oral presentation topics year 12

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Year 12 English: tips for oral presentations

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We all know oral presentations are a big deal in year 12. Your mark makes up a significant proportion of your final study score in VCE English. Your Point of View speech is worth 40% of the grade awarded for Unit 4 alone.

Juliet Austin, lecturer at Deakin University’s Faculty of Arts and Education, and Jason Jewell, Year 12 English teacher at McKinnon Secondary College, share their top tips for nailing your oral presentation.

Research and plan

To set yourself up for success, start by conducting thorough research into what makes a great speech. This will help you ensure the script of your speech has plenty of interesting, powerful and persuasive language devices, Jewell says. ‘You should listen to speeches such as  TED Talks  and observe politicians in the media – all of which model effective verbal and non-verbal communication skills aimed at persuading a target audience.’

Austin suggests a great way to cut down on stress is to ensure you’re well prepared ahead of time and have a really clear understanding of the task.

‘You know your dates in advance, so check with your teacher and make sure that you’re really clear about what you have to do and what materials you can use,’ she advises.

When it comes to drafting your speech, it’s important to make sure your presentation has a structure, Austin says. ‘You really have to have your audience in the back of your mind. What’s interesting to them? What grabs their attention?’

Cue cards can be a great tool, but Austin says they can also be a major distraction. ‘Take some time to figure out if you really need every word written out or just dot points. You know how you work best,’ she says.

'‘You really have to have your audience in the back of your mind. What’s interesting to them? What grabs their attention?’' Juliet Austin, Deakin University

Practice makes perfect

Jewell suggests recording yourself delivering the full version of your presentation in order to identify any ways you could improve.

‘You need to practice your speech a great deal before the actual task in class, so that you do not rely on notes or cards too much and can speak directly to all members of the audience using your eyes, facial expressions and gestures, to show them how passionate you are about the contention you have chosen,’ he says.

Remember that it’s common to speed up when you’re nervous.

‘Ensure your stance is confident, including enough pauses between points, stressing words for effect, using visual materials and not speaking too quickly,’ he says.

Austin says you might also need to take into consideration the classroom you will be delivering your presentation in. ‘Have a think… do I need to project myself louder if I’m in a wider room?’

Back yourself up

We’ve all done it. The night before your presentation, you’ve dissected your work with your classmates, leaving you feeling insecure and unsure of your hard work.

‘Don’t stay up all night the night before. You need to be fresh. The worst thing you can do if you’re feeling anxious is stay up all night comparing presentations,’ Austin warns.

‘Try not to also hang around too much before your presentation with other nervous people. There’s no need. Afterwards, don’t feel like you have to engage in a deep post mortem discussion about how everyone went. Once it’s done, it’s done. No need to hash over it.’

And her number one tip? ‘Don’t forget to smile!’

Want more tips?

Here’s what high-achieving Year 12s have to say.

Lecturer, Faculty of Arts and Education, Deakin University

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The Comprehensive Guide to Acing Your VCE English Oral Presentation

Are you just getting started on your VCE English oral presentation, or find it daunting to speak in front of an audience?

If so, we can assure you that being as prepared as possible will allow you to make a great presentation and also calm your nerves! 

To help you do this, we have provided a step-by-step approach to acing your VCE English Oral Presentation. Plus, we’ve got a downloadable annotated example just for you! 

Let’s get right into it! 

What is the VCE English Oral Presentation?  What are you required to do?  How to Approach the VCE English Oral Presentation Preparing for Your Presentation Presenting Your Speech 

What is the VCE English Oral Presentation?

The VCE English oral presentation is the assessment task which tests your knowledge and skills for Outcome 2 of Unit 4 in the Study Design .

Learn more about VCE SACs and VCE English SACs + the Framework of Ideas !

The focus is on your ability to construct a sustained and reasoned point of view on an issue currently debated in the media.

Note: An Oral Presentation may be required in Unit 2 to which the following tips also apply. 

The topic of your speech can be chosen by you, however, it must be a contemporary issue that has been debated in the media at any interval between September 1st of the previous year until the current time of assessment. 

To make sure that you are aware of the several issues appearing in the media within the designated time period, it’s important to read newspapers and take note of the issues which may serve as potential topics for your speech!

Tip: Newspapers such as The Age and The Herald Sun are great points to start!

What are you required to do? 

You will be allocated 5-8 minutes to present your stance on your chosen topic, and convince the audience of your views — you should consider multiple perspectives to the issue as well as the engagement of the audience. 

Some schools may allow you to include a multimodal presentation that supports the context of your issue and audience, to accompany your speech.

Note: The specific requirements for your assessment may vary based on your school.

Key knowledge you will be assessed on:  

• An understanding of arguments presented in texts
• The ways authors construct arguments to position audiences, using sound reasoning and use of evidence, and persuasive use of spoken language
• The conventions of discussion and debate
• The structures and conventions appropriate for spoken texts that present an argument
• The conventions for the acknowledgment of sources in spoken texts
• The conventions of spelling, punctuation and syntax of Standard Australian English

Learn more about acing your end of year VCE English exams !

Access our VCE English Oral Presentation Example !

How to approach the vce english oral presentation, #1: choosing your topic .

The first step to acing your oral presentation is choosing the right topic — remember it must be a contemporary issue that has appeared in the media within the past year. 

When deciding on your topic it is important to consider the larger social issues that it may fall under, such as societal inequality, poverty, quality of life, climate change, religious discrimination . However, remember that your chosen topic should be more specific as you won’t be able to discuss all the key points of these broader issues. 

Examples of Topics: 

• Compulsory Vaccinations 
• Indigenous Australian “Close the Gap” Campaign 
• Reintroducing Medevac 
• Australia’s Refugee Policy 
• The Repercussions of Working from Home 

Once you have chosen your topic you need to decide on your contention , which is your view on the topic.

To produce a high-level oral presentation it is important to be passionate about your topic, as this transcends into your presentation. When you have a particular view on something everything from tone to your delivery becomes more convincing for the audience!

When writing out your contention, remember again to be specific.

For example, rather than choosing the issue ‘Discrimination on the basis of religion has no place in our society,’ you could narrow it down to, ‘ The implementation of the Religious Discrimination bill in Australia, whilst being perceived to uphold equality, in reality has the potential to do more harm than good.’

In this way you are speaking specifically of the implementation of the bill , and not on all acts that may concern religious discrimination as a broader issue. 

#2: Planning Before You Write 

Before you begin writing your speech, it is important to consider a variety of aspects about your chosen topic. 

These are as follows: 

Identify a Persona Adopting a persona that is relevant to the topic can enhance your speech, as your point of view is supported by your specific role in society.  For example, you could adopt the persona of a high-school teacher, in order to convince the audience of how the shift to online learning has significantly reduced the active involvement of students towards their education. 

Identify Where You are Making the Speech Paying attention to the setting of your speech is important, as this helps the audience engage with your speech and create a picture for themselves.  If you are speaking on the issue of climate change you could set your location as the Global Environment Summit. 

Identify Your Target Audience Targeting your speech towards a specific audience complements the earlier techniques and helps make your presentation have a greater impact on the audience. It allows you to give the audience a specific role or character to play whilst listening to your speech. For example, on the topic of cancel culture you could address young leaders, members of the communication commission and victims of cancel culture. 

What is the purpose of your speech? What do you want the audience to think? In order to perfect your oral presentation you have to think of it as more than just an assessment. What is the lasting message you want the audience to have after listening to your speech?  On the topic of cancel culture, you may want to convince the young generation that cancel culture is not a proactive approach to implementing social change, and they should instead engage in more reasoned discussion to evaluate all aspects of the conversation. 

#3: Research and Finding Your Evidence 

Remember, a good speech has sufficient evidence to back up arguments! Once you have finalised your contention, research a variety of articles on your topic and collate evidence that supports your arguments as well as that which refutes it.

It is always important to consider the other side of your argument in order to best present your point whilst rationally rebutting others. 

Types of Evidence include:

• Quotes from authority 
• Statistics and Figures
• Personal anecdotes 
• Expert Opinion 

#4: Writing Your Speech 

Step 1: Incorporate a Hook

The first part of writing your speech is to include a ‘HOOK start’ to draw your audience’s attention immediately. This may take any form of your liking including a quote or a rhetorical question.

For example, “When did Justice come to mean that we support punishment without a chance at redemption?” 

Step 2: Address Your Audience Directly

Ensure that you show immediate awareness of your audience by addressing them directly. This can be done by referring to them as ladies and gentlemen, members of the community or parents and guardians.

You should choose a form of addressing your audience based on the target audience you had set earlier. 

Step 3: Make Your Arguments

Remember to have a minimum of 3 clear arguments that support your contention, with a rebuttal in at least 2 of these arguments.

By including a rebuttal section within your arguments you increase the persuasive impact of it. As you refute the opposing ideas, it positions the audience to agree with your stance on the issue. 

Step 4: Use Personal Tone and Rhetorical Questions

Adopting a personal tone by using pronouns such as “we” and “our” is also helpful in writing your speech as it creates a sense of inclusiveness for the audience as they feel a collective responsibility to join your stance on the issue. 

The use of rhetorical questions can also be equally effective, as it leaves the audience with an obvious answer that supports your arguments. 

Step 5: Back Up Your Points with Evidence

In addition to these other techniques you may wish to highlight significant pieces of evidence to make a large impact, as well as repeat your key ideas so the audience is constantly reminded of your stance. 

Want to learn more about writing strong analysis? Check out our complete guide on writing VCE Argument Analysis for English !

Step 6: End Your Speech Strong!

The last step is to make a strong conclusion, with a lasting message. This could be a surprising statistic or a memorable quote.

For example, “Cancel Culture is: you’re all good, or you’re all bad and human nature is much more complicated than that.” 

Think you might need some help acing this assessment? Build up your confidence with our English Melbourne tutoring team !

Preparing for Your VCE Oral Presentation 

The most important aspect of an oral presentation is practice . Without practice it doesn’t matter how well you have pieced together your research to form a well written speech if your delivery is lacking. 

It’s common practice to leave it to the last minute to start memorising your speech. However, in reality you should spend as long as possible memorising it!

It is important to note however that when we speak of practice, it is not enough to know what comes after what in your speech — rather it is about developing a persuasive tone of voice, which is usually lost when you simply read it off a piece of paper. 

Also remember TIMING is KEY — you only get a few minutes to present your speech, so you don’t want too much information to the point where you’re speaking so fast and no one can understand what you’re saying. Equally you shouldn’t speak so slow that you are dragging on one particular point. 

The best way to practise is to time yourself and speak in front of any audience, for example, parents or siblings. 

Did you know that you can change which English subject you take in Year 12, even if you didn’t do it in Year 11? Check out our guide to selecting VCE subjects !

Presenting Your Speech 

Of course the oral presentation, while having a written component, has a main focus on the spoken and delivery components. 

The main things to consider for the presentation of your speech are:

• Tone of Voice 
• Hand movements
• Eye contact
• Voice projection

Tone of Voice

The tone of voice is particularly important as it adds to the persuasiveness of the presentation. If you adopt a sympathetic tone, the audience can connect that to philanthropic and caring attitudes making them more likely to agree with you.

Conversely, when you use a tone of anger, the audience too are likely to be angered and determined to enforce a change. 

Hand Movements and Gestures

Another physical element of presentation is hand movements , using your hands to emphasise significant statistics or evidence can also improve persuasiveness. 

Eye Contact and Voice Projection

Other elements of presentation associated which increase the engagement of the audience include eye contact and voice projection.

When you are looking directly at the eyes of the audience they are more likely to pay attention to what you are saying.

For this reason it is important that if you are using cue cards, you should ensure they fit within your palm and only contain the important points. This ensures that you are not looking down at them the whole time or reading off them.

Likewise, with voice projection, a loud and determined voice will make it easier for the audience to understand the content of your speech and therefore make reasoned judgement. 

Now you’re all set, and you’ll be able to make a great presentation! 

Also preparing for your VCE English exams? Check out our Master List of VCE English past papers !

Need help managing your workload? Read our guide on how to manage multiple VCE SACs at once !

Are you looking for some extra help with preparing for your VCE English oral presentation?

We have an incredible team of VCE tutors and mentors!

We can help you master the VCE English study design and ace your upcoming VCE assessments with personalised lessons conducted one-on-one in your home or online!

It’s no use practicing to a wall! Why not get a tutor in Box Hill to listen and give useful feedback on how your English Oral Presentation is going?

We’ve supported over  8,000 students over the last 11 years , and on average our students score mark improvements of over 20%!

To find out more and get started with an inspirational VCE tutor and mentor,   get in touch today  or give us a ring on  1300 267 888!

Abhisha  Vaheesan  completed her VCE in 2021 and is currently an undergraduate student studying Bachelor of Radiography and Medical Imaging (Honours) at Monash University. As much as she is invested in Biology and putting together the building blocks of life, she is equally immersed in debating the conflicts of modern literature. Aside from this, she loves listening to music, is an avid  writer and K-drama fanatic.

• Topics: ✍️ Learn , ✏️ English

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Need a good presentation topic? Here are hundreds of them.

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Anete Ezera November 04, 2022

If you’re looking for good topics for presentations, you’ve landed on the right page. In this article, you’ll find plenty of good presentation topics, tips on choosing the most suitable presentation topic for you, and essential design elements to make your presentation a success. 

Many factors go into an excellent presentation. You need to have confident body language and engage your audience to hold their attention. You also need eye-catching visual aids like images, data visualizations, GIFs, and others (all of which you can find in Prezi ), not to mention a great opening to grab attention and a strong closing line to stay memorable. However, the most essential aspect of your presentation is the topic. It’s the core of your presentation, so it has to be strong, insightful, attention-grabbing, and appealing to yourself and your audience in order to evolve into a successful presentation everyone will love. 

How to choose a good presentation topic

There are millions of topics you could create a presentation on, but what defines a good presentation topic? If you’re struggling to either come up with a good topic for a presentation or you can’t decide between multiple ones, here are a few questions you should ask yourself before choosing a topic. 

What’s the goal of your presentation? 

When you’re choosing a presentation topic, consider the meaning behind it. Ask yourself what the purpose of talking about this topic is, and what you want to say about it. Whatever topic you choose to present, the conclusion needs to provide a takeaway or lesson you want to communicate to your audience. A meaningful goal will make your presentation more memorable.  

Are you interested in the topic?

If you’re not interested in the presentation topic, others won’t be curious either. Interest, enthusiasm, and passion enrich your presentation and are noticeable when presenting. Interest shines through and inspires others to find the topic as fascinating as you do. Think about the last time you saw someone sharing something they were passionate about – their excitement drew people in to pay closer attention to what they were saying. 

When choosing a topic, you need to find it or a particular angle of it interesting for yourself. For example, perhaps you’re not a pop music enthusiast, but you’re passionate about studying cultural phenomena. In this case, you can talk about pop music’s influence on early 2000s youth culture. 

Will your audience find this topic relatable? 

While you have to find the topic you’re presenting interesting, you also have to think about your audience. When choosing a subject, consider your audience’s background in terms of demographics, interests, culture, and knowledge level about the topic. Think about what others will find fascinating and relevant, so they’re not bored or confused during your presentation.

Do you have prior experience or knowledge about this topic?

Personal experiences are always great to share in a presentation, providing your unique perspective for anyone listening. While you can easily prepare your presentation based on a quick Google search, it won’t make the same lasting impact on your audience. Choose a presentation topic you have some prior knowledge about, or have an interesting opinion you can share with others. It’ll make your presentation more engaging and memorable.

Ideas for good presentation topics

It’s not easy to come up with a good presentation topic from scratch. It’s much easier to get inspired from other good presentation topics to build your topic on. Whether you’re looking for presentation ideas for work, about me presentation ideas, unique or easy presentation topics, you’ll find them all here.

Without further ado, here are some good presentation topics to choose from or get inspired by.

Presentation topics about social media

• The role of social media in portraying gender stereotypes
• How social media impacts our body image
• How social media shaped Gen Z 
• The most significant differences between the Facebook and TikTok generations
• The negative effects of social media
• The positive impacts of social media 
• The effects of social media on behavior 
• How social media impacts our physical (or mental) health
• How social media has shaped our understanding of mass media
• Should we teach about social media in schools?
• The rise of social media influencers
• How AR Instagram filters impact our self-image
• How to go viral on social media?
• The origins of social media echo chambers
• Social media as a news outlet

Author: Ish Verduzco

Presentation topics about movies

• How movies influence our understanding of good and evil
• Beauty standards represented in movies
• How female characters are depicted in Hollywood movies
• How horror movies and global fears have developed through time
• The adverse effects of romance movies
• How movies have changed our understanding of the Western culture
• Charlie Chaplin and the silent movie era
• The globalization of culture: Hollywood vs. Bollywood
• The psychology behind the music in films
• The ethics of using animals in movies
• Social media’s influence on the film industry
• The history of filmmaking
• The role of color in movies
• The cultural impact of romance movies
• How are gender stereotypes depicted in Hollywood movies?

Author: Cinto Marti

Presentation topics about music

• The impact of pop music on beauty standards
• Should digital music be free for everyone?
• The psychology behind the music in advertisements 
• The effectiveness of sound therapy
• Can music inspire criminal behavior?
• The psychological effects of metal music
• The origins of K-pop
• How does music influence our understanding of the world?
• Can music help in the learning process?
• The positive effects of classical music
• The history of hip hop
• Why is music education essential in schools?
• The psychological benefits of playing piano
• Can anyone become a famous musician?
• The role of music in fashion

Author: Prezi Editorial

Presentation topics about health

• The link between food and mental health
• Inequality in the healthcare system
• Myths about healthy practices
• Simple practices that help you stay healthy
• Health education in schools: Should it change?  
• Toxic positivity and mental health
• The impact of superfoods on our health
• The psychology behind unhealthy eating habits
• Sex education in schools: Why should we have it?
• How to trick yourself into getting better: The placebo effect
• How to strengthen your immune system
• How to tell if someone is depressed
• The health benefits of regular exercise
• The impact of junk food on mental health
• Stress-caused diseases

Author: Prezi Education Team

Presentation topics about human psychology

• What is social depression?
• What triggers panic attacks?
• The impact of testosterone on aggressive behavior
• How to overcome social anxiety
• Differences in the functioning of the brain of a child and adult
• The impact of violent video games on children’s brain development
• How does the use of social media influence our attention span?
• How to overcome childhood trauma
• The influence of marijuana on the human brain
• How does behavioral therapy work
• The psychology behind fame
• The causes of personality disorders
• The differences in brain functioning between men and women
• What happens in therapy sessions?
• The psychology of substance abuse 

Presentation topics about self-development

• The impact of exercise on productivity
• How to deal with stress
• How to deal with procrastination
• The positive effects of meditation
• Why new–year’s resolutions don’t work
• How to overcome bad habits
• The impact of negative thoughts
• The negative effects of self-criticism
• The role of creativity in self-development
• Benefits of journaling
• How to learn something fast
• How to be mindful
• The importance of curiosity 
• How to become more self-aware
• Why it’s essential to spend time with yourself

Author: Nir Eyal

Presentation topics about education

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of online education?
• The positive effects of a gap year
• Should university education be free?
• Inequality in education access
• How language learning benefits brain development
• Emerging gender issues in education
• The importance of socialization in school
• School bullying and student development
• The benefits of reading 
• Is the education system broken?
• What you don’t learn in college
• The link between education and brain development
• The history of schools
• The gender gap in STEM
• The connection between equality in education and economic growth

Presentation topics about culture

• Is graffiti a form of art or street vandalism? 
• Cultural diversity in the workplace
• The impact of culture on gender roles
• The issue with orientalism
• Are humans the only species that has culture?
• How do different cultures view death? 
• The ethical issues of pop culture
• The impact of culture on personal development
• Sexism in different cultures
• The impact of globalization on local cultures
• The viral spread of the #metoo movement
• The history of subcultures
• The problem with romanticizing toxic relationships in movies
• 90s pop-culture influence on fashion trends
• The evolution of cultural psychology 

Author: Devin Banerjee

Presentation ideas for work

• What it’s like to be a digital nomad?
• How to deal with workplace conflicts
• The secret to a productive day
• How to set achievable goals
• The importance of diversity in a workplace
• The positive effects of creative thinking at work
• How to give constructive feedback
• The characteristics of a valuable team member
• Inequality and the glass ceiling
• Racial discrimination in the workplace
• Work habits of different cultures
• How is work perceived in various countries?
• Technological development and the future of work
• The importance of a healthy work/life balance
• The rise of health problems in office work

Author: Charles Huang

Presentation topics about hybrid work

• The positive effects of hybrid work on work/life balance
• Is hybrid work the future work model? 
• How to stay connected in a hybrid work model
• The challenges of hybrid work nobody talks about
• How to stay productive when working from home
• The social effects of hybrid work
• The economic impacts of hybrid work
• Case study: Hybrid work model in [company]
• What causes Zoom fatigue?
• The problem with online meetings
• Is hybrid work better than remote work?
• How to develop a close relationship with colleagues in a hybrid work model
• What kind of company culture is best for a hybrid work model?
• Is hybrid work sustainable?
• Cybersecurity consideration for hybrid working

Author: Barbie Brewer

Presentation topics about public speaking

• The importance of body language in public speeches
• How to appear confident when you’re not
• How to become a better orator
• The use of eye contact in public speaking
• Breathing exercises that will calm you down before public speaking
• The benefits of public speaking
• Ways to improve public speaking skills
• How to leave a great first impression on stage
• How to engage your audience during a public speech
• How to best structure your public speech
• How to end your presentation speech
• Can anyone learn to be good at public speaking?
• How to prepare for a public speech
• What not to do right before a public speech
• How to address a controversial topic in a public speech  

Author: Prezi Team

Presentation topics about entrepreneurship and leadership

• The main principles of a good leader
• The impact of leadership skills on professional performance
• The mistake every entrepreneur makes
• How to successfully lead a cross-cultural team
• How to celebrate inclusivity in a diverse team
• What are the common personality traits of a successful entrepreneur?
• The impact of entrepreneurship on the global economy
• The characteristics of a leader
• The most common challenges of entrepreneurship
• Can anyone learn to become a successful leader? 
• What affects new venture growth?
• The psychology of leadership
• What is crowdsourcing? 
• The benefits of being an entrepreneur
• Common mistakes leaders make

Author: Jill Sinclair

Presentation topics about technology

• The rise of technological development
• Is technology addictive?
• Should we use drones for military and non-military purposes?
• The sustainability of electric cars
• What are deepfakes?
• Limitations of AI machines
• The future of programming
• Ethical issues of AI
• The future of AR in business
• How VR can be used in the medical field

Author: David Vandegrift

Sales presentation topics

• How to make a cold email intro
• What is sales enablement?
• How to build better relationships with customers
• The best way to improve pipeline management
• Coaching via verbal and written role-play
• How to plan cold calls
• What’s a deal-breaker for most customers? 
• All about personalized coaching
• How to manage objections
• How to close more deals
• How to keep your prospects engaged
• Effective sales communication strategies
• How to conduct a competitor analysis
• The most valuable sales skills
• What soft skills do you need to become a successful sales rep?

