Impromptu speech topics and prompts for practice

The one-minute method

You do not need a plan for every word. Pick your line quickly, then use the PREP structure: state your Point, give one Reason, add an Example or short story, then restate the Point to close. That gives any speech a clear shape in seconds. For the full approach, read our guide to impromptu speaking. Now pick a prompt and try it.

Light and funny

• The best pizza topping, and why everyone else is wrong
• Cats versus dogs: settle it
• The most useless invention ever made
• Why Mondays get a bad reputation
• The perfect way to spend a rainy day
• The best snack of all time
• Why socks disappear in the wash
• The superpower nobody would actually want
• The worst possible theme for a birthday party
• Why pineapple does or does not belong on pizza
• The greatest cartoon character of all time
• A convincing argument that cereal is a soup

Personal

• The best advice you have ever been given
• A moment you are proud of
• Someone who has shaped who you are
• A skill you wish you had
• The best day you can remember
• A place that feels like home
• A book, film, or song that changed something for you
• A time you were braver than you expected
• What you would do with a completely free week
• The best thing about your favorite hobby

Opinion

• Homework: keep it or scrap it
• The most important invention of the last hundred years
• Whether social media does more good than harm
• The best age to be
• Whether money can buy happiness
• The most underrated school subject
• Whether it is better to be early or late
• The one rule everyone should follow
• Whether talent or hard work matters more
• The best way to make a first impression

Abstract and what-if

• If you could have dinner with anyone, who and why
• If you could live in any time period
• What the world will look like in fifty years
• If animals could talk, which would be the rudest
• If you could master one skill instantly
• What you would do as leader for a day
• If you could uninvent one thing
• The color that best describes you
• If you could send one message to the whole world
• What courage really means

Objects and the everyday

• Make a case for the humble pencil
• Why the umbrella is underrated
• The most important object in your bag
• The best thing about a rainy day
• Why libraries still matter
• The most useful app on your phone
• The best invention in your kitchen
• Why handwritten letters are worth keeping
• The most overrated gadget you own
• A day in the life of your backpack

How to practice

Write these on slips of paper, draw one at random, and give yourself a strict minute to prepare before speaking for one to two minutes. Do a few every day and the panic fades fast. Many of these also make good debate topics if you want to argue a side instead.

Common questions