{"id":59,"date":"2015-08-12T23:43:18","date_gmt":"2015-08-12T23:43:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/standupspeakoutxmaster\/?post_type=chapter&p=59"},"modified":"2016-12-15T15:34:45","modified_gmt":"2016-12-15T15:34:45","slug":"chapter-6-finding-a-purpose-and-selecting-a-topic","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-fmcc-standupspeakout\/chapter\/chapter-6-finding-a-purpose-and-selecting-a-topic\/","title":{"raw":"Chapter 6 Finding a Purpose and Selecting a Topic","rendered":"Chapter 6 Finding a Purpose and Selecting a Topic"},"content":{"raw":"

Finding Your Purpose<\/h2>\r\n
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\r\n\r\nIn the 2004 Tony Award\u2013winning musical Avenue Q<\/em>, the lead character sings a song about finding his purpose in life: \u201cI don\u2019t know how I know \/ But I\u2019m gonna find my purpose \/ I don\u2019t know where I\u2019m gonna look \/ But I\u2019m gonna find my purpose.\u201d Although the song is about life in general, the lyrics are also appropriate when thinking about the purpose of your speech. You may know that you have been assigned to deliver a speech, but finding a purpose and topic seems like a formidable task. You may be asking yourself questions like, \u201cWhat if the topic I pick is too common?\u201d; \u201cWhat if no one is interested in my topic?\u201d; \u201cWhat if my topic is too huge to cover in a three- to five-minute speech?\u201d; or many others.\r\n\r\nFinding a speech\u2019s purpose and topic isn\u2019t as complex or difficult as you might believe. This may be hard to accept right now, but trust us. After you read this chapter, you\u2019ll understand how to go about finding interesting topics for a variety of different types of speeches. In this chapter, we are going to explain how to identify the general purpose of a speech. We will also discuss how to select a topic, what to do if you\u2019re just drawing a blank, and four basic questions you should ask yourself about the speech topic you ultimately select. Finally, we will explain how to use your general purpose and your chosen topic to develop the specific purpose of your speech.\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n ","rendered":"

Finding Your Purpose<\/h2>\n
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In the 2004 Tony Award\u2013winning musical Avenue Q<\/em>, the lead character sings a song about finding his purpose in life: \u201cI don\u2019t know how I know \/ But I\u2019m gonna find my purpose \/ I don\u2019t know where I\u2019m gonna look \/ But I\u2019m gonna find my purpose.\u201d Although the song is about life in general, the lyrics are also appropriate when thinking about the purpose of your speech. You may know that you have been assigned to deliver a speech, but finding a purpose and topic seems like a formidable task. You may be asking yourself questions like, \u201cWhat if the topic I pick is too common?\u201d; \u201cWhat if no one is interested in my topic?\u201d; \u201cWhat if my topic is too huge to cover in a three- to five-minute speech?\u201d; or many others.<\/p>\n

Finding a speech\u2019s purpose and topic isn\u2019t as complex or difficult as you might believe. This may be hard to accept right now, but trust us. After you read this chapter, you\u2019ll understand how to go about finding interesting topics for a variety of different types of speeches. In this chapter, we are going to explain how to identify the general purpose of a speech. We will also discuss how to select a topic, what to do if you\u2019re just drawing a blank, and four basic questions you should ask yourself about the speech topic you ultimately select. Finally, we will explain how to use your general purpose and your chosen topic to develop the specific purpose of your speech.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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