Author: Cindy McGovern

Easy presentation topics

• Benefits of daily exercise and how to incorporate it into your routine
• Simple and nutritious meal recipes
• Tips for improving time management and productivity
• The importance of recycling
• The history of a local landmark or festival
• Ways to reduce stress
• Exploring different types of renewable energy sources and their impact on the environment
• The basics of budgeting and saving money for future goals
• The benefits of social media for professional use
• Tips for overcoming stage fright
• How to start a meditation practice
• The impact of technology on modern society
• The basics of personal finance
• The health benefits of a plant-based diet
• The history of Earth Day

Good how to presentation topics

• How to create a successful social media marketing strategy
• How to give a persuasive presentation
• How to create effective and engaging content for your blog
• How to discover your strengths and weaknesses
• How to use project management tools to increase productivity
• How to make the most out of boring meetings
• How to build a personal brand
• How to conduct effective market research
• How to use data analytics to improve decision-making
• How to improve your decision-making process
• How to write a winning proposal
• How to create a visually stunning presentation
• How to manage stressful situations at work
• How to make friends as an adult
• How to network at work events

About me presentation ideas

• My journey to becoming who I am today
• My passion for [insert topic or activity]
• My career aspirations and goals
• My travels and adventures around the world
• My hobbies and interests outside of work/school
• My role models and influences
• My strengths and weaknesses
• My favorite books, movies, and TV shows
• My proudest achievements and accomplishments
• My favorite childhood memories
• My family and friends
• My education and academic background
• My volunteer and community service experience
• My personality traits and values
• My vision for the future and how I plan to achieve it

Author: Adam Grant

Student presentation ideas

• The history and evolution of video games
• The history and cultural impact of tattoos
• The impact of social media on body image and self-esteem
• The effects of globalization on local cultures and economies
• The role of education in promoting social justice and equity
• The ethical implications of autonomous weapons in warfare
• The impact of mass media on society and culture
• The causes and effects of deforestation on biodiversity and climate change
• The history and cultural significance of dance in different parts of the world
• The psychology of addiction and recovery
• The impact of the gig economy on labor rights and job security
• The history and impact of feminism on gender equality
• The benefits and drawbacks of renewable energy sources
• The impact of colonialism on indigenous cultures and identities
• The role of technology in promoting global connectivity and intercultural understanding

Author: Edward Quinn

Informative presentation topics

• The science of sleep: How to get a restful night and improve your wellbeing
• A journey through the history of the internet
• Exploring the potential of AI in our world
• Climate change: Understanding the challenge, seeking solutions for a sustainable future
• How new technologies are shaping the future of food
• Understanding the psychology of money for financial success
• The power of a story: How storytelling captures hearts and minds
• Mastering the art of negotiation in every interaction
• The science of happiness: Unlocking the secrets to a more fulfilling life
• The power of mindfulness for a more present and peaceful YOU
• Understanding cybersecurity threats and protecting yourself online
• Exploring the potential of virtual reality for a more immersive future

Author: Andrew Davis

How to create a good presentation 

If you know what you want to present on, it’s time to create an impactful presentation that grabs everyone’s attention. Presentation design plays a crucial role in how your presentation is received and remembered. To stand out and leave a memorable impact on your audience, create a Prezi presentation. Instead of a linear, slide-based presentation, offer an engaging and dynamic storytelling experience to your audience. Breathe life into your presentation with motion, zoom, and spatial relationships. When creating your presentation, consider the following three essential elements: 

Visuals play a significant part in presentation design. They evoke emotions, make a memorable impact, and give more context to the story. Not to mention, 65% of people are visual learners , so visual aids are helpful when explaining a complex topic. 

In your presentation, include different types of visuals, such as images, videos, GIFs, and stickers, all of which you can find in Prezi’s content library. When selecting your visuals, consider what’s relevant and brings additional value to the story. Only add what’s meaningful and necessary. A video or image at the right place and time will enrich the viewing experience and make your presentation more memorable. 

The layout of your presentation is the structure of your story. It’ll help you introduce the topic, intrigue your audience, and unfold the layers of your topic one by one until you disclose your main arguments and summarize the presentation. A good presentation layout has a hierarchical, chronological, or logical flow that leads the viewer from start to finish. 

If you’re creating a Prezi presentation, you can create a dynamic storytelling experience by experimenting with your layout. Instead of going from slide to slide, you can zoom in and out of topics and experiment with different shapes, animations, and effects that draw the viewer into your story world. Here’s an example of a Prezi presentation with a great storytelling layout:

Author: Lydia Antonatos

Data visualizations can elevate your presentation from being a good one to a great one. By providing data behind your arguments, you’ll appear more trustworthy and confident in your audience’s eyes. 

Add charts, graphs, interactive maps, and more to your presentations with Prezi Design. You can choose from a wide selection of charts and maps to illustrate your data. With interactive elements, you’ll be able to engage your audience and make a memorable impact. 

Engaging visuals, a well-structured layout, and relevant data visualizations will provide a great starting base to create a memorable presentation. Discover other tips and tricks that make your presentation effective and capture people’s attention. 

Prezi AI for presentation success

If you already have a clear presentation style in mind or plenty of time for creation, fantastic! But what if you only have a day or less or you don’t know where to start? Enter Prezi AI . It’s your assistant for streamlining the presentation creation process. Here’s how Prezi AI leverages the power of artificial intelligence to turn you into a presentation pro:

Effortless design from scratch

Ditch the blank page anxiety with the AI presentation maker . Simply provide a title or outline, and Prezi AI will generate a visually appealing draft presentation in seconds. It’s like having a built-in design assistant ready to brainstorm with you.

Smarter text, stronger impact

Prezi’s AI text-editing tool helps you perfect your message in seconds. It analyzes your content, suggesting improvements for readability and conciseness.

From bullet points to animations

Let’s face it, static bullet points can put even the most dynamic presenter to sleep. Prezi’s AI animated slides maker transforms your text into captivating visual stories. Choose from formats like flowcharts, animated lists, or zoom reveals to keep your audience engaged.

Perfect for busy presenters

We all know the struggle – a million tasks on your plate, and a looming presentation deadline. Prezi AI can help you save valuable time! With AI assistance, you can generate presentations faster, focus on refining your content, and present with the confidence that comes from knowing your presentation looks polished and professional.

Design help

Don’t worry if you don’t have an eye for design. Prezi AI provides the tools and guidance to create presentations that impress visually.

With Prezi AI, crafting presentations is easy, allowing you to focus on delivering your message with impact and leaving your audience engaged and inspired. Explore what’s possible with Prezi A I today!

Learn more on how to turn your presentation topic into a stunning presentation with AI:

Final thoughts on selecting good presentation topics

Choosing a topic for a presentation isn’t easy. When selecting a topic, think about the goal of your presentation, your interests, and knowledge about the topic, and whether or not your audience will find it relevant and interesting for them. Also, get inspired by other topics that’ll help you figure out what you want to talk about. Lastly, when creating your presentation, consider the impact of visuals, layout, and data visualizations. To simplify the creation process, try Prezi AI or follow the step-by-step process of making a presentation with helpful tips and resources.

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180+ Presentation Topic Ideas [Plus Templates]

Written by: Orana Velarde

Coming up with a presentation topic idea that's meaningful, relevant and has a creative angle can be tough. If your teacher or professor just assigned you a presentation and also asked you to pick your own topic, you're in the right place.

In this article, we've put together a list of informative and powerful presentation topic ideas for various subjects. When you're ready, head over to our presentation software to create an engaging slideshow that blows away your audience.

Here's a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit presentation templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. Check more templates below:

List of Presentation Topic Ideas for Students

We know how difficult it is to come up with an interesting presentation topic idea on the fly.  That’s why we put together a list of more than 200 ideas to help you out.

We've organized these presentation topics for students by subject so you can easily browse through and find what you're looking for. Each section also comes with a bonus presentation template!

We've also included some tips on designing a presentation once you've chosen a topic. For example, a flowchart data widget can help with a historic timeline presentation .

But first, let's dive into these interesting topics for presentations.

Table of Contents

Current events presentation topic ideas, education presentation topic ideas, general culture presentation topic ideas, health presentation topic ideas, history presentation topic ideas, life skills presentation topic ideas, literature presentation topic ideas, media presentation topic ideas, science presentation topic ideas, work life presentation topic ideas.

• Why Do Teachers Assign Student-Selected Presentations?

How to Pick the Right Presentation Topic

Presentation tips for students.

• Teachers share presentation topic ideas with students so they can find a topic of interest, find a purpose and direction for their future lives and career plans, learn how to do research properly and improve their creative performance.
• Some of the best presentation topic ideas for students center around topics such as current events, education, general culture, health, life skills, literature, media and science.
• When picking presentation topics, consider these things: your hobbies, the books you read, the kind of TV shows you watch, what topics you’re good at and what you’d like to learn more about.
• Follow these tips to create and deliver excellent presentations: Don’t present on topics you don’t understand, use data visualizations and high-quality visuals, avoid boring layouts and large walls of text,
• Don’t read off your slides. Practice and rehearse your presentation or create index cards with speaking notes.
• Visme’s presentation software has everything you need to create captivating presentations. Start with professionally designed presentation templates , customize them to your taste and present with style.
• If you're racing against the clock, harness the power of Visme's AI presentation maker to whip up captivating presentations in seconds. Just explain what you want to create, select your preferred designs and watch the tool unleash its magic.

Below are Powerpoint presentation topics on current events.

• What is the Israeli/Palestinian conflict?
• What is happening in Kashmir?
• What is ethnic cleansing and is it still relevant in 2021?
• Who is Malala Yousafzai?
• What are the different stances on immigration in the US?
• Should the death penalty be outlawed?
• Should University be free for everyone?
• What is racism?
• How can non-minorities be allies to minorities?
• What is White Privilege?
• Can a border wall really fix the immigration crisis?
• What is Brexit?
• What is Pride?
• What is gentrification?
• What is the European Union?
• What is Sharia Law?
• Why is it more profitable to be a plumber than a doctor?
• What is happening in Syria?
• Who is Harvey Weinstein and what is he accused of?
• What is the #metoo movement?
• What is happening in North Korea?
• What is the problem with guns in America?

Customize this presentation template to make it your own! Edit and Download

Here are the education topics for presentations you can choose from.

• What are the pros and cons of online education?
• What is dyslexia?
• What is the Pythagorean theorem?
• Is a college education worth it?
• Is reading better on Kindles or paper books?
• What is worldschooling?
• What is unschooling?
• Why are teachers underpaid?
• What is sociology?
• What is anthropology?
• What is social archaeology?
• Why do schools need mentorship programs?
• What is an education in Finland like?
• What is Montessori Education?
• Who is Rudolf Steiner?
• What is the most difficult language to learn?
• What is an Ivy League school?
• What is the SAT?
• What is the TOEFL?
• What is the IB program?
• How to get into an international university
• What is a learning disability?
• What is a gap year?
• Why is it important to learn a second language?
• What is a TCK?
• What is the foreign exchange program?
• Why is it important to study Physics?
• What are Coding Bootcamps ?
• How does reading benefit the brain?
• How to make an infographic

• Is Graffiti considered art?
• Ancient Greek myths in modern media
• Why should students learn about different religions?
• What are crop circles?
• What is Area 51?
• What are the origins of Rock and Roll?
• What was the Woodstock Music Festival?
• 10 memorable things about any country
• What are the different styles of coffee?
• What does living “off the grid” mean?
• What is Crossfit?
• What is cultural appropriation?
• What is Feminism?
• What is the difference between White Hat and Black Hat Hacking?
• Who is the artist formerly known as Prince?
• Why is yoga so popular?
• What is Art Therapy?
• What is the difference between 80’s parenting and current parenting?
• What is a journalist?
• What is the 'generation gap'?
• Who is a polyglot?
• What is the difference between a religion and a cult?

• Everything you need to know about COVID-19
• How does the human immune system work?
• What is the respiratory system?
• How are diseases spread?
• How does the nervous system work?
• What is skin cancer?
• What are infectious diseases?
• When to call 911
• What is the placebo effect?
• How to read a nutrition label
• How to eat a balanced diet
• What is CPR?
• How to dress a wound
• What is Alzheimer’s Disease?
• What is dry drowning?
• What are allergens?
• Why are cigarettes bad for you?
• How are medicines approved for human consumption?
• Why should Marijuana be legalized?
• What is a neurosurgeon?
• What is an EMT?
• How does the digestive system work?
• What are the effects of antidepressants on the human brain?
• What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)?
• Is depression real?

• Prehistoric timeline of dinosaurs
• Your favorite president of the United States
• How has the role of women changed in society?
• Who was Alexander the Great?
• What is the Declaration of Independence?
• Who was Harriet Tubman?
• What is Pangea?
• What is Gobekli Tepe?
• Who is Nelson Mandela?
• What is the Berlin Wall?
• What is the Boxing Day Tsunami?
• Who were the Conquistadors?
• Who were the Incas?
• What is the story behind Thanksgiving?
• Who is Pocahontas?
• What is the origin of Language?
• How were Egyptian mummies conserved?
• What is the story of King Tut’s Curse?
• What made up the Ottoman Empire?
• What was the first civilization to ever emerge?
• What are the main Native American culture tribes?

Customize this presentation template to make it your own!

• Add your own text, images, colors and more
• Add interactive buttons and animations
• Customize anything to fit your design and content needs
• How to change a tire
• What are the basic cooking skills?
• How to do laundry
• How to budget monthly expenses
• What is a healthy morning routine?
• What are the essential tools for a household?
• How to furnish a house on the cheap
• How to drive a car
• How to save money
• How to take care of a baby
• How to take care of a plant
• How to change the AC filters
• How to minimize the use of plastic
• How to live trash-free
• How to fry an egg
• How to clean a house fast
• How to use the internet to find what you need
• Why is it important to teach our grandparents how to use the internet?
• How to get dressed for a funeral
• How to unclog a toilet or sink
• How to pack a first-aid kit at home
• What is emotional intelligence?

• Who is William Shakespeare?
• What is Haiku?
• What is The Catcher in The Rye about?
• Who is Dante Alighieri?
• What is a sonnet?
• What is magical realism?
• Who is Emily Bronte?
• How is the book 1984 relevant today?
• What is the difference between an autobiography and a memoir?
• What book should be made into a movie which hasn’t yet?
• Who is Oscar Wilde?
• Who is Orhan Pamuk?
• Who is Isaac Asimov?
• What is historical fiction?
• What is a Greek Tragedy?
• What is the hero’s journey?
• Who is Ulysses?
• What is the origin of science fiction literature?
• My top 10 favorite classic novels of all time
• Who were the Brothers Grimm?
• The colorful life of Ernest Hemingway
• How did the Industrial Revolution shape American literature?

Looking for engaging ppt presentation topics about media? Explore this list for ideas on the evolution of media, social media trends and influential figures in the media landscape.

• Evolution of the projector
• How can social media be dangerous for underage kids?
• The history of the internet
• What is the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
• Who is Steve Jobs?
• Who invented the television?
• Which came first, MTV or VH1?
• What is Virtual Reality?
• What is Augmented Reality?
• The evolution of film and cinema
• How are TV commercials made?
• What is the role of an art director?
• How are minorities represented in the media?
• How are women represented in the media?
• What is blogging?
• Who was Elvis Presley?
• The history of Jazz
• The history of Tango
• What is a social media manager ?
• What is content marketing?
• What is an influencer?
• How has binge-watching changed television?
• The impact of TikTok on advertising
• What is the agenda-setting theory?
• Mass communication in the digital age

Looking for science presentation ideas? Check these topics out.

• What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
• What are GMOs?
• What is organ donation and why is it important?
• How does the respiratory system work?
• Should human cloning be allowed?
• What is the greenhouse effect?
• Why do some people say climate change is a hoax ?
• What is the water cycle?
• What is Photosynthesis?
• What are the different states of matter?
• How is medicine made?
• What is alternative medicine?
• What is biochemistry?
• What is quantum physics?
• What is the Big Bang Theory?
• 50th anniversary of the moon landing
• What is the plant cycle?
• How are babies born?
• What is a particle accelerator?
• What is a light-year?
• Why do humans want to colonize Mars?
• Why is Pluto no longer a planet?
• What causes a wildfire?

• What is the pay gap?
• What is an entrepreneur?
• What is a franchise and how does it work?
• What are the best-paid careers?
• Why is it important to hire mothers back into the workforce?
• Should fathers have paternity leave?
• Are internships worth it?
• Why are more college-age students entering the labor force through skilled labor?
• Why is it important for high-schoolers to have summer jobs?
• What is the glass ceiling?
• How to live as a digital nomad
• How to stop discrimination in the workplace
• What is a Candy Striper?
• Is volunteering hurting the neediest?
• What does “the 9 to 5” mean?
• What constitutes a good work-life balance?
• When should moms go back to work?
• How to dress for a work interview
• How to write a resume/CV
• How secure is a freelance career in 2021?
• The impact of COVID-19 on organizational culture?
• Do employers care about cover letters?

Why Do Teachers Assign Student-Selected Presentations? [Infographic]

By now, you must have already chosen a presentation topic idea . But you might still be wondering why your teacher assigned you this task in the first place.

No, your teacher is not out to get you by assigning a presentation you have to choose the topic for. There are a few reasons why teachers and professors assign presentations this way.

Choosing a presentation topic idea inspires you to look inside themselves to find a topic of interest. Knowing about your interests helps give direction to your future life and career plans.

Selecting topics to present about in school also helps you learn how to do research properly. You get more familiar with the practice of taking notes, creating an outline and prioritizing information.

Brainstorming various topic ideas is also great for improving your creative performance. And finally, getting up on stage and presenting prepares you for public speaking in front of an audience.

