storms, eclipses, and earthquakes. The point is to make sure that an informative speech is talking about the event (who, what, when, where, and why) and not attempting to persuade people to pass judgment upon the event or its effects.
Concepts: Concepts are “abstract and difficult ideas or theories” (O’Hair, et al., 2007). For example, you may want to explain a specific communication theory, a religious idea, or inflation. Whether you want to discuss theories related to business, sociology, psychology, religion, politics, art, or any other major area of study, this type of speech can be very useful in helping people to understand complex ideas.
Process: A process speech helps audience members understand how a specific object or system works. For example, you could explain how a bill becomes a law in the United States. There is a very specific set of steps that a bill must go through before it becomes a law, so there is a very clear process that could be explained to an audience.
Issues: This informative speech topic is probably the most difficult for novice public speakers because it requires walking a fine line between informing and persuading. If you attempt to deliver this type of speech, remember the goal is to be balanced when discussing both sides of the issue. You are only explaining an issue, you are not proposing solutions or trying to get your audience to agree with your ideas.
If you are struggling with an informative topic, it helps to brainstorm ideas in each of these categories. Once you have a list of potential ideas, you can begin to narrow your ideas. One way to narrow your ideas is to consider the approach you will use with potential topics.
Approaches to Informative Speeches
Once you have decided on a potential topic, you can help to narrow your focus by determining an informative approach. There are three common informative approaches we will discuss in this section. Those are speeches of definition, description, and explanation.
Definitional Speeches
In definitional speeches the speaker attempts to set forth the meaning of concepts, theories, philosophies, or issues that may be unfamiliar to the audience. In these types of speeches, speakers may begin by giving the historical derivation, classification, or synonyms of terms or the background of the subject. In a speech on “How to identify a sociopath,” the speaker may answer these questions: Where did the word ‘sociopath’ come from? What is a sociopath? How many sociopaths are there in the population? What are the symptoms? Carefully define your terminology to give shape to things the audience cannot directly sense. Describing the essential attributes of one concept compared to another (as through the use of analogies) can increase understanding as well. For a speech on “Elderly Abuse,” the speaker may compare this type of abuse to a child or spousal abuse for contrast.
Regardless of the listeners’ level of knowledge about the subject, it is very important in these types of speeches to show the relevance of the topic to their lives. Often the topics discussed in definitional speeches are abstract—distanced from reality. Speakers need to provide explicit, real-life examples and applications of the subject matter to engage audience members. If you were going to give a speech about civil rights, you would need to go beyond commonly held meanings and show the topic in a new light. In this type of speech, the speaker points out the unique and distinguishing properties or boundaries of a concept in a particular context (Rinehart, 2002). The meaning of “civil rights” has changed significantly over time. What does it mean today compared to the 1960s? How will knowing this distinction help audience members? What are some specific incidents involving civil rights issues in current news? What changes in civil rights legislation might listeners see in their lifetimes?
DEFINITIONAL EXAMPLE
Title: “Life is suffering,” and Other Buddhist Teachings (Thompson, 1999)
Specific Purpose: At the end of my speech, my audience will understand the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path in Buddhism
Central Idea: Regardless of your religious beliefs, Buddhist philosophy teaches a number of useful lessons you can apply to your own life.
- Four Noble Truths
- All life involves dukkha (suffering)
- Suffering is caused by tanha (longing for things to be other than they are)
- If this longing stops (nirodha), suffering will cease
- The way to eliminate longing is to follow the Eightfold Path
- The Noble Eightfold Path (the Middle Way)
- Right view
- Right intention
- Right speech
- Right action
- Right livelihood
- Right effort
- Right mindfulness
- Right contemplation
Descriptive Speeches
The purpose of descriptive speeches is to provide a detailed, vivid, word picture of a person, animal, place, or object. Audiences should carry away in their minds a clear vision of the subject (Osborn & Osborn, 1991). Consider this description of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India by Steve Cassidy (edited for length).
To gaze in wonder at that magnificent dome and elegant gardens will be a moment that you remember for the rest of your life. The Taj Mahal just takes your breath away. What is immediately striking is its graceful symmetry—geometric lines run through formal gardens ending in a white marble platform. Atop this platform is great white bulbous dome complemented by four towering minarets in each corner. The whole image shimmers in a reflecting pool flanked by beautiful gardens—the effect is magical. The first stretch by the reflecting pool is where most people pose for their photos. But we were impressed by the fresh, green gardens. As you approach through the gardens two mosques come into view flanking the Taj—both exquisitely carved and built of red sandstone.
