Modern Topics for Successful Argumentative Speeches

The skill of public speaking is important for many reasons. It lets you address a lot of people directly and use many means to influence people. You can explain to them something, inspire, and provoke other emotional reactions of groups of people. That’s why the types of speeches differ depending on their goal, and people learn to give speeches. This art is very important in modern society.

Among the many types, the argumentative speech stands apart. It is a “relative” of the persuasive speech, and people often mix these types. This is incorrect, though these two variants do have much in common.

An argumentative speech is the strongest variation of persuasive speech. The aim is to influence other people’s opinions radically. The persuasive speech sets its goal to make the people consider other points of view. The argumentative speech aims to change the existing opinions.

College students often get such assignments. Argumentative speeches are frequent elements of the college debates, and this skill is always useful and helpful. However, this task is very challenging, and much depends on the correct choice of the speech topic. The right choice is half of success.

How to Choose from Many Argumentative Speech Topics

The results of the latest researches claim that people stick to their beliefs and change them extremely rarely. However, the argumentative speech is a more efficient tool of influence, as it works with the perception on several levels. It appeals to critical thinking with logical arguments, but it appeals to people’s emotions even more. Emotionally-charged statements are always stronger.

If you are allowed to choose the topic yourself, it is a great advantage. Note the following criteria that will help you to choose the right one to get as many arguments in your favor as possible.

A good topic for argumentative speech is always actual and burning. It must be relevant to the current situation and already provoke passionate discussions in society. The media are the best sources of such topics. Refer to the political debates and TV news. Consider the things you discuss with the other fellow-students. They can become excellent argumentative speech topics.
Take the topic that you are interested in. Your target is to prove that your point of view is right. So, you must be sure to stand your ground with arguments and passion. To do this, you need to know and understand the topic well, and you have to be sincere in your speech. The audience always feels when the speaker is indifferent and only plays commitment.
The topic you choose must be controversial. It requires at least two established sides with their points of view and arguments. You have to be a devotee of one of the sides. There is no use in trying the topic that is already proved and recognized, even if the opposite point of view is alive, and you present the opposite point of view.
Consider how the audience will accept the topic. You need to analyze their age, their education level, their family status, cultural background and social layer they belong to. These qualities often define which beliefs and values your listeners share. And this way you can choose which topics will be interesting for them. Besides, it depends on these qualities if they can react to the speech as you plan. Note that the public will apprehend your personality through it.
Think about the tone of the speech and how deep your engagement is. Argumentative speeches are emotional by default, but you need to control your presentation. Don’t take the topic that is to close and painful for you. Even if you want to make the other people change opinions about that subject, there is a risk of becoming too emotional. Such performances lose a good part of the influence and break the connection between the speaker and the audience.

Current Topics for Argumentative Speeches

Here Tutoriage writers have compiled a list of topics that you might find interesting or inspiring. It is not a full list, of course. There are countless aspects of the topics that you might focus on. Or, you can think about something related to some subject. But our goal is to give you some starting points.

Social Topics

A person needs to have friends.
Big holidays are only tools for businesses to increase sales and profit.
Feminism is the dead-end of society’s development.
There is no such thing as gender equality in reality.
Slavery was justified 200 years ago.
Celebrities can’t become efficient politicians.
Social networks have distorted human communication.
We must ban the genetic research before it turned to eugenics.
Technology helps the society to progress.
The Internet kills people’s privacy.

Health Issues

All people must be vaccinated.
Parents must not inure children to veganism.
The services of plastic surgery must be forbidden for the underage.
Smoking does not provoke diseases.
The current food supply system is not safe.
Depression is a myth.
We must forbid the fast-food producers to advertise their goods.
Eating meat is necessary to stay healthy and active.
There is no real difference between GMO and organic products in the way they work for the body.
Running is an unhealthy practice.

Family Issues

Every person must know own ancestry.
The future parents must pass the same checks as the people who want to adopt a child.
Treason in family life is inevitable for biological reasons.
There is nothing bad in moderate physical punishment.
Wives can’t be abusers.
Adopting children from overseas countries is a modern kind of human trafficking.
Polygamy is normal.
The age difference in relationships has great importance.
Ambitious parents often harm their children.
Paternity leave must be obligatory for the fathers too.

Ethics

Celebrities should not be role models!
We must ban all zoos and aquariums for animal rights violations.
There is a necessity to control the world population.
Hunting must be forbidden all over the world.
The experiments of cloning must be stopped.
Eating meat is unacceptable in a civilized society.
We should never buy any goods produced with the children’s labor involvement.
To deny anyone in health insurance is against human rights and morals.
Beauty contests indulge sexist views.
Using the animal’s fur for human clothes must be forbidden – there are synthetic things.

Economy

The minimum hourly rate must depend on the qualification only.
Illegal immigration helps to improve the economy.
The tax values should be the same for everyone.
The world economic recession is fake.
Tax returns are bad policy.
Basic medical services must be free for everyone.
You need to avoid taking loans by all means.
The hourly rate is different for men and women.
We must rely on new technologies development only to assure the growth of the economy.
Rich people must pay more taxes.

Politics

The president must have military experience.
Democracy is not the best form of government.
The USA will never accept the female President.
The election campaign is compromised.
We must interfere in other countries’ politics to help them become better.
Cultural treasures that were stolen from the other states must be returned to the countries of the origin.
War is only another tool of international politics.
We should stay away from any international conflicts that don’t affect our country personally.
Invading other countries can bring them the profit of social development.
Can the royal form of government be valid in modern times?

Some Tips on Working on the Argumentative Speech

Make a thorough research on the topic of your choice. Though the expressive means are very important for this kind of speech, you must appeal to the facts. Emotions will add more value to them and make them feel more influential. Form a strong base of evidence for your speech to offer the arguments and retort the objections.
Your language is the main tool of impact. Make sure it is clear. Use emotionally-colored words, address the audience directly. Try to avoid sophisticated terms and complex numbers. Your goal is to create a picture with the evident symbols and send that picture to the audience.
Use real-life examples and own experience. If you have reasons to consider that your audience can share a similar experience – appeal to it. This way you can make them feel united with you, and thus make your own words more valuable for them.
The ways that your speech sounds are different from the way you “hear” it when you read it. Check the text of the oral speech – read it aloud to yourself and to the close people you trust. This way you understand if there are any awkward sentences or phrases with the vague meaning. Besides, you can get feedback on the contents of your speech and see if you need to change the focus or stress some parts that were not obvious at once.
Develop your voice. It is the primary means of expression that you possess. Your tone mustn’t be dull, work on the voice flexibility. You might need to learn some acting techniques – this will help you in the future too.

These tips will help you to succeed in giving the argumentative speech. Also, they will be very useful in your life.