Here's a quick infographic to sum it all up.

Believe it or not, assigning a presentation is one of the best ways to teach a student how to learn on their own. It’s similar to asking a student to write an essay, but a lot more fun!

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• Hundreds of premade slides available
• Add animation and interactivity to your slides
• Choose from various presentation options

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If you're overwhelmed by all the school presentation ideas above and aren't sure which one is right for your presentation, don't worry. We have tips to help you pick the right topic in no time.

If after this process you still aren’t sure, just browse through the list above and find a specific presentation subject idea that sparks your interest most.

The first step to figuring out what your presentation should be about is to ask yourself these questions:

• What are your hobbies?
• What type of books do you read?
• When you play Trivial Pursuit, which topic are you good at?
• What kind of TV shows do you watch?
• What would you like to learn more about?

What Are Your Hobbies?

It’s easy to find a presentation topic by looking at your hobbies. The best part of this choice is that you’ll be passionate when presenting it to your peers.

For example, if you love woodworking, create a presentation about the history of woodworking or a step-by-step look at “How to make a wooden bowl by hand.”

What Type of Books Do You Read?

When looking for innovative topics for presentation, consider the style of books you’ve been reading lately. Have any of them made an impact on your life?

If you're having a difficult time coming up with a topic idea, you can create a presentation about a book that you found really special, or about an author you’ve read a few books by.

When You Play Trivial Pursuit, Which Topic Are You Good At?

If you've ever played Trivial Pursuit or attended a Trivia Night, you must have noticed that some topics are easier for you to answer. That is your topic of interest and a great place to look for some ideas.

For example, if you always know the answer to the questions about classical music, you can create a presentation about your favorite composer.

What Kind of TV Shows Do You Watch?

What have you been binge-watching lately? Regardless if its Orange is The New Black or a documentary about the Sudanese civil war, you can find an interesting topic to work with.

It can be about history or current events. You could even do some kind of comparative analysis on how a specific show has affected you or the people who watch it.

What Would You Like to Learn More About?

Another way to find the best topics for presentation is to think of things you want to learn more about. Take the opportunity to learn something new and then share it in your presentation.

Present the facts of what you learned or turn the presentation into a journal entry of your personal experience using the new information that you just learned.

Additionally, it’s important to remember that whatever topic you choose, it must also be appropriate.

“Depending on your audience and occasion purpose, you have to steer away from topics that might bore or offend your audience.”

Once you have chosen the perfect presentation topic idea, it’s time to create your presentation. Here are some tips for putting together a great presentation that will get you a good grade.

Presentation Mistakes to Avoid

First things first, let’s talk about some presentation no-nos. You want to avoid these mistakes in any presentation you give—from a presentation for a grade in your middle school class all the way up to a business presentation.

Key presentation don’ts are:

• Don’t create slides full of text —your presentation is not a 30-page essay. Instead, create slides with just a few bullets and some type of visual to represent your content.
• Don’t just read off of your slides —you’ll bore your audience. Practice and rehearse your presentation or create index cards with speaking notes to make your presentation more engaging.
• Don’t use a new design, transition, animation, etc., on each slide —you’ll clutter up your design. Choose one single design, color scheme, font pairing, transition style, animation effect, etc., and use it throughout to create a cohesive presentation design.
• Don’t present on topics you don’t understand —you’ll sound like you don’t know what you’re talking about. Even if you’re choosing a “new to you” topic, you need to do enough research to have a firm grasp on the information you’re presenting.
• Don’t ramble and go over your allotted time —you’ll sound flustered and unorganized. Again, make sure you practice your presentation so that you can smoothly transition from slide to slide and cover all information in the time given.

Regardless of the topic you're presenting, creating drafts shouldn't be a challenge. Utilize Visme's AI writer to generate high-quality content in seconds. Feel free to deploy it as a proofreading tool or an outline creator. Just describe what you want to write about and get content ideas or Power Point presentation topics and the tool will work out the details.

Use Data Visualization in Your Presentation

Regardless of which type of topic you’ve chosen, there’s likely some sort of data or information that would be better presented via visuals rather than written out numbers or text.

Make sure you choose a presentation tool that makes it easy to visualize certain information. For example, Visme allows you to create a number of data visualizations that help make information pop on your slide.

Some examples of data visualizations you can use within your presentation include:

• Timelines for historical information
• Charts and graphs for numerical data sets
• Tables for organizing text
• Maps for sharing geographic information
• Flowcharts and diagrams for organizing information
• Data widgets for visualizing standalone numbers

Avoid Using Boring Layouts

Don’t let your presentation look like a PowerPoint from the nineties with a blank white background and two columns of boring bullet points. Instead, take advantage of engaging presentation templates and spice up your slides.

First, start with a template that’s going to make your information stand out. You can browse a few options that Visme offers below. Use Visme’s Brand Wizard to automatically add your brand’s assets to your presentation.

Look for a unique way of presenting the information, use interesting backgrounds, apply shaped frames to the images, embed videos and use colorful shapes to create separations.

But for some specific ideas, consider pulling these design tactics into your presentation.

Slide Background Ideas:

• Set photos as your slide background
• Use color overlays to make sure your content is still visible on top of the photo background
• Create a gradient background
• Use a stock video as your background to create motion
• Choose a color other than white as your background
• Set a pattern as your background
• Use an animated background

Visual Element Ideas:

• Place photos strategically on your slide to drive your point home
• Use colorful shapes and animated graphics
• Try 3D graphics to make your content pop
• Apply shaped frames to images within your slides
• Use icons to visualize your text

Interactive Ideas:

There are so many ways to make sure your slides are engaging so you keep your audience interested throughout your entire presentation. Visme offers tons of features to make your presentation interactive .

• Incorporate hover-overs or pop-ups that hide additional information
• Link your slides to create a non-linear presentation
• Embed videos that provide even more information
• Create audio clips that activate when you click on an element

RELATED: 20 Ways to Create an Interactive Presentation That Stands Out

Prepare for Your Presentation

We already touched on how important it is to practice and rehearse your presentation. You want to appear confident and well-versed in your topic. Presenting and public speaking are also skills that you can carry into adulthood in your future career.

Although nerve-wracking, you’ll have a turn to deliver your presentation in front of the class. You’ll give your speech while simultaneously showcasing your slides.

Utilize these tips when preparing for your presentation:

• Practice speaking while moving through your slides at least three times
• Memorize the order of your slides and what information is on each slide
• Create a flashcard for each slide so you have basic talking points in front of you
• Use memorization techniques so you don’t have to fully rely on your flashcards
• Focus on the end goal: delivering your presentation may be stressful but it will also make you feel great when you’re finished

Keep Your Audience Engaged During Your Presentation

Our last tip is to keep your audience engaged throughout your presentation. This will help your fellow classmates to better retain the information you’re sharing in your slides and can even help you feel more confident as you present.

A few tips for engaging your audience include:

• Avoid using a monotonous tone; instead, tell stories, speak conversationally, and hold your audience’s attention
• Try not to say things like, “um,” “er,” “like” and similar terms
• Focus on keeping good posture throughout
• Avoid chewing gum, fidgeting or doing other things that will detract from your speech
• Make eye contact with your audience rather than staring at your notes or your slides

Create Beautiful Presentations with Visme

Here at Visme, we love helping students create better presentations. We’ve covered presentations on different topics you can choose from.

We have resources on how to use presentation templates, how to design slides from scratch, how to maintain consistency between slides, how to present data visually and how to successfully present to an audience.

Here are some articles to help you design and deliver your presentation:

• Presentation Success Formula: How to Start Strong and End Powerfully
• 100+ Creative Presentation Ideas That Will Delight Your Audience
• 7 Ways to Structure Your Presentation to Keep Your Audience Wanting More

Once you’re ready to start designing, just open up the Visme dashboard and select one of the many presentation templates. You can also create a presentation from scratch; there are lots of tools to help you out along the way. Once done, you can easily share and publish your presentation without leaving the Visme editor.

We hope you were able to find the perfect presentation topic idea for your presentation on this list! Let us know how you did and link to your presentation in the comments.

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About the Author

Orana is a multi-faceted creative. She is a content writer, artist, and designer. She travels the world with her family and is currently in Istanbul. Find out more about her work at oranavelarde.com

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112 Persuasive Speech Topics That Are Actually Engaging

What’s covered:, how to pick an awesome persuasive speech topic, 112 engaging persuasive speech topics, tips for preparing your persuasive speech.

Writing a stellar persuasive speech requires a carefully crafted argument that will resonate with your audience to sway them to your side. This feat can be challenging to accomplish, but an engaging, thought-provoking speech topic is an excellent place to start.

When it comes time to select a topic for your persuasive speech, you may feel overwhelmed by all the options to choose from—or your brain may be drawing a completely blank slate. If you’re having trouble thinking of the perfect topic, don’t worry. We’re here to help!

In this post, we’re sharing how to choose the perfect persuasive speech topic and tips to prepare for your speech. Plus, you’ll find 112 persuasive speech topics that you can take directly from us or use as creative inspiration for your own ideas!

Choose Something You’re Passionate About

It’s much easier to write, research, and deliver a speech about a cause you care about. Even if it’s challenging to find a topic that completely sparks your interest, try to choose a topic that aligns with your passions.

However, keep in mind that not everyone has the same interests as you. Try to choose a general topic to grab the attention of the majority of your audience, but one that’s specific enough to keep them engaged.

For example, suppose you’re giving a persuasive speech about book censorship. In that case, it’s probably too niche to talk about why “To Kill a Mockingbird” shouldn’t be censored (even if it’s your favorite book), and it’s too broad to talk about media censorship in general.

Steer Clear of Cliches

Have you already heard a persuasive speech topic presented dozens of times? If so, it’s probably not an excellent choice for your speech—even if it’s an issue you’re incredibly passionate about.

Although polarizing topics like abortion and climate control are important to discuss, they aren’t great persuasive speech topics. Most people have already formed an opinion on these topics, which will either cause them to tune out or have a negative impression of your speech.

Instead, choose topics that are fresh, unique, and new. If your audience has never heard your idea presented before, they will be more open to your argument and engaged in your speech.

Have a Clear Side of Opposition

For a persuasive speech to be engaging, there must be a clear side of opposition. To help determine the arguability of your topic, ask yourself: “If I presented my viewpoint on this topic to a group of peers, would someone disagree with me?” If the answer is yes, then you’ve chosen a great topic!

Now that we’ve laid the groundwork for what it takes to choose a great persuasive speech topic, here are over one hundred options for you to choose from.

• Should high school athletes get tested for steroids?
• Should schools be required to have physical education courses?
• Should sports grades in school depend on things like athletic ability?
• What sport should be added to or removed from the Olympics?
• Should college athletes be able to make money off of their merchandise?
• Should sports teams be able to recruit young athletes without a college degree?
• Should we consider video gamers as professional athletes?
• Is cheerleading considered a sport?
• Should parents allow their kids to play contact sports?
• Should professional female athletes be paid the same as professional male athletes?
• Should college be free at the undergraduate level?
• Is the traditional college experience obsolete?
• Should you choose a major based on your interests or your potential salary?
• Should high school students have to meet a required number of service hours before graduating?
• Should teachers earn more or less based on how their students perform on standardized tests?
• Are private high schools more effective than public high schools?
• Should there be a minimum number of attendance days required to graduate?
• Are GPAs harmful or helpful?
• Should schools be required to teach about standardized testing?
• Should Greek Life be banned in the United States?
• Should schools offer science classes explicitly about mental health?
• Should students be able to bring their cell phones to school?
• Should all public restrooms be all-gender?
• Should undocumented immigrants have the same employment and education opportunities as citizens?
• Should everyone be paid a living wage regardless of their employment status?
• Should supremacist groups be able to hold public events?
• Should guns be allowed in public places?
• Should the national drinking age be lowered?
• Should prisoners be allowed to vote?
• Should the government raise or lower the retirement age?
• Should the government be able to control the population?
• Is the death penalty ethical?

Environment

• Should stores charge customers for plastic bags?
• Should breeding animals (dogs, cats, etc.) be illegal?
• Is it okay to have exotic animals as pets?
• Should people be fined for not recycling?
• Should compost bins become mandatory for restaurants?
• Should electric vehicles have their own transportation infrastructure?
• Would heavier fining policies reduce corporations’ emissions?
• Should hunting be encouraged or illegal?
• Should reusable diapers replace disposable diapers?

Science & Technology

• Is paper media more reliable than digital news sources?
• Should automated/self-driving cars be legalized?
• Should schools be required to provide laptops to all students?
• Should software companies be able to have pre-downloaded programs and applications on devices?
• Should drones be allowed in military warfare?
• Should scientists invest more or less money into cancer research?
• Should cloning be illegal?
• Should societies colonize other planets?
• Should there be legal oversight over the development of technology?

Social Media

• Should there be an age limit on social media?
• Should cyberbullying have the same repercussions as in-person bullying?
• Are online relationships as valuable as in-person relationships?
• Does “cancel culture” have a positive or negative impact on societies?
• Are social media platforms reliable information or news sources?
• Should social media be censored?
• Does social media create an unrealistic standard of beauty?
• Is regular social media usage damaging to real-life interactions?
• Is social media distorting democracy?
• How many branches of government should there be?
• Who is the best/worst president of all time?
• How long should judges serve in the U.S. Supreme Court?
• Should a more significant portion of the U.S. budget be contributed towards education?
• Should the government invest in rapid transcontinental transportation infrastructure?
• Should airport screening be more or less stringent?
• Should the electoral college be dismantled?
• Should the U.S. have open borders?
• Should the government spend more or less money on space exploration?
• Should students sing Christmas carols, say the pledge of allegiance, or perform other tangentially religious activities?
• Should nuns and priests become genderless roles?
• Should schools and other public buildings have prayer rooms?
• Should animal sacrifice be legal if it occurs in a religious context?
• Should countries be allowed to impose a national religion on their citizens?
• Should the church be separated from the state?
• Does freedom of religion positively or negatively affect societies?

Parenting & Family

• Is it better to have children at a younger or older age?
• Is it better for children to go to daycare or stay home with their parents?
• Does birth order affect personality?
• Should parents or the school system teach their kids about sex?
• Are family traditions important?
• Should parents smoke or drink around young children?
• Should “spanking” children be illegal?
• Should parents use swear words in front of their children?
• Should parents allow their children to play violent video games?

Entertainment

• Should all actors be paid the same regardless of gender or ethnicity?
• Should all award shows be based on popular vote?
• Who should be responsible for paying taxes on prize money, the game show staff or the contestants?
• Should movies and television shows have ethnicity and gender quotas?
• Should newspapers and magazines move to a completely online format?
• Should streaming services like Netflix and Hulu be free for students?
• Is the movie rating system still effective?
• Should celebrities have more privacy rights?

Arts & Humanities

• Are libraries becoming obsolete?
• Should all schools have mandatory art or music courses in their curriculum?
• Should offensive language be censored from classic literary works?
• Is it ethical for museums to keep indigenous artifacts?
• Should digital designs be considered an art form? 
• Should abstract art be considered an art form?
• Is music therapy effective?
• Should tattoos be regarded as “professional dress” for work?
• Should schools place greater emphasis on the arts programs?
• Should euthanasia be allowed in hospitals and other clinical settings?
• Should the government support and implement universal healthcare?
• Would obesity rates lower if the government intervened to make healthy foods more affordable?
• Should teenagers be given access to birth control pills without parental consent?
• Should food allergies be considered a disease?
• Should health insurance cover homeopathic medicine?
• Is using painkillers healthy?
• Should genetically modified foods be banned?
• Should there be a tax on unhealthy foods?
• Should tobacco products be banned from the country?
• Should the birth control pill be free for everyone?

If you need more help brainstorming topics, especially those that are personalized to your interests, you can  use CollegeVine’s free AI tutor, Ivy . Ivy can help you come up with original persuasive speech ideas, and she can also help with the rest of your homework, from math to languages.

Do Your Research

A great persuasive speech is supported with plenty of well-researched facts and evidence. So before you begin the writing process, research both sides of the topic you’re presenting in-depth to gain a well-rounded perspective of the topic.

Understand Your Audience

It’s critical to understand your audience to deliver a great persuasive speech. After all, you are trying to convince them that your viewpoint is correct. Before writing your speech, consider the facts and information that your audience may already know, and think about the beliefs and concerns they may have about your topic. Then, address these concerns in your speech, and be mindful to include fresh, new information.

Have Someone Read Your Speech

Once you have finished writing your speech, have someone read it to check for areas of strength and improvement. You can use CollegeVine’s free essay review tool to get feedback on your speech from a peer!

Practice Makes Perfect

After completing your final draft, the key to success is to practice. Present your speech out loud in front of a mirror, your family, friends, and basically, anyone who will listen. Not only will the feedback of others help you to make your speech better, but you’ll become more confident in your presentation skills and may even be able to commit your speech to memory.

Hopefully, these ideas have inspired you to write a powerful, unique persuasive speech. With the perfect topic, plenty of practice, and a boost of self-confidence, we know you’ll impress your audience with a remarkable speech!

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Insight: Engage

How to write a good oral presentation on a point of view.

Oral presentations require preparation and practice to master. This week, Insight writer and English teacher Anja Drummond outlines steps you can take to succeed in your oral presentation SAC.

Oral presentation. Two words that are capable of striking fear into the hearts of even the most confident student. But should they? Though not all of us can ever hope to reach the heady heights of oratory genius achieved by the likes of Barack Obama or Martin Luther King Jr, there are steps we can take to help us to present our point of view strongly.

Step 1: Research

Find out as much as you can about your chosen topic. The key skills for presenting argument in the VCE English Study Design clearly state that you need to ‘conduct research to support the development of arguments on particular issues and acknowledge sources accurately and appropriately where relevant’. You are expected to research your chosen topic so that you have a deep and nuanced understanding of the issues and arguments. Read from multiple sources that present various points of view, and take notes on the arguments used.

Step 2: Plan your overall approach

Great speeches very rarely just happen; they are carefully crafted pieces of writing. Use your knowledge of argument and persuasive language as a basis for the development of your oral presentation. Remember that you are required to provide a written statement of intention to accompany your presentation. This statement of intention must outline the decisions you have made in the planning process, and explain how these demonstrate understanding of argument and persuasive language.

So, before you start writing, take the time to think carefully about the following aspects of your presentation.

Your contention

• Where do you stand on the issue? Why? Express this in a clear and direct sentence. Avoid statements such as ‘Greyhound racing is bad’. This a vague and general opinion, not a contention. A contention on this issue would be something like ‘The cruel and abusive practice of greyhound racing should be banned immediately’.

Your context and audience

• Who are you addressing? By that, I don’t mean your teacher or your classmates. Rather, who is your imagined audience for the speech? This is important to keep in mind, as it will inform the language choices you make. Furthermore, consider in what context you would be addressing your audience. Is your speech designed to be delivered on the steps of parliament at a rally or to a group of students at a graduation dinner? Decide this before you start writing. And don’t be afraid to adopt a persona – this will allow you broader scope in selecting a particular context and audience.

Once you have decided on your contention and on your context and audience, it is time to consider some of the finer details of your presentation.

Your purpose

• What do you want your imagined audience to think, feel or do? Do you wish to inform or educate them? To create alarm? To effect change? Your purpose should be closely related to your contention.
• What feelings are you seeking to communicate and to evoke in the audience? What mood are you trying to generate? Will you be using humour to relax your audience? Will you be hostile? Sympathetic? Will your tone change at any point and, if so, why?

All of the above are important factors to consider, as they will affect your language choices and the persuasive language techniques you employ.

Step 3: Plan your arguments

Now you need to decide on your supporting arguments. For each argument, ask yourself:

• What persuasive language techniques will I use?
• What evidence will I present?

Try to vary your chosen techniques, and remember Aristotle’s principles of rhetoric – logos (appeal to logic and reason), ethos (character of the speaker) and pathos (emotional influence of the speaker). A strong argument will address all three elements in varying degrees.

Step 4: Write the introduction

Good speeches start strongly. You need to grab the audience’s attention and make your point of view clear from the outset. The way you begin should be consistent with your audience and purpose. Strategies that you might consider are listed below.

• Anecdote – this is a great way to highlight a personal connection to the issue or to strike a sympathetic tone.
• Statistics – if your purpose is to shock your audience or to promote change, this is a great way to ‘hit them hard’ right from the outset.
• Inclusive language – if you want to create a shared sense of purpose, make it clear to your audience that they are part of this issue, and that how they feel matters.