In the descriptive speech, determine the characteristics, features, functions, or fine points of the topic. What makes the person unique? How did the person make you feel? What adjectives apply to the subject? What kind of material is the object made from? What shape is it? What color is it? What does it smell like? Is it part of a larger system? Can it be seen by the naked eye? What is its geography or location in space? How has it changed or evolved over time? How does it compare to a similar object? When preparing for the speech, try to think of ways to appeal to as many of the senses as possible. As an example, in a speech about different types of curried dishes, you could probably verbally describe the difference between yellow, red, and green curry, but the speech will have more impact if the audience can see, smell, and taste samples.
DESCRIPTIVE EXAMPLE
Title: Easter Island: The Navel of the World (Fischer, 2006)
Specific Purpose: At the end of my speech, my audience will be able to visualize some of the main attractions on Easter Island.
Central Idea: Easter Island hosts a number of ancient, mysterious, and beautiful attractions that make it an ideal vacation destination.
- Stone Giants—“Moai”
- Average 13 feet high; 14 tons
- Play sacred role for Rapa Nui (native inhabitants)
- Central Ahu ceremonial sites
- Coastline activities
- Beaches
- Snorkeling & Scuba
- Surfing
- Rano Kau Chilean National Park
- Giant crater
- Sheer cliffs to ocean
- Sea birds
Explanatory Speeches
An explanatory speech (also known as a briefing) is similar to a descriptive speech in that they both share the function of clarifying the topic. But explanatory speeches focus on reports of current and historical events, customs, transformations, inventions, policies, outcomes, and options. Whereas descriptive speeches attempt to paint a picture with words so that audiences can vicariously experience it, explanatory speeches focus on the how or why of a subject and its consequences. Thus, a speaker might give a descriptive speech on the daily life of Marie Antoinette, or an explanatory speech on how she came to her death. Recall that definitional speeches focus on delineating concepts or issues. In this case, a speaker might give a definitional speech about the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, or an explanatory speech on why the financial bailout was necessary for U.S. financial stability.
If a manager wanted to inform employees about a new workplace internet use policy, s/he might cover questions like: Why was a policy implemented? How will it help? What happens if people do not follow established policies? Explanatory speeches are less concerned with appealing to the senses than connecting the topic to a series of related other subjects to enhance a deep understanding (McKerrow, Gronbeck, Ehninger, & Monroe, 2000). For example, to explain the custom of the Thai wai greeting (hands pressed together as in prayer), you also need to explain how it originated to show one had no weapons, and the ways it is tied to religion, gender, age, and status.
EXPLANATORY EXAMPLE
Title: Giant Waves, Death, and Devastation: The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami (National Geographic, 2006)
Specific Purpose: At the end of my speech, my audience will be aware of the nature of the 2004 Tsunami and the destruction it caused.
Central Idea: The 2004 Asian Tsunami was one of the worst natural disasters in human history in terms of magnitude, loss of human life, and enduring impact.
- Geological event
- Earthquake epicenter and magnitude
- Tsunami forms (waves reach up to 100 feet)
- Tsunami strikes land of various countries with no warning
- Human casualties reach almost 230,000—top 10 of all natural disasters
- The countries and people involved
- Loss of food, water, hospitals, housing, electricity, and plumbing
- Threat of disease
- Ongoing effects
- Environmental destruction
- Economic devastation
- Psychological trauma
Setting yourself up for a successful informative speech begins in the early stages when you first start thinking about your topic. Remember to consider the type of informative speech topics and the informative approaches you can take as you are selecting a topic.
Key Takeaways
- Six general informative speech topics are objects, people, events, concepts, processes, and issues. Use these general categories to brainstorm ideas for your upcoming informative speech.
- Once you have decided on a potential topic, you can help to narrow down your topic by considering which informative approach you will use. Will you define, describe, or explain your topic?
Licenses and Attributions
Chapter 15 Types of Informative Speeches. Authored by: Lisa Schreiber, Ph.D.. Provided by: Millersville University, Millersville, PA. Located at: http://publicspeakingproject.org/psvirtualtext.html. Project: Public Speaking Project. License: CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
Taj Mahal, Agra, India. Authored by: Yann. Located at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Taj_Mahal,_Agra,_India.jpg. License: CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Maoi at Rano Raraku. Authored by: Aurbina. Located at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Moai_Rano_raraku.jpg. License: Public Domain: No Known Copyright
