Link to Bonnycastle Library Catalogue

Persuasive Speech

Interesting speech topics are a combination of three ingredients.

Your personal enthusiasm for the subject you've chosen = pick a topic you want to spend time on
The subject's appeal or relevance to your audience = consider your audience
And the twist, angle, or perspective you bring to the topic = research and thought

Step 1: Read the assignment

Step 3: Preliminary Research

You must do some research before you come up with a solid topic

Step 2: Brainstorm

The source you use to gather information will be dependent on what you are looking for.

Think Tanks

The Brookings Institute
- Think tank with studies on many topics.
Heritage Foundation
- "The Heritage Foundation is a research and educational institution—a think tank—whose mission is to formulate and promote conservative public policies based on the principles of free enterprise, limited government, individual freedom, traditional American values, and a strong national defense."
Pew Research Topics
- The Pew Foundation does a lot of polling the opinions, habits and beliefs of the American public.
ProCon.org
- "The Leading Source for Pros & Cons of Controversial Topics"
Rand Corporation - Research Areas
Room for Debate (New York Times)

Databases

Gale Databases:

News Sources

New aggregators provide new streams from a variety of sources

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