Once you have your audience’s attention, introduce yourself (or your persona), clarify the issue, state your contention and signpost your main arguments.

Step 5: Write the body

This is where all your planning from step 3 pays off!

For each body paragraph, ensure that you create strong topic sentences that clearly highlight your main arguments, and then develop each argument using your carefully selected language and evidence.

There are a few things that you should keep in mind as you write:

• Cohesion is king! Keep your line of argument consistent and use connectives throughout.
• Analyse the evidence! Don’t just present a raft of statistics or evidence and expect them to make the argument for you. Analyse their importance in relation to the debate.
• Include some rebuttal! An issue has two sides – you need to rebut some or all arguments from the opposing point of view.

Step 6: Write the conclusion

Aim to finish strongly. Reiterate your contention and then tell the audience what they should think, feel or do. (This should directly relate to the purpose you decided on in the planning stage).

To ensure that you finish on a powerful note, consider using an appeal, a rhetorical question, or a call to action.

Step 7: Proofread and practise

Read your speech to friends or family and get their feedback. Did the line of argument make sense to them? Did you persuade them? Did any parts of your speech lose their attention? Take note of these responses and edit your speech as required.

And finally …

Need extra help preparing for your oral presentation? Insight’s English Year 12 and English Year 11 by Robert Beardwood include chapters on presenting a point of view that outline how to research and prepare; how to plan and write; how to present; and how to write a statement of intention. Sample SAC responses, with sample statements of intention, are also included.   

English Year 12 and English Year 11 are produced by Insight Publications , an Australian educational publisher.

Photo credit: Terd Photo/shutterstock

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120 Presentation Topic Ideas Help You Hook Your Audience

Updated: July 23, 2024

Published: August 09, 2023

Cooking is easy. The puzzle is figuring out what to eat. As soon as you know that, you can get started. The same holds for presentations. The sooner you can whip up a good, informative, and catchy topic, the easier the rest of the process becomes.

Pick a good topic that resonates with you and your audience to set a strong foundation. But select the wrong topic, and it becomes difficult to connect with your audience, find mutual interests, or hold their attention.

So, let’s learn how to develop thought-provoking and relevant topics for your presentations. You’ll also find some best practices to make your presentation memorable.

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Table of Contents

How to Choose a Great Presentation Topic in 5 Steps

120 presentation topic ideas, 5 presentation tips.

4. Choose an appropriate presentation style.

There are many ways to present a topic. Your personality, the topic at hand, and your audience’s personas will help you determine which style would best fit you and your audience.

Select a presentation style that will communicate the main idea clearly and have a lasting impact on your audience.

For instance, explore a freeform style presenter by Sir Ken Robinson.

5. Engage with your audience.

Work on your presentation skills to make a strong connection with your audience, get through to them and leave a mark.

Think of the presenter as the link between the topic and the audience. A strong or a weak presenter can make a difference between a presentation being a thriving success or a boring failure.

Hone your skills by engaging and interacting with your audience. Make them feel like a part of the presentation and not just spectators. 70% of marketers have found presentations with interactive content to be more effective than those without.

Here are a few ways you can make your presentation interactive:

• Start your speech with uncommon questions to your audience. Involve them from the get-go, like ask to raise their hands if X.
• Make eye contact to build credibility and show confidence. Don’t stare at your slides or notes. Smile occasionally and talk to the audience directly.
• Have an active and confident body language. Don’t stand in the same place the entire time. Move around the stage.
• Don’t be monotonous. Speak as you would to a colleague — with enthusiasm.
• Ask close-ended questions in between to keep the audience engaged without losing time. Address them using their names to keep things interesting.
• Share personal experiences and stories that your audience will find fascinating and relatable.
• Practice thoroughly before you present so you’re fluent with the material and delivery.
• Energy and excitement can be quite contagious. Make sure you exude enough to spread some to your audience.

Feeling Inspired Yet?

Now you have all the right ingredients for choosing amazing topics and a hundred ideas to drive inspiration from. So, go ahead and start cooking presentations that will blow your audience away.

Don’t forget to choose a super-relevant topic and add meaty information. Do it with excitement to make it enjoyable for you and your audience. Best of luck!

Don't forget to share this post!

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My Speech Class

Public Speaking Tips & Speech Topics

224 School Speech Topics for All Grades [High School, Middle School, Elementary]

Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class.

In this article:

High School

Middle school, elementary school, school speech topics checklists, list of school speech topics.

• Girls are under more pressure in high school.
• Schools must not sell unhealthy foods.
• Cyberbullies should be suspended from school.
• Peer pressure will help students grow.
• Parents must not pay kids for good grades.
• Students don’t spend enough time reading books.
• Class sizes make a big difference.
• Schools must get involved with obese students weight issues.
• All students should join the gym.
• Schools should offer rewards for good test scores.
• Cheerleading isn’t a sport.
• The media is to blame for the pressure of girls wanting perfect bodies.
• Mass-shooting in schools can be prevented.
• 16 is an appropriate age to start dating.
• The in crowd is usually the most insecure group.
• Failing is a blessing in disguise.
• Students do not know how to live in the moment.
• Fashion isn’t all that important.
• The methods used to deal with bullies are not effective.
• Private schools are not better than government schools.
• Co-ed schools are better than single-gender schools.
• Recess time must be extended.
• Standardized tests are not a measure of a students ability.
• Textbooks shouldn’t be replaced by technology in high schools.
• Students shouldn’t be graded for gym.
• Birth control should be available at schools.
• Cheating at school is getting worse.
• Sugary drinks should not be sold at school.
• Healthy school lunches are a lost cause.
• Boys hide their body image pressure.
• Smoking makes students outcasts.
• ‘Name and shame’ does not change teenage behaviour.
• Bystanders must be held responsible for not intervening when there is trouble at school.
• Gay students need older gay role models.
• It should be illegal for under 21’s to buy cigarettes.
• Grouping students by ability only benefit the smartest ones.
• Students are less religious than their parents.
• It is important to have a mix of friends to socialize with.
• Kids purposely make parenting hard.
• Helping a friend isn’t always good.
• Not every teacher has the ability to inspire students.
• High school kids don’t need helicopter parents.
• High schools don’t recognize a student’s full potential.
• Class sizes should not exceed 20 students.
• Extra online classes are worth it.
• School should be all year round.
• Parents embarrass their kids too much.
• Attractive students have an advantage over others.
• Students have no interest in government matters.
• Hard work is more important than talent.
• The morning after pill shouldn’t have an age restriction.
• Group work in class should be kept small.
• The best way to learn is alone.
• Teachers don’t use technology to its full potential.
• Dropping out of high school should be an illegal offense.
• The racial make up of a school is important.
• Outings to museums have no educational value.
• Creativity isn’t something that can be taught.
• Students have too much workload.
• Untidy handwriting is a sign of intelligence.
• Student’s interests will change in high school.
• It is important to take career assessment tests.
• Students do not have to get involved with everything in high school.
• Weekend jobs make students more responsible.
• It is important that students volunteer in fields of interest.
• Students must know their place in the classroom.
• Teachers want to create leaders.
• Tutors are necessary even with good grades.
• Locker room talk is demeaning to female students.
• Driving must be taught in High School.
• Plagiarism is getting out of hand.
• The importance of not being a follower.
• Students should focus school work ahead of a social life.
• Students should leave a team if they are never chosen to play.
• Leaving high school with no clear career path isn’t a bad thing.
• Students should always have condoms with them.
• Never shrug off small assignments.
• High school should be treated as if it were a job.
• Web filters at school are not restrictive enough.
• There is too much focus on sports in high schools.
• All students should get involved in exchange programs.
• Group projects only cause conflict.
• Teachers should be allowed to refuse problem students in their classes.
• Principals don’t help develop teachers enough.
• Corporal punishment is abuse.
• Robotics now and in the future – is it helpful in the daycare business?
• Your most embarrassing moment at school and the way you saved your face, solve and fix the awkward situation.
• Amazing discoveries or facts you have never heard of before and like to introduce to your class.
• Adventure racing and famous heroes on motorbikes – so-called off the road movie clips could be nice video aids Such as Steppenwolf.
• Astronomical signs and their meanings. Make it personal by asking a volunteer to give all the info you need.
• Nursing your parents when they get older. Lots of young people do that in their spare time, and they do not often speak about it. Take a chance and show them the world of voluntary care by friends, children, and neighbors.
• Islands in Oceania, in the tropical Pacific Ocean region. There where the date line starts.
• Railroads and trains from 1850, and great train builders and engineers is a high school speech topic to work out.
• How to visit and enjoy an art museum with an audio guide tour on your ears.
• Strange experiences in a restaurant or bar and the moral lesson you draw after that.
• Hurricanes, how they start and their international accepted standards for name giving (boys and girls names from a to z).
• Food photography is much difficult than you think.
• A narrow escape from trouble …
• How to organize surprise parties.
• Why are television soaps popular – did you know a whole team of scenarists writes the storylines – often three per edition?
• I want a new law on … Well feel free to repair and remedy abuses.
• What do you think about often when you enter the school?
• What have you always wanted to do and did not have the courage to ask or really act?
• What would you like to change and why? This one is especially good as graduation input and output.
• Things we can’t understand.
• What are your community activities?
• Suggestions for a school field trip in the autumn.
• Dream explanation, ask for dreams, explain them. Consult dream reading professional and keep away from the shabby occult business.
• Rhetorical questions, Socratical debating techniques.
• Great places to go in the world.
• Hiking trails nobody knows and you want to share.
• See Europe in seven days after high school!

Middle school speech topics for public speaking and oral writing assignments from outdoor activities to Greyhound racing and Rodeo riding to sports games. I have brought into being several themes, suggestions and easy to develop ideas for school:

• My hobby and pet peeves.
• Free time activities that you can recommend.
• What brands or products are popular in this school and why?
• Unusual experiences in the last year.
• Outdoor activities, and indoor activities on a rainy day.
• Why we are no longer kids but are called young adults.
• Suggestions for fun weekends.
• Animation characters and their voices.
• Antarctica research of penguins.
• Aviation pioneers.
• Celebrities, actors, and actresses.
• Computer games are great middle school speech topics if you have an interested audience who likes to game at home.
• Flying discs tricks on the beach side.
• Foreign flags and their story – perhaps you should play the anthems too for a full picture.
• Reasons to abandon grounding rules.
• Rodeo riding: how to survive more than 30 seconds on the riding machine 🙂
• Strange world records set in history.
• Skateboarding tips and tricks, safe on the sidewalks.
• Greyhound racing and the bet systems that are used.
• The world would be a better place if … (fill in your highest dreams)
• Environmental problems in our community.
• Fashion trends in the last century.
• Pen pals or email pals; how traditional patterns have changed.
• My favourite sports games on television.
• My checklist for if you move to another town.
• Kid cooking is cool – if you know how to prep recipes 🙂
• My trip abroad to Europe or Latin-America.
• Monitoring butterflies in the field outside and in our garden.
• Aztec masks and their amazing stories and secrets hidden inside.
• Mythological monsters such as the Minotaur and Nymphs.
• How to organize a fun weekend for the whole family.
• If I was born hundred years ago, I would be …:
• African masks and their meaning in holy rituals.
• Ancient Chinese emperors and their interesting uniform and dress looks.
• The Ice Age; when, how and the causes are good K-6 subjects to come across.
• Pollution sources in our world, and what to do about them in a cost-friendly way at home.
• A Day In the life of a kid in Ancient Rome, compare it with your own modern life.
• Discovering caves are cool grade 6 speech topics to tell something more and show them the work of speleologists.
• Traditional fairy tales from around the world – remember the thick book of the Grimm Brothers?
• Puppets and their funny looking but indeed very serious theatrical performances from Java, Indonesia.
• The Diary of Anne Frank (book or movie) and the meaning today.
• My penpal or better: email-pal from the other side of the world.
• The secrets of the Egypt King Tutankhamun.
• If I was a journalist, I should investigate …
• If I won one million dollars, I would …
• When I am grown up I want to become a / an …
• Last weekend I was at …
• The funniest thing that ever happened to me this month or year.
• Things that make you happy right away if you have the power to buy or dictate.
• Ways I use to relax.
• Favorite sports moments.
• The character I want to be in a movie the hero with heroic courage / or the villain who gets the worst of it in the end.
• My most memorable vacation trip till now.
• The best summer camp games I have ever played and enjoyed very much.
• My favorite spot in the woods near our cabin.
• Your most favorite memories are also great grade 6 speech topics too to talk about in school.
• When you take a walk in the woods, you can see more than you might think …
• Recipes for kids, orally like your favorite meals and food.
• Cool home computer games I like to play, criticize, review and share in class.
• The day I was sick and I must see the doctor.
• Pot and care for a plant or small vegetable ishard labor and needs patience.
• How to make a marionette puppet – a grade 8 speech topic for the artistic
• Birds in our backyard, you’re perplexed about the miles they flew to get there.
• Oceans of the world: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic gulf streams.
• A ride in a truck for transporting heavy objects.
• What is a decent dress code for a serious dinner at official moments:
• My musical instrument and the lessons I take.
• Why giraffes have long necks.
• Animals I should take in Noah’s Ark – and the philosophy behind it.
• Why I like to dance my favorite dance.
• I cope with fear of public speaking for this grade 8 speech by … (secret tactic)
• Magic tricks with simple playing cards for every unexpected occassion.
• Exotic fruits and vegetables in grocery stores; look up where they come from.
• Best 3D paper models: cars, robots, spaceships, airplanes, buildings.
• Things to expect when your mother is pregnant.
• Birds, bears and rabbits spend the winter by sleeping, why?
• My first visit to a dentist: the correct way to brush and floss your teeth.
• Family members I admire: uncles, aunts, nieces or nephews.
• Music festivals and the big logistics puzzle of the organizing parties involved.
• History of the Panama Canal, and the way the pilotage handle very big ships.
• How does global warming affect the icebergs?
• If I was my father or mother for one day.
• My favorite era in history.
• What’s in my room at home.
• The school field trip I would like to make.

Elementary school speech topics on animal keeping, favorite things to do at home or the playground and specific hints that lead to innumerable variations:

• What makes me happy.
• Our last vacation trip.
• Fairy tale characters you would like to talk with.
• Magic tricks you can show.
• Funny things my pet has done. A great quantity of this special theme is to be sorted out of animals and keeing them at home. Do consult your atending if you may bring an animal in class. In case of hesitation – do not cross this line:
• My favorite family story.
• Oceans in the world.
• My neighbourhood.
• Funny Halloween costumes, inspires to lots of funny elementary school speech topics.
• A visit to the doctor, dentist.
• How does it feel to wake up an being a giant?
• Places I lived.
• Why I want to travel in space to the interstellair universe.
• The best paper airplanes withput less folding work.
• How boomerangs return to their sender.
• Circus clowns in all sorts and characters.
• My one-day internship at the fire department.
• Fireworks on New Year’s Eve.
• The best fishing spots.
• My best birthday ever.
• I am good at …
• This is the song I like to sing every day is: …
• Making puzzles of thouands pieces and the tricks I have learned.
• Police uniforms or fire department attire outfits.
• What can you see in the zoo?
• Musical instruments in an full orchestra.

School speech topics tips for verification and 1-2-3 step checking at the secondary middle, high and elementary public speaking homework assignments on teaching skills. In a nutshell: they are easy to answer questions to make a better choice for creating the best result.

Also on this page, you will discover tips to concrete communication issues and education resources. They lead you in the right direction; you only have to use your fantasy.

Let the imaginary juices flow in your brains!

Can We Write Your Speech?

Get your audience blown away with help from a professional speechwriter. Free proofreading and copy-editing included.

Read all my checks for writing subjects and after you have completed that task follow all secure education idea links to the online education lists I have shaped and modified in class education material:

More aggravated lists of themes and valuable information regarding different subjects for future generations education are below. As well as a summary of the implications and / or requirements of what you have found, and school speech topics you could analyze in class.

You can sort out any ideas you like to talk about in oral lessons, scan the possible suggestions and think about what your audience like to hear you talking about: cite short passages and quotation excerpts from well-known experts in the field of research, or refer to good knowledge illustrations and sustainable proof.

Learn to gather material from outside sources about your thread for grades 9 through 12 learning, and deliver your opinion strongly and concisely. Give plain reasons for something you believe. Foster support for your solution, theory or device.

This is principally beneficial for achieving higher education institute assertiveness when you are on stage and put two or more views together, and provide a reason for putting them together by logical reasoning. Another method is approaching the subject matter in both positive and negative lights.

Tracing how something has induced artificially from an earlier state to its current form could welcomed by higher pedagogic instructors.

Next tip: workout extensive information on indoor and outdoor recreation activities to tempt your public to explore other activities than dating, dancing and drinking in a local bar.

Sports is a candidate for finding senior graded school speech topics. E.g. sport as profession to earn a living. With a scientific twist you make it more sophisticated, and because you’re highly qualified and have an actively learning attitude you are able to get their thesis commitment.

Some moves that matter in lower classes are the so-called critize teaching skills, often described as asking and wondering through critical inquiry:

You can help your teacher and fill her or him with enthusiasm by going extracurricular in proposing a particular judgment on a certain top topicality and examen the validity of the arguments by criticizing. This has been in practice in the late seventies – when things went the old-fashioned and more severe way 🙂 – but this technique has made a terrific comeback and is now used in grades 5 through 8 homework assignments.

Many of my visitors look for sixth grade inspiration, or class 6 if you live in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan, Primary 5 or 6 in Singapore, and 6ГЁme in France for example. Anyway, in what country you are right now does not matter; all school speech topics are created for children in the range of eleven and twelve years old.

The same holds good for class conversations of (usually) thirteen to fourteen years old who try to cover explanations of various objects and their meaning in the accustomed world of the eight grade population.

Children speak the truth, is often said 🙂 And that saying is more than true. Give them something to chew on in public – from colouring plates to planting and caring for trees – and it is so easy, a younger persons can do it 🙂

More for girls and boys – although it depends on the specific age or progress of the pupils – can be found at this index number two. Help them to be able to get to know the material, and to make the first steps on the path of learning the rudimentary public speaking skills (that are valuable for their whole life).

I have shaped a list that also contains some reference information for nursery and primary and kindergarten material.

10 Tips to Write the Best High School Valedictorian Speech

Ceremonial Speech Topics

9 thoughts on “224 School Speech Topics for All Grades [High School, Middle School, Elementary]”

The topics are 1: the worst day in my life 2: how can we take care of our elders at home. 3: good qualities about your classmates. 4: how I learnt cycling. 5: if you are alone at home and a stranger enters what would you do.

My topic ideas are: Why I hate speeches (for middle school or elementary school) My favorite type of music (for elementary school) Why parents shouldn’t spank their children and better ways to punish children (for elementary school)

The key to success is positive thinking

My favorite holiday

Wow. Just wow.

mental health is an important issue

“Prayer should be compulsory”…that’s my suggestion of a topic

At school there should be a free period where you can do anything you want

Why is the canteen so expensive?

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Persuasive Speech Topics: The Best 150 Ideas

Plus, a step-by-step guide for writing and delivering your speech.

Persuasive speech topics can inspire an audience and influence change in your community, town, or city. Whether you are giving a presentation at a large conference or converting a college essay into a speech to be given at your high school's auditorium, delivering a persuasive speech is not an easy task. We are here to guide you through this difficult process and provide you with 150 persuasive speech topics that can help you prepare your own inspirational presentation.

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Article Contents 13 min read

The art of persuasion.

The art of oratory is one of the oldest and most compelling persuasion tactics in human history. The power of speech has been used for centuries by men and women to negotiate peace, start revolutions, and inspire generations. At the source of change, we often witness a great speaker or speech that affected people’s worldviews. King Solomon, Socrates, Cicero, Elizabeth I, Napoleon, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, were all powerful speakers who changed the course of human history.  

Luckily, not every persuasive speech happens on such a grand scale. You do not have to become Napoleon to change the lives of people who hear what you have to say. You might have experienced this yourself – perhaps you have had a teacher who instilled in you a great passion for the study of physics during his lectures? Or you happened to attend a political, grassroots gathering where you heard a speech that changed your attitude towards homelessness or poverty. Or maybe your classmate's presentation revealed something about a novel you were reading in class that made you reflect on your own life and the people in it.

