Although this seems difficult at times, there are many things we can speak about, we simply need to be open to "listening" to the world around us for topics.
For instance, one night last month I was sitting on my couch, relaxing and watching some TV when a number of books fell off my bookshelf and onto my head (now I must confess that my bookshelves are piled almost as high on top as the bookshelf is high. I love books. Real ones you can hold in your hand, and also Kindle ones.). I thought that perhaps there was a message in this and began to look at the titles of the books. What I discovered was that there were several speech topics in these titles.
I was working on an Advanced Manual for my Toastmasters club and one of the topics was "Reading Out Loud" from the Specialty Speeches Manual. The theme for the week was Perseverance and it seemed like Dr. Seuss's book - "Oh The Places You'll Go" was a perfect complement to the theme as he directed us through good times and bad times in his book.
Another book that fell was "You Have To Read This Book". And I did. And I discovered that many of us have been influenced by a particular book and not always the same ones. And I discovered a speech topic or two from this - "Read A Book" and "The Importance of Reading".
I have also written a speech about a Cup and Saucer based on a workshop given at a Toastmasters Conference. I have written about my collection of angels, Santas, eggs, etc.
You can give a speech about something that has happened in your life or in the life of those around you. Just put your thinking cap on.
If you need more help, I have a list of over 800 speech topics that I would be happy to send to you.
Fran Watson
