Informative speech topics
An informative speech explains instead of arguing. Start with why the topic matters, walk through how it works in plain steps, and finish with one thing the listener should remember.
A little surprise. A minute to speak.
Pull the lever to find your next topic.
Make a point, give an example, and bring it back to your point.
Practicing without a recording
How to answer: What, why, how
For explaining how something works.
- 1What. Name it in plain words.
- 2Why. Why it matters to the listener.
- 3How. How it works, in two or three steps.
- 4So. The one thing to remember.
Pull the lever first, then see how a strong answer could sound.
How to give an informative speech
An informative speech teaches. The audience should leave understanding something they didn't before.
Start with why it matters
Before explaining how something works, give the audience a reason to care. "Every time you check your phone's map, three satellites agree on where you are" makes GPS interesting before you've explained a thing.
Explain in steps, not facts
Facts are hard to remember. Steps are easy. Break the topic into two or three stages and walk through them in order, using a comparison for the hardest one. Vaccines "show your immune system a wanted poster" is easier to follow than a paragraph about antigens.
Cut anything the audience doesn't need to understand the main idea. An informative speech fails more often from too much detail than too little.
Finish with one thing to remember
End with the single idea you want people to repeat at dinner. If you can't say it in one sentence, the speech probably covered too much.
All 40 informative speech topics
Easy14
- How to make a great cup of coffee.
- How bees make honey.
- Why we dream.
- How to train a puppy.
- The history of pizza.
- How rainbows form.
- Why cats purr.
- How to start running.
- What happens when you sleep.
- How recycling actually works.
- Why the sky is blue.
- How to save your first thousand dollars.
- The basics of photography.
- How volcanoes erupt.
Medium16
- How the internet reaches your phone.
- How vaccines teach the body to fight disease.
- The science of habits.
- How credit scores work.
- Why some people are left handed.
- How electric cars work.
- The life cycle of a star.
- How memory works in the brain.
- How airplanes stay in the air.
- What causes inflation.
- How music affects mood.
- How GPS knows where you are.
- The history of the Olympic Games.
- How coffee became a global drink.
- Why we procrastinate.
- How earthquakes are measured.
Hard10
- How large language models generate text.
- How the stock market sets prices.
- How CRISPR edits genes.
- How blockchains reach agreement.
- How central banks control interest rates.
- How black holes form.
- How antibiotics stop working.
- How carbon capture works.
- How the immune system remembers.
- How quantum computers differ from normal computers.
Questions
What is an informative speech?
A speech that explains how something works, what something is, or how to do something, without trying to change the audience's mind.
What are good informative speech topics?
Things people use but don't understand work best: how the internet reaches your phone, how credit scores work, why we procrastinate. The list above has forty sorted by difficulty.
How is it different from a persuasive speech?
An informative speech explains; a persuasive speech argues. If your speech ends by asking people to do something, it's persuasive.
How do I practice explaining clearly?
Pull a topic, give yourself ninety seconds, and record it. Then ask for feedback: the clarity score and the cleaned-up version show where the explanation lost its thread.
More speech topics
Persuasive speech topics
- Schools should start an hour later.
- Every student should learn to cook before graduating.
- Homework should be optional in elementary school.
Impromptu speech topics
- What is one habit you wish you could build?
- What would you do with an extra hour every day?
- What skill should every person learn before age 20?
Debate topics
- Is it better to be an early bird or a night owl?
- Are cats better pets than dogs?
- Is it better to save money or spend it on experiences?
Table Topics questions
- What is one habit you wish you could build?
- What would you do with an extra hour every day?
- What skill should every person learn before age 20?
1 minute speech topics
- What is one habit you wish you could build?
- What would you do with an extra hour every day?
- What skill should every person learn before age 20?
Conversation starters
- What's something you've changed your mind about recently?
- What's the best thing that happened to you this week?
- If you could live anywhere for a year, where would it be?
Speech timer
- What is one habit you wish you could build?
- What would you do with an extra hour every day?
- What skill should every person learn before age 20?