The power of a speech lies in your conviction and delivery of the topic you choose to discuss. A persuasive speech topic can be anything you are passionate about. Yes, it is true; whether you want to discuss the repercussions of the Cuban Revolution or analyze the power of K-pop in popular culture, it is up to you to enthrall the audience with your topic. The key to any successful speech is your confidence and enthusiasm. So, let’s start by examining what makes a speech persuasive.

To deliver a speech takes a lot of guts – not everybody is comfortable with public speaking. But to deliver a good speech takes conviction. Think of it like this: you must believe in the importance of your speech topic to discuss it. This must be something you care about and believe in; otherwise, your topic must be something that drives your curiosity, and you believe that it must be examined further.

Conviction stirs your desire to share this topic with others – you are convinced that other people will similarly find this topic fascinating! Whether it is the importance of recycling or bike lanes, the conviction is what will become the backbone of a successful and persuasive topic choice, as well as drive your desire to give a speech in the first place.

With conviction comes passion. These two elements of a successful speech are intimately intertwined. If you believe in the importance of something, you will be passionate about sharing it with the public.

If we look at some of the most famous speeches in human history, you will notice that conviction and passion are the driving force that makes these speeches legendary. Whether it's Cicero's defense of the Republic in the Roman Senate or Martin Luther King's speech in the defense of civil rights almost two millennia later, both these speakers believed in the importance of their convictions and were passionate about sharing their beliefs. In these cases, even despite the threats of death.

Unbiased Expertise

Conviction and passion should also drive your need to know everything there is to know about your topic. To give a persuasive speech, you must not only show confidence and excitement but demonstrate that you are an expert in the topic of your choice. Granted, if you are a high school student or an undergraduate who's been assigned to deliver a speech in less than 2 weeks, you are not going to become a world-renowned expert in your subject matter. However, as I pointed out, your speech topic should be something you are already passionate about, so you must have done some research and have some knowledge of your topic.

A persuasive speech should be based on facts. It should deliver arguments and counterarguments to show many sides of the issue you choose to discuss. For example, if you choose to discuss the importance of bike lanes, you can present several arguments in support of creating more bike lanes in your town or city, such as safety, decrease in traffic, environmental benefits, etc. However, make sure to include arguments that also show the other side of the issue, such as having to close down several major streets in your city to reconstruct the roads to fit in the new bike lanes and the side-effects of construction for businesses. Presenting both sides of the issue will show your comprehensive knowledge of the topic and demonstrate your professionalism.

Using the bike lanes topic as an example, I want to emphasize that showing unbiased research and knowledge of your topic can win the audience’s favor. You can, and should, still have your own opinion on the matter and defend your conviction in the speech but presenting the audience with both sides of the story is a tactic that will make them trust you.

Additionally, knowing both sides of the coin shows that you have come to your conviction after long and thorough research. You are not just presenting an uneducated opinion.

Taking care of the substance of your speech is the first step. While learning how to properly deliver your speech may seem less important, even the most well-researched and factually based speech will seem weak if the orator does not engage the public.

Though they certainly help your confidence, conviction and passion do not always result in strong delivery. This is understandable since public speaking is not everyone’s forte. While you may be animated and absorbing when you speak of your topic with friends, gripping an audience full of strangers is different.

There are three potential goals of any persuasive speech:

To familiarize your audience with a topic they have never considered before and inspire them to research it on their own. "}]" code="timeline1">

When you think about it, these objectives are pretty ambitious. Delivery plays a huge part in achieving these goals. It will be hard to move your audience to pursue any of these goals without clear articulation, professionalism, and charisma.

Strong delivery can be developed. Yes, there are those to whom oratory skills come more naturally, but this is rather an exception than the rule. Many successful orators were terrified of public speaking but worked hard to overcome their fears. A good example of this is King George VI of England. Before taking the throne in 1936, he was already an infamously bad speaker. The King trained to keep his speech impediment and nerves at bay once he was crowned and delivered one of the most inspiring speeches against Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich at the beginning of World War II.

Now that you know what makes a speech topic persuasive, let's go over a step-by-step formula that will help you choose the right topic for you. 

• Brainstorm where your convictions lie and what you are passionate about. You must reflect on what interests, hobbies, news, events, individuals, and activities of yours could be developed into a persuasive, strong narrative. 
• Narrow these down to 2 or 3 topics that are particularly important or riveting to you. 
• Now comes the practical side of the brainstorming process: take a moment to think whether preparing a comprehensive and compelling speech on this topic is feasible in the amount of time you have available. Consider the following questions: Are the topics of your choice well researched by you? Do you know these topics well? If you are not well-versed in the topic of your choice, do you have enough time to do research to present a comprehensive and complete narrative? Do you have enough time to form a well-developed stance about this topic? A thesis? Will you be able to cover several sides of this topic in the amount of time you have available?
• If you have answered “No” to these questions regarding each of the topics you had in mind, you must go back to the drawing board. 
• If you have come up with a topic that results in a positive response to all the questions mentioned in step 3, you might have found the winner.
• Start by developing a thesis, i.e., the main message of your speech. Without a thesis, you will not have a strong speech. 
• Develop arguments that endorse your thesis and support them with facts. Remember, a strong speech must be based on facts, rather than opinions and unsubstantiated statements.
• Research counterarguments to your thesis. While you may not personally support these, you must present a well-rounded picture of the issue you are discussing. 
• You can finish off your speech by responding to the counterarguments in a way that reinforces your thesis. Don't forget to re-emphasize your main message in the closing paragraphs of your speech.

Know your audience

It is always a good idea to know who your audience is. Whether you are giving a speech in your high school, or traveling to attend an undergraduate conference, reflect on who will be listening to your speech. Before you sit down to write it, consider whether you can give yourself the freedom to use technical language, jargon, or make inside jokes on the matter. In general, I would advise you to avoid overly technical or niche language. It is never a good tactic for making a persuasive speech – this might alienate a large part of your audience.

However, if you are delivering a speech to a like-minded audience, you may use "industry lingo". For example, if you are delivering a speech at a video game convention, it is likely that many, if not most, attendees will be familiar with the terms and vocabulary you use. You will be able to strengthen your speech by using language that unites you with your audience. In this case, you are encouraged to engage the public by making inside jokes, using niche terminology, and creating a relatable experience with your speech.

Knowing your audience will allow you to develop a language for your speech. It will also allow you to gauge how deep you can delve into the topic of your choice. For example, if you are a young physics aficionado who is giving a lecture on black holes to your sophomore classmates, you might want to consider the fact that many of them have never studied physics in depth. This may help you shape your speech into something accessible and interesting for others.

If you are unsure about who your audience might be, try researching it. It is always good practice to know whom you will be addressing. Not only will it help you prepare the speech, but it will also ease your anxiety about the day of your speech delivery.

Hook the audience

Your opening sentences can hook the audience and guarantee their attention. While it will be the substance of your speech that keeps them listening to you, the opening must be captivating for your speech to have a chance for success.

So, what do I mean by hooking the audience with your opening? For example, you can state a shocking statistic about your topic. It will be especially impactful if it is related to your audience’s experiences, geographical area, community, or hot-topic issue. Here’s an example for an opening sentence for a speech about the importance of bike lanes:

“Last year, the city of Toronto recorded 715 serious accidents involving cyclists, with over 5% of these accidents resulting in a fatality."

Now, if I was living in Toronto, I would be surprised to hear such information; especially, if I have never thought about this before. I am saddened by this statistic and would like to learn how we can help prevent these accidents.

Let’s examine another opening. This time, we will consider a speech topic involving a historical event. For example, if you are captivated by the mystery of Princess Anastasia of the Russian royal family, the House of Romanov, you might start your speech thusly:

“The question of whether the Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova survived the brutal execution of her entire family by the Bolsheviks is one of the greatest mysteries of the 20th century.”

This sentence performs several tasks:

The opening sentence is your chance to establish yourself as the expert! You will seem like the authority on this topic, especially if you can pronounce the Princess's name without mistakes. "}]" code="timeline2">

Coming up with a strong opening sentence is not easy, but very worthwhile for delivering a persuasive speech. If you are having trouble finding the right opening sentence, you do not need to wait to start writing your speech. If you are stuck, move on to the main body of your speech and return to creating a captivating opening later.

To be persuasive, your speech must have a thesis. A thesis is the main argument you are trying to convince your audience of, or simply put, the purpose of you giving the speech. Without a thesis, your speech will be aimless, chaotic, and most likely, unengaging.

And while you can write your introduction after the main body of your speech is ready, you cannot write your speech without a thesis. It will be the landmark, the leading light, of your speech. Everything you say and every fact and argument you include in your essay must support your thesis. Certainly, you will be able to bring up alternative points of view later in the speech, but as we already discussed, your objective is to persuade the audience that your thesis is the correct one.

Let’s return to our bike lanes example. If you are a proponent of bike lanes, your thesis should be more than “Bike lanes are good”. While this can be considered a thesis, it is pretty thin. Instead, find a way to make your thesis compelling, include a supporting statistic, or a benefit of having bike lanes. For example: 

“Having more bike lanes in our city will not only reduce traffic by X% but also allow our city to be at the forefront of the environmentally friendly initiatives happening all over our country.” 

This thesis is clear and introduces the audience to some of the main points of the speech. The listeners get a concise prelude to what the speech is about and what it stands for.

Research and Arguments

Research is always conducted before you sit down to write. While you may have some general knowledge about your topic, remember that you are trying to be as persuasive as you possibly can be. This means that you need the latest statistics, the most up-to-date information, and the strongest support from experts in the field. 

Tip: keep in mind your thesis as you are writing. All your arguments and facts must be in support of the main purpose of your essay. While you should present alternative points of view in your speech to make it well-rounded and unbiased, a strong speech must contain arguments that make it clear that your thesis is the correct one.

Concluding your speech has a twofold purpose. In addition to persuading the audience of your thesis, you must complete your narrative. Give the audience some closure about the topic. On the other hand, you must leave them even more interested in learning about your research. In other words, they must be compelled to explore on their own.

Tip: your conclusion cannot be a dry summary of your thesis and arguments. While you must restate your thesis in the conclusion, you are strongly encouraged to incite an emotional response from your audience. For example:

“More bike lanes will alleviate the heavy traffic and relieve our city from car fumes and soot. It is our responsibility to start making our city more eco-friendly. These small steps will inspire even more initiatives across our hometown and lead to a brighter, greener, future."

In this example, the audience is not only reminded of the main purpose of the speech but is also encouraged to think of other green initiatives that can help their town. The author does a good job of invoking responsibility for the future to encourage their audience to act. 

Want to learn how to choose persuasive speech topics? Check out our infographic:

Now, let’s go over 150 persuasive speech topics that can inspire your own essay and presentation! Note that these are questions that should help you form ideas, arguments, and most importantly, theses. Rather than giving you the thesis upfront, we are encouraging you to come up with your own opinion and answers to these questions.

Your speech should be between 15 to 20 minutes long. Anything longer may lose your audience's attention. If applicable, don't forget to factor in some time after your presentation for questions from the audience.

The best way to approach the choice of topic is to reflect on your convictions and passions. If you are truly interested in a topic, your excitement will be felt by the audience.

Of course, you must be interested in your topic, first and foremost. Secondly, your speech must demonstrate a level of expertise and knowledge that will allow the audience to believe that you know what you are talking about. Thirdly, your delivery will have a great effect on whether you succeed in persuading the audience. Even a well-researched speech will suffer from poor delivery.

Firstly, only practice can really help you improve. Once you have written your speech, read it over several times. Do not memorize it, but rather, remember the structure, the flow of your arguments, your main points. Then start practicing pronouncing your entire speech in front of the mirror. Do this until you are quite confident with the content of the essay. Then, you can start practicing with family members, your friends, and classmates. Ask for their feedback: can they hear you well? Are you being articulate? Does your speech have a logical flow? Did they understand your thesis? Their feedback can help you modify not only your content, but also your presentation.

Your speech should take the form of an academic essay: introduction, main body, and conclusion.

Your speech must have a thesis, otherwise it will be meandering and pointless. A thesis will guide you and keep your essay/presentation well-structured. A thesis is what you will be arguing for (or against, if it's a negatively stated thesis) throughout your speech. And while you can include some alternative points of view in your speech, your thesis will inform every argument you make in the speech.

Typically, you should avoid using overly technical language. Even if you are presenting at a professional conference in front of peers, there is a chance that some of your audience will be unfamiliar with the professional terminology. To be inclusive, you should avoid niche language.

To be frank, there is no such thing. You can make a great speech on any topic of your choosing! Your research, your delivery, and your passion will determine whether your speech is successful.

Acknowledging opposing views and presence of debate will demonstrate your thorough knowledge of the topic. Additionally, you will demonstrate that you came to your conclusion/thesis after researching the topic, rather than simply forming an uneducated opinion.

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15 presentation tips for captivating your audience and commanding the room.

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Person speaking in front of audience

Public speaking can be a daunting task, especially when addressing a large audience. Whether you're giving a presentation in the boardroom or delivering a keynote speech at a conference, holding your audience's attention and maintaining command of the room is paramount. The ability to captivate your audience and leave a lasting impression not only enhances your message's impact but also builds your reputation as a confident and effective speaker.

Here, Forbes Coaches Council members share invaluable tips and strategies to help you conquer your fear of public speaking and ensure that your next presentation or speech is a resounding success.

1. Be Confident

Be grounded and confident to be yourself and then tell great stories. Use your voice and the stage to bring the stories alive. Your audience will connect to the emotion of the story but make sure that it is relevant for your audience and related to the topic. - Cath Daley , Cath Daley Ltd

2. Find A Way To Actively Engage The Audience

Be prepared with ways to get your audience engaged and keep their focus. Whether that's relating to your audience, telling a joke or asking questions, actively driving engagement will make for a more effective presentation or speech. - Luke Feldmeier , Online Leadership Training - Career and Leadership Accelerator for Engineers

3. Create An Emotional Connection

Creating an emotional connection with the audience and involving them in your session fosters active participation, and ensures your audience stays engaged throughout. This also serves to enhance your presence and to create memories that stay with them long after your presentation ends. - Kristin Andree , Andree Group

4. Put Your Unique Take Front And Center

Do you have something unexpected to say about your topic? Something that goes against the mainstream opinion in your industry or is maybe even slightly provocative? If so, putting your unique take front and center in the title and the beginning of your talk and explaining or resolving it later keeps your audience engaged and interested. - Micha Goebig , Go Big Coaching & Communications, LLC

5. Remember That The Audience Doesn't Know Your Planned Speech

No one wants to see you fail as a speaker. Remember that the focus shouldn't be on whether or not you can recall verbatim every word of your planned speech. The focus should be on how to connect to your audience with a few key points using a combination of storytelling and facts. - Sheri Nasim , Center for Executive Excellence

6. Adapt Your Language To The Audience

Talk about something they are interested in or include elements that will keep them interested. Start by asking why your topic matters to each and every one of them. Use language adapted to the audience. Keep the key messages to two or three maximum. Show them what you think and why you care about the topic. - Isabelle Claus Teixeira , Business and Human Development Consulting Pte Ltd

7. Try To Incorporate An Element Of Surprise

Engagement is the key to keeping the audience's attention. Invite participation, tell stories, walk around, have visuals, include humor, raise your voice and ask questions. Think of a comedian who points at someone in the audience: "Hey, you with the red shirt?" Everyone pays attention. What element of surprise can you present? - Susan Jordan, MBA, MSODL, PCC , Sphereshift Coaching and Consulting

8. Know Your Audience

Doing research ahead of time to ensure you're providing the subject matter in a personalized manner will keep their attention. The topic will dictate the necessary vibe. Based on that, providing opportunities for the group to engage, such as shouting out a word, raising a hand, etc., will also help maintain their interest. - Lindsay Miller , Reverie Organizational Development Specialists

9. Use The Problem-Agitation-Solution Approach

Don't just give a presentation — share a story. It must be a story-audience fit though. Use the P.A.S. — problem-agitation-solution — approach. Start with introducing a problem, follow by agitating the problem via telling a relevant anecdote and conclude by offering a solution by giving an audience a clear, direct way to avoid the pain and learn the lesson. - Alla Adam , Alla Adam Coaching

10. Tell The Audience What They Need To Hear

Instead of trying to figure out what to say, figure out what the audience wants and needs to hear. This shift in perspective allows you to tailor your speech in a way that keeps audiences actively engaged because it's good content that they want to hear. - Robin Pou , The Confident Leader

11. Go All In

To command your audience's attention you have to get into the spirit of what you're teaching and go all in without second-guessing yourself. People want to be led, but they'll be unwilling to follow someone who isn't confident in what they are communicating. - Arash Vossoughi , Voss Coaching Co.

12. Use A Compelling Opening

Start your speech/presentation with a compelling opening that grabs the audience's attention. This could be a surprising fact, a relevant story or a thought-provoking question. This initial engagement can help you establish a strong connection with the audience and set the stage for a captivating presentation. - Moza-Bella Tram , Moza-Bella LLC

Forbes Coaches Council is an invitation-only community for leading business and career coaches. Do I qualify?

13. Be Authentic

Connect deeply with your essence and purpose. Radiate authenticity. When you're centered in genuine passion and truth others feel it, creating an unspoken bond. It's not about performing; it's about being present and real and offering value from the heart. That's magnetic. - Anna Yusim, MD , Yusim Psychiatry, Consulting & Executive Coaching

14. Let Your Audience Talk

There is nothing worse than stealing everyone's craving for autonomy and speaking the whole time. The person who does the talking does the learning. So, give some autonomy to the audience. Let them talk. Even if it's thinking time and talking to themselves, or to their neighbor or table group. This gains trust and they will lean into what you have to say even more. - Alex Draper , DX Learning Solutions

15. Leverage Non-Verbal Cues

My top tip is to engage your audience through storytelling. A compelling narrative captures attention, evokes emotion and makes complex ideas more relatable. Additionally, use body language and eye contact effectively. These non-verbal cues can significantly enhance your connection with the audience. - Peter Boolkah , The Transition Guy

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The Ultimate Guide to VCE Oral Presentations

September 9, 2020

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1. What is an Oral Presentation? 2. What are you expected to cover? (Oral Presentation Criteria) 3. Choosing your Topic 4. Choosing your Contention 5. Writing your Speech 6. Presenting your Speech 7. Writing the Written Explanation 8. Resources to help you prepare for your Oral Presentation

What is an Oral Presentation?

For many VCE English students, the oral presentation is the scariest part of the course; it’s often also the first.

Doing a speech can indeed be daunting— you’re marked in real time, you can’t go back and edit mistakes, and the writing part itself is only half the battle. Nonetheless, the Oral SAC can also be one of the more dynamic and engaging tasks you complete in VCE English, and there’s plenty of ways to make it more interesting and also more manageable for yourself.

Keep reading for a comprehensive overview of what you need to know to succeed in your Oral Presentation. We’ve got you covered- from choosing your topic and contention, to writing and presenting your Speech.

We’ll also be suggesting useful resources, Study Guides and YouTube videos that will provide more detailed information and give you more confidence. Let’s get into it!

What are you expected to cover in an Oral Presentation? (Oral Presentation Rubric)

1. Your Oral Presentation SAC has two components. The first is the Oral Presentation itself (“a point of view presented in oral form”), and the second is a Written Explanation, also known as a Statement of Intention.

2. Your selected topic needs to be an issue that has appeared in the media since 1 September of the previous year

3. Your aim for this entire Oral Presentation SAC is to persuade your audience to agree with your contention (whatever that may be) based off the issue you’ve selected.

Here’s the raw version of VCAA’s expectations from you, taken from the VCAA website :

How to choose your Oral Presentation topic

1. select a topic that has appeared in the media since 1 september of the previous year.

This can be time consuming and tricky, especially if you want to choose something a bit more original or fresh.

Firstly, you need an event.  An event in the VCE English context is anything that happens which also generates opinionated media coverage—so, it’s not just an event but it has to be an event that people have published opinions about, and they have to have been published since September 1.

You might wonder why we don’t go to the issue straight away. Here’s a hypothetical to illustrate: if you asked me to name an issue, the best I could probably come up with off the top of my head is climate change. However, if you asked me to name an event, I’d pretty easily recall the Australian bushfires—something much more concrete which a) has generated specific and passionate opinions in the media; and b) can easily be linked to a wider issue such as climate change.

The ABC news archive is also really helpful for finding events since you can pick dates or periods of time and see a good mix of news events from then. Otherwise, Wikipedia has helpful pages of  events that happened in specific years in specific countries, so “2023 in Australia” might well be a starting point. 

