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By: Susan Dugdale | Last modified: 07-16-2019 | First published: 03-01-2007

There are 50 impromptu public speaking topics here, covering a broad cross-section of the subject matter.

Many of them are deliberately provocative to stimulate a response. Others are open-ended or neutral to allow whatever occurs in your mind to fit the topic. Use them for table topics at your Toastmaster’s Club, with your public speaking class, or by yourself.

Are you in a hurry & need topics ready for use now?

If you’re practising by yourself:

• Choose a speech topic from the list below
• Give yourself a strictly monitored preparation time of no more than one minute in which to note an opening, a couple of main points with examples and a conclusion.
• Deliver your speech while timing and if possible, recording it. Aim for at least two minutes.
• When you play it back, listen for fluency, structure, and content. Each of those combines to create the overall impact of your speech.

If you’re using these impromptu speaking topics with a friend or in a classroom setting, use the same method but omit the recording as you can give your feedback verbally.

The goal

Ideally, once you or your class have become more confident, you’ll lessen the preparation time.

The ultimate goal is to be given a speech topic and to begin speaking on the subject coherently and easily, almost immediately.

There’s the green light! Open your mouth and go!

Literally, you get given the topic, the green light or timer is flicked on, you open your mouth and go!

Get help with impromptu speaking formats

If you’ve arrived at impromptu public speaking topics without having been to my impromptu speaking tips page, perhaps you’d like to go there to collect information on useful structural patterns and delivery tips before you begin. If you’re new to this, they will help a great deal.

Impromptu Public Speaking Topics

1. My biggest concern for the future is…
2. Real wealth is never measured in money or possessions.
3. Conservation is survival.
4. Real love is not the stuff of pop songs.
5. If I were an animal I’d be a…
6. Plants have feelings too.
7. Junk food’s popularity relies on marketing.
8. To err is human. To forgive is divine. Discuss.
9. The world is a smaller place these days.
10. The more we communicate, the less we really say.
11. When I grow up…
12. To be a grown-up is a state of mind.
13. Goals are good for you.
14. The most important lesson in my life so far…
15. Intelligence is not enough.
16. If I ruled the world…
17. Colour affects the way people feel.
18. Ill health begins in the mind.
19. Team sports build strong individuals.
20. Laughter is the best medicine.
21. Fools and their money are easily parted.
22. Discipline is not a dirty word.
23. Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder.
24. Children learn what they live with.
25. Poverty is a state of mind.
26. What characteristics make an ideal hero and why?
27. What and who is an average person?
28. Being young is over-rated.
29. In what situation is lying a good idea?
30. Does money make the world go round?
31. What human quality do we need more of and why?
32. Who has been the most influential person in your life and why?
33. How we look is unimportant. It’s who we are on the inside that counts.
34. Fashion victims, I have known.
35. Pets are for people who don’t have children.
36. Summer is the best and worst of times. Why?
37. The media controls how and what we think.
38. Advertising targeting children is immoral.
39. Talking to someone and talking with someone are two different activities.
40. Real learning doesn’t occur in a classroom.
41. What would you rather be – wise or intelligent?
42. True wisdom comes from experience.
43. A sense of humour is essential.
44. Uniforms stifle individuality.
45. What is normal is decided by the society we live in.
46. Manners matter.
47. Children should not watch television.
48. Art is essential to life.
49. Cities are for people, not cars.
50. Peace is possible.