Your senior speech is your chance to dig deeply into a topic that's important to you. Here are a few potential starting points for brainstorming areas of interest:
Start with a change that our society needs.
e.g., "Gun violence in the United States must be reduced."
Start with a problem that our society must address.
e.g., "Many people with eating disorders lack access to appropriate medical care."
Start with a current issue that's under debate.
e.g., "Is germline gene therapy ethical?"
Once you have a broad area of interest, you'll need to choose a specific, actionable argument that you can cover thoroughly in about eight minutes. Here are some potential topics that might evolve from the areas of interest listed above.
The federal government must implement a ban on high capacity magazines.
Federal and state governments must increase funding for eating disorder treatment centers.
The current ban on providing federal funding for germline gene therapy research must be lifted.
Topic Requirement
Your topic must meet the following requirements:
Your argument will need to be based on research and evidence.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when selecting your topic:
You may be steered to adjust your topic if we've already had a number of topics in a similar vein. For instance, if we've had a number of topics arguing that particular courses should be added to school curricula, we may cap those topics for the year.
While exceptions are sometimes made, typically senior speeches will educate our student body about issues that have an impact beyond the walls of our school. Topics should generally apply to a broader community than just Norfolk Academy.
It's best to avoid topics about which you are unlikely to change others’ opinions in an 8-minute speech.
You may not speak on a topic that is
If you need help identifying an appropriate speech topic, here are some good places to start:
Read the news! Nothing will give you a better idea of issues that are both controversial and relevant, on a local, national, and even global level. A few suggestions:
Install an app like Flipboard on your phone. It's a great way to get curated news articles from multiple sources all in one place. You can create customized searches by topic, too.
Talk to people - your teachers, your parents, your friends. Ask them which issues are of most concern to them. Find out what their positions are on various issues, and why.