When you have your event, you can then look for an issue. This will be a specific debate that comes out of the event, and can usually be framed as a “whether-or-not” question. The bushfires, for example, might generate debate around whether or not the Australian government is doing enough to combat climate change, whether or not Scott Morrison has fulfilled his duties as Prime Minister.

Most importantly, choose an issue from an event that’s interesting and important to you. After all, you’re going to be spending the time researching, writing and presenting!

2. Filter out the boring events/issues

Understand who your audience is.

Once you know who your audience is, ask yourself: Does this event and issue relate to my audience?

This question matters because “your aim of this entire Oral Presentation SAC is to persuade your audience to agree with your contention (whatever that may be) based off the issue you’ve selected.” This means that what you say to your audience and how they respond to your speech matters.

Even if your assessor isn’t counting exactly how many people are still listening to your speech at the end, everyone knows a powerful speech when they’re in the presence of one - it hooks the audience from start to end - and an assessor, consciously or subconsciously, cannot deny that the collective attentiveness of the room has an influence on their marking of your Oral Presentation.

That’s why you should choose a topic that your audience can relate to. Also, avoid topics that have too many unfamiliar words, because as soon as there’s something they don’t understand, it becomes much harder for them to follow your speech.

Now you may be asking yourself; what is the best topic for oral presentation?

Here are some example topics from previous years to give you inspiration:

VCE English Oral Presentation Topics 2014

VCE English Oral Presentation Topics 2015

VCE English Oral Presentation Topics 2016

VCE English Oral Presentation Topics 2017

VCE English Oral Presentation Topics 2018

VCE English Oral Presentation Topics 2019

VCE English Oral Presentation Topics 2020

VCE English Oral Presentation Topics 2021

VCE English Oral Presentation Topics 2022

VCE English Oral Presentation Topics 2023

For more detailed information on choosing a topic, read my blog Choosing a WOW topic for your VCE Oral Presentation ‍

How to choose your oral presentation contention

Once you've chosen an interesting topic and have researched all of its different viewpoints, it's time to formulate your contention.

Often, creating a killer contention is about avoiding some common traps that will make your overall presentation boring, bland and just like the rest of your cohorts'.

So, there are three things I like to AVOID:

1. Broad, Overarching statements

2. A Contention That Is Just Plain Obvious

3. Avoid A Contention That Is Generally Accepted As True In Today’s Age

For more information on writing a contention, read my blog Creating a Killer Contention for your Oral Presentation ‍

How to write your speech 

1. Have a CAPTIVATING introduction sentence; use a short, clear and powerful sentence.

2. RELATE to your audience so that it keeps them interested so they actually WANT to listen.

3. If you are taking on a persona, firstly study and UNDERSTAND your character.

4. Don’t forget your persuasive techniques. I usually use repetition in conjunction with the ‘rule of three’.

5. Remember that you are writing a SPEECH, not an essay. Instil your oral with emotion, varied tone and sentence lengths.

In fact, I've talked about a few of these in a 'Must Dos and Don'ts' video. If you haven't seen it yet, watch below before you read on.

4 Tips on Presenting Your Speech

1. Body Language

Confidence is key. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and, more importantly don’t move your legs. Especially if you’re nervous, swaying or shuffling will be noticeable and make you appear more nervous—when you practise, pay attention to the lower half of your body and train it to stay still if possible.

That being said, do use your arms for gestures. Those are more natural and will help engage the audience, though don’t overdo it either—usually, holding cue cards in one hand frees up the other but also stops you from going overboard.

2. Eye contact

Cue cards brings up another important consideration- eye contact. Hold cue cards in one hand as high as you can without it feeling uncomfortable. This means you don’t have to take your eyes away from the audience for too long or too noticeably to check your notes.

Eye contact increases your engagement with the audience. It also gives the impression of confidence and that you’ve been practicing and know your speech inside and out!

3. Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse

In a best case scenario, you won’t need to rely on your cue cards as you will have your speech basically memorised! Read your speech aloud and pretend that you’re actually delivering your speech. This means:

- Looking up ahead

- Holding the cue cards in the right spot; and

- Not just reading the words, but speaking as if to an audience

 It’s extremely helpful to also practice your speech to an actual audience! Practice in front of your family and friends. An alternative is to put a sticker next to your camera and record yourself. The sticker will help indicate where you should create eye contact. Look back at the video and give yourself some feedback, you might be surprised at your presentation!

4. Tone variation

Tone variation involves emphasising certain words, using pauses or slowing down for effect, or modifying volume. Incorporating some of these elements- even writing them into your notes by bolding/italicising/underlining will help you break out of monotony and make the speech more engaging.

Be sure to emphasise emotive language and any evidence you might use to illustrate your arguments. Most importantly, don’t speak too quickly!

5 things to keep in mind while writing the written explanation

For oral presentation based written explanations, the VCAA study design requests students write...

"A written statement of intention to accompany the student’s own oral presentation, articulating the intention of decisions made in the planning process, and how these demonstrate understanding of argument and persuasive language."

Using the topic, 'Why we need to stop crying 'cultural appropriation' when cultural exchange is far more important, ‘let’s see how this can be done with FLAPC with some examples below:

2. Language

3. Audience

For more information on writing a Written Explanation and a sample FLAPC compiled and rearranged for flow and fluency, read my blog How to Write a Stellar Written Explanation (Statement of Intention) .

Resources to help you prepare for your Oral Presentation

Doing this study all by yourself can be rather daunting, so we've got your back. We specialise in supporting VCE English by creating helpful videos, study guides and eBooks. Here are some just to get your started:

5 Common Oral Presentation Mistakes

‍ A Three Part Guide to Nailing Your Oral Presentation

Advice for A+ Oral Presentations

How I Got A+ in My Oral Presentation | Live QnA With Lisa Tran

How To 'Overcome' Your Fear of Public Speaking

Oral Presentations | How To Do Speeches

Walkthrough of a Full Scoring VCE Oral Presentation

Our How to Write a Killer Oral Presentation Study Guide has all the information you need to succeed in your Oral Presentations. Sample A+ essays and written explanations are also included!

Get our FREE VCE English Text Response mini-guide

Now quite sure how to nail your text response essays? Then download our free mini-guide, where we break down the art of writing the perfect text-response essay into three comprehensive steps. Click below to get your own copy today!

Access a FREE sample of our How To Write A Killer Oral Presentation study guide

Written by Lisa Tran, who achieved FULL marks in her Oral Presentation:

• How to choose, plan and write your oral presentation and written explanation
• A simple, persuasive speech structure that will blow your audience away
• All essays FULLY annotated so you know exactly what you need to do and what not to do

Introduction

Choosing an Oral Presentation topic can be tough. Finding an idea that’s unique, relevant and interesting all at once can sometimes feel impossible; but don’t worry, this is where we come in! Below is a list of 12 potential Oral Presentation topics for you to draw inspiration from, selected in reference to the VCE assessment criteria .

Remember, this blog is not a resource to give you a finished speech idea , these are just jumping-off points. Plagiarism is very harshly punished in VCE and many other students will currently be reading this very same post, meaning it's up to YOU to figure out how you’ll form a unique angle if you pick one of these topics. To help you do this, each section provides an overview of the cultural events that make this topic relevant. Additionally, possible contentions are included, ensuring you can see how arguments about these topics can be effectively made. 

1. Kanye’s blow-up - The necessity of the media to stop platforming celebrities spreading harmful ideas

American rapper Kanye West has always been a controversial figure, but since his endorsement of Trump in 2016 he’s seemingly been on a particularly bad downward spiral. His descent into increasingly more extremist right-wing politics has led to the question of whether the news media, detached and neutral as they might claim to be, should even be reporting on him. 

As of writing (late 2022), Kanye’s recent appearances on far-right talk shows to voice support for Hitler and question the existence of the Holocaust (which has no doubt been topped by something equally controversial by the time this gets published) pushes this question right to its limit. 

Events like this are undoubtedly big stories that many people would like to know about, but does reporting on them do more harm than good? Do we realistically all have the self-control to ignore these figures when so much of modern news already revolves around controversy and gossip? Possible Contentions:

• Major media companies should reach an agreement to actively avoid covering celebrity behaviour that spreads dangerous ideas. 
• News media should make an extra effort to disprove the dangerous ideologies of those they cover, rather than presenting them in a ‘neutral way’.

2. Amber Heard - How online discourse can villainise marginalised groups and encourage ‘dogpiling’

A similar celebrity controversy that dominated 2022 headlines was the two-way public defamation lawsuit between actors Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, which involved accusations of abuse on both sides. One of the most notable parts of this case was the online depiction of Heard, on social media platforms such as Facebook and Youtube. 

Heard emerged as the internet’s new favourite punching bag, with an endless stream of videos and memes where her ‘ allegations of domestic violence and sexual assault were mocked for entertainment ’. Crucially, these were made to criticise her in a way that most clearly mirrored historical sexist stereotypes about emotionally manipulative women. You probably came across examples of these yourself, as platforms like Youtube have a history of directing users to this kind of content. 

As such, key issues were identified in terms of how social media warps online discussions of allegations of abuse. Additionally, like the last topic, the very fact that this legal dispute was publicly broadcast raises questions as to whether the media’s focus on this event may have worsened the issue. 

Possible Contentions:

• Personal legal proceedings between celebrities are not something that should be broadcast to the public.
• The online discussion regarding this trial demonstrates the need for increased regulation of hateful and abusive content on social media platforms.

3. Should Australia be made a republic in the wake of the Queen’s death?

The death of Queen Elizabeth II in September of 2022, among many other things, drew Australia back into a debate it's been having for decades; should we become a republic? This would be a shift from our current state of (effectively) being overseen by the United Kingdom as a ‘constitutional parliamentary monarchy’, with the ‘head of state’ now being an Australian citizen rather than the UK monarch. 

Although the replacement of the Queen with the new head of state (King Charles III) shouldn’t really shift people’s perspective on this issue, it most likely will. Queen Elizabeth has been the welcoming and approachable symbol of the monarchy for many Australians. Her death could be the catalyst for a shift in public opinion, severing the connection that many citizens still had to the UK monarchy. 

This issue can be approached from many different angles, inducing discussion on HOW the process of Australia becoming a republic should occur (especially how the new head of state should be chosen), as well as stepping back and assessing the positives and negatives of making this shift.

• Australia’s transition to a republic is a necessary step in helping honour the country’s Indigenous population and rejecting its colonial past
• Australia’s transition to a republic, although often framed as an act of national unity, will actually worsen the cultural divides within our country. 
• Although Australia should transition to a republic, the current rise of nationalist politics makes a public election of the new head of state extremely risky.

4. Are NFTs a positive advancement in contemporary technology? 

Whether or not you understand what it actually means, the phrase ‘NFTs’ has probably been inescapable on your social media feeds over the last year. Without getting too detailed, these ‘Non-Fungible Tokens’ are essentially investments into non-replicable representations of artwork , which will (supposedly) increase in value over time. 

Despite seemingly being an exciting new technology that could have given control back to artists through copyright ownership, NFTs have instead been heavily criticised for commercialising artwork by reducing it to a literal piece of digital currency. Further issues have arisen in terms of how this technology can easily be used to scam people through misrepresenting the value of individual NFTs, or NFT owners simply taking the money and running.

What do you think? All new technology seems shaky and uncertain at the start, and maybe we should recognise that the current negative impacts of NFTs must simply be overcome with time. How do we weigh the benefit this technology has for individual artists against its potential drawbacks?

• For their many flaws, NFTs give the power back to creators and, therefore, need to be improved rather than roundly rejected. 
• Despite preaching democratisation, NFTs and Bitcoin are both a part of a technological trend that will further increase wealth inequality.

5. How much can Western citizens really do to fight injustice via social media activism?

The effect of the COVID pandemic on developing countries, the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and human rights abuses by the nation of Qatar - this year has seen an innumerable number of news stories that would make any reasonable person jump to their phones to see what they could do to help, like signing an online petition or sharing a public post to spread awareness.

However, as you probably know, these forms of social media 'slacktivism’ have historically drawn criticism for their ineffectiveness and self-serving nature. Increasingly though, this debate has become more complicated, moving away from the simplified dismissal of any social media activism that emerged around the turn of the century . Others have rightly pointed out that many influential contemporary social movements, that have had real-world impacts, did emerge from social media, such as the BLM and #MeToo movements. 

As such, there’s a lot of room for different arguments here regarding whether a critical perspective of ‘social media slacktivism’ has become outdated in a world that is increasingly unavoidably based on the internet.

Possible Contentions: 

• Social media activism is unavoidably the way that young people are going to engage with political issues, and a rejection of it is naive and impractical. 
• Political activism should distance itself from the online world if it wants to make real-world change that doesn’t fit neatly under existing power structures.

6. Is the overload of various media streaming service subscriptions sustainable?

‘Streaming fatigue’ has emerged as a 2023 talking point that may have seemed unthinkable just a few years ago. Remember when we just had Netflix offering us a new way of consuming film and TV that was both more convenient and cost-effective than ‘pay TV’ packages (which were often heavily inflated in price and packed with unwanted channels )?

However, as we move into 2023, many have argued that the current subscription landscape now mirrors the previous pay-TV model. Consumers once again find themselves having to pay for an increasingly large amount of services if they want to conveniently access their film and TV shows. Predictably, this has seen a re-emergence of video piracy . 

Does this mean that it's fundamentally impossible for us to access our media as conveniently as we’d like to, and the years of Netflix being the only streaming service that had all we wanted were never sustainable? Or maybe corporations are unfairly squeezing every dollar they can out of us, and piracy is a fair and just consumer response?  

• Through offering convenience that is unparalleled by any other previous technology, streaming services are still worth the cost. 
• Consumers should actively engage in digital piracy until media corporations create a more affordable streaming environment.

7. Is a post-COVID work-at-home model healthy for the next generation of workers?

Although 2020 and 2021 may be remembered as the ‘years of COVID’, 2022 onwards is perhaps when we will see which long-term impacts of the pandemic continue to stick around. Aside from the permanent placement of public hand sanitiser stations, working from home has emerged as one of the most prominent main-stays from our lockdown years. 

Is this something that we should embrace? A lot was said during the lockdown about the mental health effects of being deprived of human connection; is this something we should just forget about when it comes to work? As with many of these issues, the question arises as to whether this shift is an inevitable effect of technological advancement, which we can either accept or fruitlessly battle until it becomes the new normal. 

However, the fact that this ‘work from home’ dynamic only emerged due to a pandemic complicates this idea, making it possible that we may have accidentally all become accustomed to a new economic model of work that we would be better off without. 

Possible Contentions:  

• We must actively push back against the ‘work from home’ model; if we don’t, we will suffer both mentally and financially into the future.  
• Working from home is a win-win; it's more convenient and cost-effective for both employer and employee.

8. How can gentrified and aestheticised versions of social movements be avoided?

I wonder whether you saw the Indigenous name for Victoria’s capital city (Naarm) appear more frequently on your social media feeds this year, with people adding it to their Instagram bios or referring to it on TikTok? What started as a conscious choice to respectfully refer to the city by its original Indigenous name quickly became criticised as a trendy aesthetic for outwardly progressive white Victorians, with terms like ‘naarm-core’ becoming short-hand for a specific kind of trendy fashion that was ‘ devoid of any ties to First Nations people ’. 

‘Naarm-core’, therefore, stands as another example of a movement that may have started with admirable aims, but was drowned out by those who just wanted the social benefits of participating in progressive politics. Think of the recent similar debates about ‘rainbow capitalism’, with similar criticisms being made of brands that co-opt progressive concepts like LGBQTI+ identity purely for social (and financial) capital. The question naturally emerges as to how we can avoid this for future political movements. 

Or maybe you disagree with all these critiques? Political discussion moves so fast these days that it can feel like people are in such a rush to criticise things that they miss actual progress being made. After all, the use of the term ‘Naarm’ to refer to Melbourne was undeniably popularised on the back of this trend. 

‍ Possible Contentions: 

• The criticism of political movements that deal with race being tokenised by white people can only be solved by allowing people of colour at the centre of these movements.
• People are too cynical about social movements and trends; virality and popularity, despite ‘inauthentic intentions’, often do more good than harm. 

9. How can the highly polarised discussion concerning COVID vaccines become more productive?

Another thing you may have witnessed from living in a post-COVID world is an increase in how divided simple issues seem to make us. Ever tried to convince a relative or friend that, no, in fact, vaccines are not designed to implant us with microchips - seems impossible right? 

For many people, the pandemic was a tipping point into full-blown conspiracy communities, meaning people are increasingly able to exist within their own social-media realities that don’t need to be bound to scientific truth or objective fact. This all creates a division between those with different beliefs that is somehow wider than before, where we can’t even agree on simple statements of truth. 

The debate around what to do about this deals with questions of human psychology, social media (again), but also freedom of speech. Should spreading (potentially dangerous) false information that conflicts with scientific consensus be allowed on social media? Most importantly, how do we encourage actual communication between different sides?

Possible contentions:

• Talking in person is the only way for people with vastly different beliefs to find common ground.
• Those spreading dishonest and dangerous conspiracy theories about public health cannot be reasoned with, and need to be actively shut down wherever they appear.

10. With the infamous Oscar slap, what ‘consequences’ should comedians and satirists face for what they say?

Here’s a news story that you’re probably tired of hearing about! Actor Will Smith’s act of violence against Oscar host and comedian Chris Rock for a joke about his wife’s alopecia (hair loss) caused many different conversations to happen at once; about toxic masculinity, celebrity culture, violence as a spectacle. These are all totally valid angles for your Oral Presentation, but let’s focus on maybe the most common debate; did Chris Rock deserve this?  

Functioning as a comedian hosting an awards night, Rock’s job was to poke fun at everyone participating, and these sorts of roles have often involved controversial comments and jokes . Does this mean they have immunity from any consequences for their words though? What should these consequences look like? And, if we excuse smaller acts of violence, what does that normalise? 

The 2015 terrorist shooting of the staff of satirical French magazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’ for their depiction of the Islamic prophet may seem a world away from Will Smith’s slap, but some may argue that this is the logical end-point for a world that believes physical violence is the way to deal with jokes people don’t like. 

• The idea of comedians actually being threatened by violence is overblown; the slap was an isolated incident.
• Protecting the safety of those who make controversial jokes is paramount to maintaining freedom of speech.

11. With Optus and Telstra’s recent data breaches, is placing all our valuable personal information in virtual spaces sustainably safe? 

This year saw a record-level data breach from one of Australia’s leading telecommunications companies, Optus. The personal details of almost 10 million customers were given to the hackers. 

Then, two weeks later, a similar data breach happened at Telstra. Yes, this time, no customer information was leaked, but information on the company’s employees was again released. 

All of this may disturb the image we all have in our heads of online databases as relatively unbreachable, locked away behind thousands of firewalls somewhere in the cloud. In fact, much of modern society operates on this assumption. Maybe you’ve added your credit card details to your Chrome tab because it makes online purchases easier? This convenience comes with the implicit assumption that online personal info is pretty much always safe when protected by a big tech company, but these events arguably prove otherwise.  

Cyberattacks are ‘ increasing as a threat ’, yet danger for the sake of convenience is something that all of us deal with. Maybe you think there are degrees to this; should we draw a line at information that can cause us legitimate harm if given to a malicious party?  

• Our society is already too technologically dependent to try and ‘go offline’ for the sake of data safety.
• Valuables of any kind are always going to run the risk of being stolen, and digital piracy is no different.

12. What is the role of Western countries in resisting the unlawful Russian invasion of Ukraine?

As already mentioned, the Russian invasion of Ukraine was one of the biggest news stories of 2022. Putin’s unlawful decision to attack the country’s capital in February of 2022 has left more than 10,000 people dead and millions displaced from their homes. Virtually all world leaders condemned this act immediately. Yet, almost a year later, the war continues, and documented war crimes occur on Ukrainian soil.

Thinking larger than just social media, the question of what can actually be done to help by the countries who condemn this war has naturally emerged. Many nations have supported Ukraine financially, including the US giving nearly $20 billion . Some may argue that this is not nearly far enough, and that all world powers have a responsibility to wage direct war against Russia in support of Ukraine. Naturally though, many are strongly against Western intervention in this form, believing that countries like the US should not see themselves as all-knowing powers that can intervene in other nations based on their ideological beliefs. 

‍ Possible Contentions:

• Any attempt to guilt individual citizens about their need to ‘do something about Ukraine’ is completely unfair; the responsibility for any meaningful action is entirely on the government.
• The West, particularly the US, has a long history of militarily invading smaller nations for their own purposes; their condemnation of the Russians is hypocritical.

If you haven’t already done so, check out our Ultimate Guide to Oral Presentations for some general tips and tricks to get you started!

Written by Milo Burgner

• What is a Written Explanation?
• Creative Response-Based Written Explanations
• Oral Presentation-Based Written Explanations

1. What is a Written Explanation?

Written Explanation (also known as Statement of Intention, SOE, and various other names throughout different schools) is a short introductory piece to your essay. The Written Explanation is intended to explore the reasons behind why you made particular writing decisions. This is done via FLAPC:

F orm,  L anguage,  A udience,  P urpose,  C ontext

2. Creative Response-Based Written Explanations

The following is taken from the VCAA study design for Creative Response-Based Written Explanations:

'a written explanation of creative decisions and how these demonstrate understanding of the text.'

Most assessors are quite lenient with how you want to approach the Written Explanation – there is no rigid structure that you need to abide by. As we will discuss below, this allows you to consider which aspects of form, language, audience, purpose and context you wish to include. Each of the points should establish why you have written your piece. They are considered as part of your SAC and thus, are marked accordingly. They are not  examinable during the English exam. 

There are traditionally three forms of writing accepted in assessments: expository, creative or persuasive essay. 

‘I chose to write in an expository style, employing conventions of format and style of a traditional essay. This allows me to express my ideas in a logical order while adopting a sophisticated tone.’

When writing, you choose particular words and phrases to illustrate your ideas. Think about what type of language have you used and why. Perhaps your piece is formal or informal, sophisticated or simple, or from a first or third person perspective. All these factors are important in shaping your Context piece. Also consider language techniques you may have incorporated such as repetition, rhetorical questions, metaphors, symbolism and more.

‘I have chosen to write from a first person perspective to shed light on the inner workings of Gardiner from  The Lieutenant .'

You must select a targeted audience for your essay. Your choice can be adults to young children, or even to your future self. Make sure your target audience is suitable for your essay – select a group that would realistically be interested in your work.

‘My piece is to be published in an anthology for those who have had difficulty assimilating into a new group or culture. As they have familiarity with the concepts I discuss, I intend for readers to depart with a greater understanding and appreciation of the ideas in my written piece.’

The purpose section is where you discuss the message you would like to send to your audience. Here you discuss your contention or arguments; whether you completely agree, disagree or a bit of both in regards to your prompt.

‘The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate that there can be different outcomes from encountering conflict: firstly, that conflicts can change many people through growth in understanding or a sense of self-development and secondly, that there are times when people remain unaffected by conflict and thus, unchanged.’

Since your essay is based on your studied text, you should provide a brief discussion of the basic ideas behind the Context . You can do this prior to your  Purpose  section since it is a good lead-in.

‘In this essay, I explored the idea that ‘Conflict inevitably changes people’; a concept heavily explored in  The Lieutenant . Every person encounters conflict. It drives individuals to challenge themselves, and deal with new experiences.'

Different schools will set different word limits for Written Explanations. These can range from 300 – 350 words based on the VCAA study design. With such a small word limit, be succinct and choose wisely what you will discuss in order to score the maximum marks allocated to Written Explanations.

3. Oral Presentation-Based Written Explanations

The VCAA study design requests students write:

'a written statement of intention to accompany the student’s own oral presentation, articulating the intention of decisions made in the planning process, and how these demonstrate understanding of argument and persuasive language.'

Using the topic,  'Why we need to stop crying "cultural appropriation" when  cultural exchange  is far more important ', let's see how this can be done with FLAPC with some examples below (if you need help selecting a topic, check out our 2020 Oral Presentation topics to get those brain juices flowing ):

‘I chose to adopt the conventions of a persuasive speech, where I use a structure of presenting my main ideas by rebutting arguments made by the opposition. Throughout my speech, I embed persuasive tactics in an effort to firstly, encourage engagement from the audience and secondly, sway them to readily accept my point of view.

‘Since I am an Asian-Australian, I have purposefully forgone the opportunity to adopt a persona and instead, have chosen to write from a first person perspective as I can uniquely shed light on my own experiences towards cultural exchange and how that has directly impacted me. My speech heavily focuses on delivering tangible examples, such as anecdotes and social media usage, as I aim to heighten the topic’s relevancy and relatability for my audience. Moreover, as my focus is to reinforce positive attitudes towards cultural exchange, I have adopted a light-hearted approach with humour through the first portion of my speech, then moving into an urgent tone towards the end to highlight the importance of this issue.'

'I have opted to target young Australian adults since we are the generation of the future, and have a major role to play in positively shaping the Australian society’s views and attitudes towards cultural exchange.

'I aim to convince my audience that it is too easy to cry 'cultural appropriation' by being overly sensitive, and instead, we need to consider the benefits of cultural exchange. Cultural exchange itself, has shaped the world as we know it today – it has an important role in globalisation, understanding foreign cultures and the development of Australian society.'

'Australia is known to be one of the most multicultural countries in the world. However, recent media has drawn attention to cries of 'cultural appropriation' towards Indigenous Australians and other cultures, claiming that we fail to appreciate and respect cultural values when we take others' culture for our own (whether it be fashion, music, food or otherwise).'

‍ Sample FLAPC compiled and rearranged for flow and fluency:

Australia is known to be one of the most multicultural countries in the world. However, recent media has drawn attention to cries of 'cultural appropriation' towards Indigenous Australians and other cultures, claiming that we fail to appreciate and respect cultural values when we take others' culture for our own (whether it be fashion, music, food or otherwise). I aim to convince my audience that it is too easy to cry 'cultural appropriation' by being overly sensitive, and instead, we need to consider the benefits of cultural exchange. Cultural exchange itself, has shaped the world as we know it today – it has an important role in globalisation, understanding foreign cultures and the development of Australian society. I chose to adopt the conventions of a persuasive speech, where I use a structure of presenting my main ideas by rebutting arguments made by the opposition. Throughout my speech, I embed persuasive tactics in an effort to firstly, encourage engagement from the audience and secondly, sway them to readily accept my point of view. Since I am an Asian-Australian, I have purposefully forgone the opportunity to adopt a persona and instead, have chosen to write from a first person perspective as I can uniquely shed light on my own experiences towards cultural exchange and how that has directly impacted me. This also has an additional persuasive effect as I invite my audience to relate to my opinions through their own similar experiences as young Australian adults. I have opted to target this audience since we are the generation of the future, and have a major role to play in positively shaping the Australian society’s views and attitudes towards cultural exchange. My speech heavily focuses on delivering tangible examples, such as anecdotes and social media usage, as I aim to heighten the topic’s relevance and relatability for my audience. Moreover, as my focus is to reinforce positive attitudes towards cultural exchange, I have adopted a light-hearted approach with humour through the first portion of my speech, then moving into an urgent tone towards the end to highlight the importance of this issue.

Download a PDF version of this blog for printing or offline use

Need more help with your Creative Response? Check out How To Achieve A+ in Creative Writing (Reading and Creating)!

See how Lisa achieved full marks in her SAC in her Advice for A+ Oral Presentations guide.

Don't forget to also check out Our Ultimate Guide to Oral Presentations for everything you need to know for Oral Presentations.

Here are over 20 Oral Presentation Ideas for you if you're presenting a speech on Australian issues in the media.

• Should gay couples have the same adoption rights as straight couples?
• Should businesses be required to have a sex quota?
• Should political parties be required to run a certain percentage of women candidates?
• Gender workplace diversity
• Treatment of refugees on Manus Island
• Should there be a temporary ban on all immigration into Australia?
• MP citizenship
• Should the government classify Bitcoin as a legal currency?
• Homelessness in Australia
• Obesity in Australia
• Sexual harassment in the TV/movie/hollywood industry
• Should gender identity be added to anti-discrimination laws?
• Should universities provide ‘trigger warnings’ and ‘safe spaces’ for students?
• Should workplaces provide ‘trigger warnings’ and ‘safe spaces’ for staff?
• Informed consent with online data
• Religious freedom
• Same sex marriage freedom
• Adani coalmine
• Political donations
• Penalty rates in Australia
• Wage theft in Australia
• Indigenous recognition in the constitution
• Should we invest in public interest journalism?

See last year's Oral Presentation Ideas here . You might also be interested in Advice for A+ oral presentations here too! Best of luck!

If you are anything like me, the thought of standing up in front of a classroom, or even a small panel of teachers, having to hold the floor for five minutes, and being assessed on your performance is just about as terrifying as it gets. Where other students thrived on the oral presentation SAC, embracing its change of pace in comparison to the other written tasks, I dreaded it. I knew the feeling all too well: legs jelly-like and quivering, breath short and rapid, palms sweating, tongue uncomfortably heavy as the words tumble out too fast to keep up with…essentially (as I, a true master of the English language, would put it) the absolute worst. 

Fast forward to the present day and, I hate to break it to you, I am still not a fan of public speaking. But guess what? I did my oral presentation and I’m still alive to tell the tale. Plus, as a bonus, it did not involve me passing out, and as a double bonus, I still ended up with a great result. So I am here, my fellow members of the ‘Might Go Ahead and Drop Out of VCE so I Don’t Have To Do My Oral’ club, as proof that it can be done and to help you get through it. 

What Do We Mean by ‘Overcoming’?

As I have already mentioned, emerging triumphant from your oral does not require you to magically become a public speaking fanatic. Let me manage your expectations right now: that probably isn’t going to happen overnight, and likely never will. But you can still be good at public speaking, perhaps great at it, even if it scares you. Trying to figure out a magical formula of preparation that will have you breezing through the oral in total zen-mode is not only going to waste your time, but will likely also make you more frightened when you realise that you can’t completely shake the nerves. So, by accepting the reality that the fear probably isn’t going to go away any time soon we can start to learn how to manage it, at least succeed in spite of it, and hopefully even use it to our advantage. 

Selecting a ‘WOW’ Topic

Arguably the best way to improve the delivery, and overall quality, of your oral presentation is to choose a topic and contention that you actually care about. In our eBook How to Write a Killer Oral Presentation we cite the first pillar of the process as being to choose a ‘WOW’ topic and contention . As Lisa says,

“an inherently interesting topic means that you’ll showcase your opinions in an authentic way, which is incredibly important when it comes to presentation time.”

This becomes particularly significant for someone dealing with a fear of public speaking because of this basic principle: when you care about something it is easier to talk about, even in front of other people. This means that you don’t just need to choose a topic that will engage your audience, but also one that you yourself find engaging. 

Fear is an intense emotional response to a situation, and as we know it can easily consume us in the moment. If your oral topic is boring and does not interest you on a personal level then what is going to be the strongest emotion you feel when delivering it? Fear. However, passion is another intense emotional response, and so if you are passionate about the arguments you are making then, although your fear will still be there, you will feel another strong emotion that can balance it out. 

So how do you find a contention that you care about? Often the best place to start is to think about the things that affect your life. We know that your topic has to have been in the media since September of last year, but lots of things are on the news and they don’t only matter to the older generations. Think about issues that relate to schools, jobs, climate change, animals, drug-taking, fashion – these are all aspects of our lives that you might be able to form a personal connection to, and that personal connection will help you find the passion you need to get through the speech, and also get through to your audience. Check out our 2021 Oral Presentation Topics for some topic inspiration, and then learn how to create a killer contention here . 

More About the Voice, Less About the Words

It is quite likely that if you know you struggle with the delivery of oral presentations, you might try to compensate by overreaching with your script. For someone who feels more comfortable with written assessments, it can be easy to try to make the oral as close to one as possible by writing it almost as you would an essay – using lots of impressive vocabulary, complex sentences and a formal structure. This approach is all well and good until you try to say it all out loud. This isn’t to say that your command of language isn’t important to the oral, but by trying to craft a safety net of eloquent, written words you are simply distracting yourself from what makes this SAC unique; you can’t avoid the fear by avoiding the task altogether. So, you need to write a speech that you can say, not just one that sounds good on paper. Writing with the wrong sense of tone is one of the points we touch on in 5 Common Oral Presentation Mistakes.

During the writing process, you need to make your speech work for you rather than make yourself work for it. This means constantly thinking about what the words will sound like in front of an audience, and not making the performance unnecessarily hard for yourself before you even start practicing. When you’re already nervous about speaking in front of other people, the last thing you want to have to worry about is tripping over difficult language to make convoluted arguments. So, simplicity and punch is always better than verbosity and pretence. Here are some ideas of how to use this strategy:

• Make your arguments short, sharp, and to the point. Avoid going off on any tangents, and just stick to the main points you need to get across. You are trying to persuade your audience, not confuse them. 
• Use a mixture of long and short sentences, because a script that uses varied sentence structures is easier to say out loud without stumbling due to nerves. Short, bold statements are both less prone to being mangled by nerves and more memorable for your listeners – just make sure you don’t only use short sentences and prevent your oral from flowing. 
• Think about where you can schedule in pauses for emphasis, because these will give you space to stop and catch your breath without revealing your nervousness. 
• Write like you speak! Of course you want your tone to be assertive and intelligent, but it is possible to maintain this whilst also incorporating some relaxed language. You are allowed to use the first person in this task, so take the opportunity to personalise what you say, which will help you appear more comfortable and also form a personal connection with your audience. Remember that an oral is essentially a conversation with your audience, even if they don’t get to speak back, and this means that as long as you don’t use slang you can have some fun with your delivery. 
• Don’t rely on an essay-like structure. Your audience won’t know when a paragraph ends, so the way the script looks on the page is largely irrelevant. Make it easy for yourself to follow. 

Remember, when you struggle with a fear of public speaking it is difficult to make what you say in the spotlight sound natural. To overcome this, you want to prepare yourself to almost sound unscripted (as ironic as that sounds). Without slipping into an overly casual or informal voice, it is best if you sound comfortable and relaxed when addressing your audience. This is of course the exact opposite of how you might feel going into the assessment, so you write a speech that will make you seem like you aren’t worried about passing out. The ancient adage ‘fake it ‘til you make it baby’ definitely rings true here. However, that said, really believing what you are saying and caring that the audience believes it too, as we advised earlier, will also help you avoid sounding forced and uncomfortable. 

Preparation and Memorisation

Another mistake often made when attempting to compensate for a fear of public speaking is to rely too heavily on cue cards in the oral. Having your entire speech on hand when you complete the assessment just in case you get lost might seem like a good idea, but it is most likely actually going to hold you back from giving your best performance. Ideally, you want to have done enough preparation so that you do not need to look at your notes at all. As we discussed earlier, having a script that is as simple as possible, and that mimics your speech patterns, will help you sound less fearful – and will also be easier to memorise.

Memorise your speech by practicing it as much as possible. Make sure to get your script written as far in advance as you can, so you have plenty of time to practice without stressing yourself out further. When you do practice, do so standing up, envision an audience in front of you (or practice in front of friends or family), and rehearse how you might move around the space as you talk. You can start by having your whole script with you, but eventually you should work up to only needing a few dot points for each section that can jog your memory if you forget. This strategy might seem to make the speech even scarier, but in reality not reading off a script will help you relax into the performance, and allow you to focus on your movements and voice. Practicing enough to have the speech memorised will also help build your confidence. 

Making the Most of Your Nerves

As much as I would love to tell you that you can be ‘cured’ of your fear of public speaking, it is best to accept that the nerves are going to be there and learn how to succeed in tandem with them, rather than just hoping that they go away. Instead of being convinced that fear is going to be your downfall, try to think about how, as impossible as it sounds, you can use the nerves to your advantage. Apart from making you jittery and uncomfortable, nerves also boost your energy and adrenaline, and with the right attitude you can turn this energy into confidence. Instead of letting your nerves cause you to close up, you can use them to help you open up. Often those of us who fear feeling exposed in front of a crowd have quiet, reserved personalities that we might think of as preventing us from being able to perform. However, when our bodies are flooded with nerves this ‘wired’ feeling can be used to help us project our voices and to take up space, therefore driving us to appear more outgoing. Instead of just making you feel ‘on edge’, a manageable amount of nervous energy can give you an edge that will amp up your performance. 

Even if all of this sounds completely different to your experience of fear, what I am trying to communicate is that the way you frame the oral, and the nerves that come with it, in your mind makes all the difference. If you convince yourself that you are too scared of public speaking to ever succeed with this task, you are severely limiting your chances of achieving a positive outcome. So, focussing on retraining your mindset in the lead up to delivering your speech is very important. Try not to think of this one assessment task as being a make or break five minutes, and instead view it as a learning experience that you can use to your advantage. After all, public speaking is something most of us will have to deal with multiple times over the course of our lives, so you may as well work on getting better at it. That said, my number one piece of advice about the oral presentation is to…*drumroll please*...not take it too seriously! This might sound unrealistic, and I am definitely not telling you to put in less effort, but the more pressure you put on yourself the more nervous you are going to be. Choose a topic that interests you, believe in your contention, make use of humour and personal anecdotes, and just have fun with what you say! Your fear is probably going to be your biggest obstacle, so make it as easy as you can on yourself and the rest should fall into place…as long as you put in the work. 

Finally, our Ultimate Guide to Oral Presentations is a must-read for anybody who is doing an Oral Presentation!

Can you believe it’s already 2021? To kick off the year in VCE English, you’ll probably be working on your Oral Presentation sometime soon. The past year has flown by, but so much has happened in that year - there are plenty of juicy and controversial topics to get stuck into for your SAC.

Each heading below represents a broad topic and each subheading under it takes you into more specific debates. A more precise topic can make your speech more engaging and current, so feel free to pick a broad issue that resonates with you but don’t forget to zoom in on more specific questions too.

If you haven’t already, check out our Ultimate Guide to Oral Presentations for some general tips and tricks to get you started!

1. Working From Home

ICYMI, there’s been this global pandemic going around for about a year now. It’ll probably come up in a few speeches this year, but let’s work through some more specific ways of using it in yours.

First up is working from home. In 2020, a lot of people spent a lot of time working from home - but this hasn’t been possible for everyone, meaning that it could be worsening certain forms of inequality. ‘Essential workers’ like supermarket clerks and delivery drivers have not been able to work from home, which might put them at a disadvantage when it comes to the flexibility or even the conditions of their work. Conversely, a ‘ tax on remote workers ’ has been proposed which would see people pay a 5% tax if they chose to work from home instead.

Is working from home all that it’s chalked up to be? Is it a positive sign of flexibility, or a widening gap between the manual working class and white-collar professionals? What can we learn about working from home now that we can apply to the future? Is it the environmentally responsible thing to do?

The hidden impact of the coronavirus pandemic is rising urban inequality – 26/11/2020 ‍ Rebound in carbon emissions expected in 2021 after fall caused by Covid – 11/12/2020

• All workplaces, especially those with essential manual or physical labour, should provide paid health and safety training to staff who are for example more at risk of disease
• A working from home tax is a bad idea - it encourages people to commute and pollute. We should look to ways of promoting flexibility and sustainability instead
• Casual workers in manual professions should be given paid sick leave and other entitlements to make their jobs as flexible as remote office workers

2. Education

You might’ve spent 2020 learning from home too. Everything happened pretty quickly right at the start of the year, but as the months wore on it became clearer that some students were adjusting better than others. In particular, ‘ digital exclusion ’ became a big problem for many students around the country. Inequality is once again a big theme: access to the internet and other technology is vastly uneven, and students who were already dealing with things like mental ill-health were set further back by remote learning. Even though the Victorian government applied special considerations to all Year 12 students in 2020, this is far from a long-term fix.

What can be done about the education system to make it fairer, or even just to make it work better for you? Is it an issue with technology, or are there underlying problems around, say, mental health and wellbeing? Maybe it’s time to axe the ATAR system - would a new scoring system solve these problems?

Coronavirus kept Victorian students out of class. This is what we know about long-term effects of school closures – 21/09/2020 ‍ Government must address barriers to education in rural and remote areas, inquiry finds – 12/11/2020 ‍ The ATAR Benefits No-One: Reflections of a ‘High-Achiever’ – 02/11/2020 (yes this is a shameless plug for my own piece)

Possible Contentions : 

• The government should supply public schools with tech for every student, including iPads and broadband devices
• The government should implement a needs-based approach to technology in schools
• Schools need engagement staff as well as teaching staff: COVID-19 has shown just how easy it is for students to disconnect
• Replace the ATAR with something that measures skills and interests, rather than just results

The Climate Crisis

1. the paris agreement.

The Paris Agreement is an international agreement that was signed a little over five years ago. It binds every country to a commitment of carbon neutrality by 2050 - this means that everyone will be taking as much CO2 out of the atmosphere as we emit. Part of the Agreement is that countries have to commit to new, increasingly ambitious plans every five years, and this deadline has just passed.

How did we do, you might ask. While the mid-century goal still stands, the five-year increment isn’t looking fantastic - most countries , including Australia , haven’t strengthened their climate targets. The Prime Minister was even snubbed out of a speaking slot at a UN climate summit, some suggest because of his inaction on climate. None of this has really snatched headlines though.

Is this something that you’ve been following? If not, is it a problem that this news isn’t really getting out there? What can Australia do better with regard to the climate crisis?

The Paris agreement five years on: is it strong enough to avert climate catastrophe? – 08/12/2020 ‍ The Paris Agreement 5 years on: big coal exporters like Australia face a reckoning – 14/12/2020 ‍ Australia records fourth hottest year as it risks being isolated globally on climate change – 05/01/2021

• Australia needs to be proactive on the Paris Agreement, rather than doing the bare minimum
• Australia needs to transition away from coal
• Our country’s lack of climate action is a great source of shame, particularly for young Australians who want a better future
• The Australian media should take the climate crisis more seriously

2. Environmental Racism

One aspect of the climate crisis we’re starting to talk about more now is environmental racism. The term started in the US , where it was used to describe the disproportionate impacts of environmental problems like pollution on working class people of colour. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t apply in Australia though - earlier in 2020 , a sacred Aboriginal site was blasted by Rio Tinto in order to expand a mine. Now, taxpayer money is being set aside for fracking in the Northern Territory. This will have an adverse impact on not only the climate, but also the local water quality on which First Nations communities depend.

What can be done about environmental racism? Is it about making changes in government, or about activism from outside the halls of power? If environmental racism is the problem, is there a solution that can tackle both problems at once? Is it even accurate to refer to them as two separate problems?

The young Indigenous woman fighting fracking in remote NT – 11/11/2020 ‍ $50 Million Hand-Out to Northern Territory Frackers – 17/12/2020 ‍ Fighting not just to survive, but to flourish – 21/12/2020 ‍ Making sense of Australia’s climate exceptionalism – 01/01/2021

• Indigenous land rights is not just a social movement: it could help us avoid environmental disaster as well
• Politicians are too reliant on fossil fuel companies: we need more grassroots activism around climate justice
• Fracking is dangerous, its impacts disproportionately affect BIPOC communities and as such it should be banned

3. A Carbon Price?

This topic was kind of on our 2020 topic list , but the debate around climate action has changed a little bit since. A carbon price would make the atmosphere a commodity basically - corporations would have to pay in order to pollute.

But maybe that’s still giving them too much power? If you can just pay your way out of environmental responsibility, who’s to stop you from polluting? Maybe there isn’t a capitalistic or free-market solution to carbon emissions - maybe we need to rethink our entire relationship with land and country. What can and should Australia learn from its First People in this regard?

Australia’s plants and animals have long been used without Indigenous consent. Now Queensland has taken a stand – 16/09/2020 ‍ ‘As an Australian it will affect you. It’s your land as well’: Indigenous tourism’s new online travel agency – 03/12/2020 ‍ What is cultural burning? – 31/12/2020 ‍ The barriers to a carbon fee and dividend policy – 07/01/2021

• A carbon price is still necessary, but it’s a stepping stone in a larger conversation
• Putting a price on excessive pollution isn’t the same as creating laws to prevent it: as such, it is no longer enough

1. First Nations Justice

You might recall the huge impact that George Floyd’s death had on conversations about race around the world. Though this erupted in a wave of furore last June, the conversation has been shifting ever since. In Australia, we’ve been grappling in particular with First Nations justice. While the Prime Minister ’s made attempts to unify the country through certain words and gestures, First Nations leaders such as Lidia Thorpe , the first Indigenous senator from Victoria, have been calling for something more substantive. In the meantime, police brutality against First Nations people continues.

Where to from here? What does the future of First Nations justice look like in Australia, and what is the role of leaders like Ms Thorpe? Where do non-Aboriginal folks fit into this? What could we do better?

Lidia Thorpe: Victoria's first Aboriginal senator urges end to deaths in custody and mass incarceration – 09/09/2020 ‍ ‘We have the fight in us’: Lidia Thorpe’s incredible journey to historic place in the Victorian Senate – 23/09/2020 ‍ 'Unfinished business': Senator Lidia Thorpe on fighting for Treaty for Indigenous Australians – 10/12/2020 ‍ Can we breathe? – 31/12/2020

• Reconciliation is an outdated term; it implies two parties are coming together as equals, when history would tell us otherwise
• Lidia Thorpe’s election is the first step in a longer journey towards representation, truth-telling and self-determination
• Even after the #BlackLivesMatter movement in 2020, we still a long way to go with anti-racism
• Australia is far from a multicultural utopia: we need to learn to treat politicians like Lidia Thorpe with more respect

2. Refugees

In 2019, the ‘medevac’ bill allowed refugees to be brought to mainland Australia for medical care. That bill has since been repealed, but it did allow some refugees to leave their detention centres and receive medical treatment. 60 of them have now been detained in various Melbourne hotels for over a year now. In December, they were moved to a former COVID-19 quarantine hotel, where they will continue to be isolated and detained.

What injustices (plural) are going on here? Did medevac force us to confront our out-of-sight-out-of-mind asylum seeker policy? And if this isn’t the impetus we need to shut offshore detention once and for all, what exactly will it take?

The Mantra 60 should be freed from torture. Here’s why the Coalition won’t do it – 15/12/2020 ‍ Former mayor among protesters arrested as police escort refugees and asylum seekers to new Melbourne hotel – 17/12/2020 ‍ Refugees and asylum seekers moved from Mantra hotel in Melbourne – 17/12/2020 ‍ ‘We are human, we are not animals’: Mantra refugees transferred to another hotel – 17/12/2020

• Bring back medevac: it was a bare minimum policy to begin with, and it’s unconscionable that it would be repealed, thereby denying sick people healthcare
• Australia’s refugee policy is as lazy as it is harmful: something needs to change
• The hotel industry is profiting off detention and we should consider boycotting chains like Mantra

3. COVID-Related Racism

This could’ve gone in the first section, but it poses important questions about ongoing and future race relations in Australia. During 2020, Asian Australians and particularly those with Chinese heritage experienced a sharp increase in racially-provoked harassment. Towards the end of the year, Chinese Australians were asked in a Senate committee hearing to condemn the Chinese Communist Party, which many have described as race-baiting. Many Australians with Chinese heritage have no relation to the Chinese government, so it’s jarring that they’d be called upon to give an opinion like this.

How does race still impact civic life in Australia? If you’re Australian, should you be expected to have opinions about or deny loyalties to foreign governments? Does it matter what race you are, and if so, how is that problematic?

Chinese Australians say questions from Senator Eric Abetz about their loyalties are not asked of other communities – 15/10/2020 ‍ Eric Abetz refuses to apologise for demanding Chinese-Australians denounce Communist party – 16/10/2020 ‍ More than eight in 10 Asian Australians report discrimination during coronavirus pandemic – 02/11/2020 ‍ Too many men in pin-striped suits – 10/12/2020 (this is an interesting one that also touches on gender and class in civic life)

• Politicians are increasingly out of touch with Australia’s diverse communities because they are just so overwhelmingly undiverse
• Again, Australia is not a multicultural utopia. When times get tough, the racism really jumps out
• Australians are yet to confront the reality that there are Chinese Australians (which sounds like a joke, but based on these articles isn’t really a joke) - their behaviour continues to ‘other’ people who actually really are Australian, telling them they somehow don’t belong
• More people of colour should run for public office; this starts with civic empowerment in schools

1. Representation

As it turns out, journalism isn’t a very diverse profession. When issues about disability come up, for example, they’re often covered by abled journalists in a “pity party” or “inspiration porn” manner. When issues about race come up, it’s also often white people who cover them, usually with racist undertones as well. We started seeing a bit of this in 2020: the stories that kept coming up about people breaking COVID restrictions were often targeting minorities - their names and faces would be splashed across newspaper front pages, while their white counterparts were afforded privacy and forgiven for making a mistake.

How fair is the media landscape towards people from minority backgrounds? What different forms might racism and ableism take in the media, and how can we overcome them? Is it as simple as allowing disabled people to tell their own stories, for example?

Muslims, Chinese Australians and Indigenous people most targeted in racist media coverage – 11/11/2020 ‍ ‘Double standard’: Experts weigh in on publicly shaming only certain COVID rule-breakers – 22/12/2020

• The media landscape isn’t fair towards minorities: stereotypes can be subtle but persistent
• Journalism schools should create more scholarships for diverse applicants
• Australian media should adopt a code of ethics around representation of minorities

This may or may not come as a surprise to you, but young people are also one of the groups that are likely to be underrepresented in the media. A report from the Foundation for Young Australians found that there were not only less stories about young people in the media in 2020, but barely half of them actually quoted a young person.

Again, we return to questions around representation - does the media have an ethical obligation to let young people tell their own stories? How much do you, as a young person, trust the media to accurately depict you? What can be done about this?

Young People Have Been Pretty Much Ignored By The Media During COVID – 28/10/2020 ‍ Research Report: mainstream media either ignores young Australians or castigates them – 21/12/2020

• Young people can no longer trust the media, and this is detrimental to civic society
• There needs to be a national youth broadcaster, kind of like the ABC, run by young people for young people

Remember Kevin Rudd? The former Prime Minister has been making waves recently for starting a parliamentary petition for a royal commission into media diversity. The petition was signed by a record 501,876 people, and it looks like the commission - a bit like a government inquiry - will go ahead. The ‘media diversity’ in question isn’t about race or disability though - it’s more about media ownership. In Australia, Rupert Murdoch owns almost two-thirds of metropolitan media circulation. He’s also a climate sceptic , which means a large chunk of his media output is also climate-sceptic.

What is the role of media in democracy, and can it still fulfill that role if one person gets to own so much of it? What are some ways Murdoch has used his influence, and what have been the consequences for the Australian people? What should the royal commission look to now achieve?

Petition calling for media royal commission and setting Australian record tabled in Parliament – 09/11/2020 ‍ Rudd and Turnbull will be called to give evidence at Senate inquiry into media diversity – 11/11/2020  

• Because the media holds government to account in the eyes of the people, one person owning this much of the media gives them too much power
• Australia’s climate inaction is a direct result of Murdoch’s media empire, and we need to break it apart to get honest debate and coverage

Pop Culture

In December 2020, the Australian singer Sia was caught in a bit of Twitter beef. She defended casting Maddie Ziegler, an abled actress, in a disabled role for her upcoming film. Disability justice activists argued that autistic people should be able to portray themselves, and that roles for autistic people should be written by them as well. Sia later admitted this was “ableism”, but didn’t back down on her decision.

What is the appropriate way for celebrities and creatives to approach representation? Without debating anyone’s actual identity, how can the film industry do better here?

Sia opens up about lashing out on Twitter to defend her new film – 19/12/2020 

• Abled people shouldn’t write roles for disabled people, nor should they play these roles; if a disabled person can’t play the role, then it isn’t appropriate in the first place
• Cancel culture isn’t a thing, given how comfortable Sia feels admitting to ableism and then committing to her decision anyway
• We shouldn’t cancel people, but we still need new ways to really hold them to account: otherwise, they can still get away with discrimination

The Grammy Awards have been oft-criticised for racial biases, including once again in this year ’s coming ceremony. Black artists like Beyonce are often relegated to subcategories like R&B and rap - of her 24 Grammy Awards, only one was awarded in a major category (Best Music Video in 2017 for ‘Formation’). Meanwhile, she was arguably snubbed for Album of the Year wins in both 2017 (Adele won) and 2015 (Beck won). Now though, the Grammys are hoping to #ChangeMusic and acknowledge the contributions of Black artists to the industry. 

What should this look like? Are award wins all it will take? Is a change for the future enough to fix wrongs of the past? Maybe awards aren’t even that important - is cultural impact what really matters?

#ChangeMusic Roadmap aims to redress racism in music industry – 17/12/2020 

• The cultural impact of Bla(c)k artists can’t be measured through awards
• Awards are a necessary first step to acknowledging Bla(c)k talent in the music industry
• Radios stations should make more of an effort to diversify their sets, particularly when local BIPOC talent in Australia is at an all-time high (think Thelma Plum, Sampa the Great etc.)

Be sure to check out our Ultimate Guide to Oral Presentations for more advice on how to write your speech, presentation tips and more. Or, if you really want to dive in further to make sure you absolutely nail your Oral, then you'll definitely want to check out our How To Write A Killer Oral Presentation ebook - it explores essay structure, the written explanation and even has sample A+ essays so that you can learn from past students who have succeeded in VCE!!

Tracks and Into The Wild are studied as part of VCE English's Comparative. For one of most popular posts on Comparative (also known as Reading and Comparing), check out our Ultimate Guide to VCE Comparative.

INTRODUCTIONS

Into the Wild (2007) is a non-linear survival film directed by Sean Penn, which is based on Jon Krauker’s 1996 novel of the same name. It recollects the final few months of the life of Christopher McCandless as he departs from society in both an act of resistance as well as a means of self-discovery. A bright young college student in the 1990s, McCandless abandons his family and affluent lifestyle to embark on a frontier-style journey into the Alaskan wilderness. Troubled by a dysfunctional family and disenchanted with the materialistic excesses of 1980s America, McCandless seeks a radical engagement with nature, in the style of his literary heroes Henry David Thoreau and Jack London. After 113 days in the wilderness, he suffers from starvation and dies. The true story of McCandless’ journey renders the film an important depiction of self-reliance, isolation, and the unparalleled power of nature.

Whilst the film is of a biographical nature, it is important to understand that it is heavily subject to the interpretations and opinions of Penn. The story is informed by McCandless’ writings, and interviews with those who knew him, but is ultimately a work of artistic interpretation. Nonetheless, Penn’s film offers strong commentary regarding the materialistic, consumerist nature of modern living, whilst also ultimately emphasising the more humanistic importance of family and love.

Tracks is Robyn Davidson’s 1980 memoir detailing her perilous journey through 1700 miles of Australian outback and the remarkable character transformations that take place throughout. The events of the story begin in 1973, when a young Robyn Davidson arrives in Alice Springs with an outlandish plan to train wild camels to accompany her through the Australian desert. When, after two years of gruelling training, she receives a sponsorship from National Geographic, her journey can finally go ahead- on the condition that a photographer accompany her and document parts of the journey. This compromise weighs heavily on Robyn, as photographer Rick Smolan intrudes on her solitude and compromises everything the trip means to her. As Robyn delves deeper into the journey, each day brings new discoveries about the camels, the landscape, the people of Australia, and ultimately, her self. Tracks  emerges as a candid and compelling story of one woman’s odyssey of discovery and transformation.

Whilst Tracks is mostly a personal account, it also presents a co-existent dichotomy between modernistic libertarianism and conventionalism, which serves as a reflection of the changing political views and ideological turbulence of the time, as Davidson notes ‘you could choose not to participate in politics, but you could not avoid politics’. Thus, in many ways Davidson’s journey can be seen as a firm statement that challenges the inherent sexism, racism, and ‘status quo’, whilst also simultaneously embracing the notion of freedom, independence, and escape from conventionalism and ‘self-indulgent negativity’.

At LSG, we use the CONVERGENT and DIVERGENT strategy to help us easily find points of similarity and difference. This is particularly important when it comes to essay writing, because you want to know that you're coming up with unique comparative points (compared to the rest of the Victorian cohort!). I don't discuss this strategy in detail here, but if you're interested, check out my How To Write A Killer Comparative . I have used this strategy to create this themes table and throughout my character, views and values, and literary technique analysis.

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Both Robyn Davidson and Christopher McCandless are products of the time period in which they live, and reject the concept of adhering to a predetermined notion of who they should be and how they should behave. Both embark on their journey because they reject the expectations of their class and gender.

AUTHORS VIEWS/VALUES

Women’s rights in 1970s australia .

Tracks is set in the late 1970s, an era of intense social and political change in Australia. The second wave feminist movements of the 1960s and 70s were enormously influential in Australia, as women began to dismantle the sexist structures inherent in Australian society at this time. Davidson describes Alice Springs as hopelessly in the grips of a ‘cult of misogyny’. She rejects the archetype of the passive, docile woman. She is passionately determined to shed her own sense of herself as traditionally “feminine,” a quality she sees as arising from being trained from birth to be “door-mattish”.

Davidson acknowledges her gender has played a central part in the media’s fascination with her journey. The character of the ‘camel lady’ that emerges suggests the significance of her trip, as a woman travelling alone in the 1970s through intensely difficult terrain. Davidson describes the late sixties and early seventies as a time of radical social time, when “anything and everything seemed possible, and when the status quo of the developed world was under radical scrutiny by its youth”. Thus Davidson’s actions must be considered in the context of this time, at the peak of the second wave feminist movement.

There are many explicit examples of Robyn facing misogyny and embodying feminist principles. One such example is when an Alice Springs local suggests she’s the “next town rape case”. This statement reveals the position of a woman in this misogynistic society, wherein a single woman travelling alone through the bush was synonymous with danger and irresponsibility. Davidson rejects this ideology and refuses to succumb to the violent sexism she encounters, or compromise her journey.

Tracks  is not an explicitly feminist text, but it clearly echoes the philosophies of feminism. In the years since the trek, Robyn Davidson has become a feminist symbol of defiance, endurance and strength. Thus to consider Tracks  from a feminist perspective is important when studying this text, Davidson’s criticisms of Australian misogyny inform our understanding of this historical context, and the significance of her actions.

Some example sentences:

• Davidson exposes the realities of misogynistic Australian culture in the 1970s.
• Davidson’s journey emerges as a defiant example of women’s strength and independence.
• Davidson’s friendship with Gladdy Posel suggests the injustices of women’s financial dependence on abusive men and condemns the limited options for women, particularly for those in rural settings.
• Tracks challenges the constraints of gender through a narrator that cannot be defined by stereotypical images of the domestic and passive female.

Indigenous Rights in Australia

The 1970s saw the first attempts to improve the lives and rights of indigenous Australians. In 1971 Indigenous people were counted in the census, and in 1976, the Aboriginal Land Rights Act was established. Davidson’s time with Mr Eddie exposes her to the harsh reality of the living conditions of Indigenous Australian’s throughout the 1970s, as well as inspiring a deep appreciation for the culture and connection with the land. Davidson is frustrated with the mistreatment of Indigenous people in Australia, and feels ambivalent about her status as a white, privileged, outsider in their community. Davidson confronts the racist and discriminatory stereotypes and attitudes towards Indigenous Australians, and experiences first hand the realities of the issues these people face. Davidson encounters intense generosity and friendship in the Indigenous community that she admires and presents as a stark contrast to the intolerant attitudes of white Australians in Alice Springs.

• “The blacks were unequivocally the enemy – dirty, lazy, dangerous”
• “Aborigines. Warm, friendly, laughing, excited, tired Pitjantjara Aborigines...” (p. 155)
• “Ceremonies are the visible link between Aboriginal people and their land. Once dispossessed of this 
land, ceremonial life deteriorates, people lose their strength, meaning and identity.” (p. 167) 

• Davidson renegotiates her identity and relationship with the land after learning from the Indigenous Australians.
• Davidson condemns the racist attitudes of white Australians towards the aboriginal people.
• Davidson embodies the changing attitudes of young Australians towards aboriginal Australians, endorsing a respectful relationship with the traditional land owners.

INTO THE WILD

Social criticism of materialistic excess.

While Into the Wild is set in the 1990s, McCandless’ formative years were the 1980s – a decade characterised by the consumerism, extravagance, and materialism of President Reagan’s America. The reverberating effects of this time period inform McCandless’ general outlook and disdain for American society. Whilst this contempt for consumerism is one motivation for McCandless’ actions, he is equally troubled by the family violence and dysfunction he experienced as a young man. This traumatic past informs his extreme actions and outlook.

Example sentences:

• Penn exposes the effects of materialistic society on young impressionable people.
• Penn explores the consequences of experiencing childhood trauma, and how this manifests in adult actions.
• Penn condemns the expectations of 21 st century nuclear families.
• Penn endorses the liberating power of familial love and relationships.

Depiction of the unparalleled power of nature and man’s inability to contend with it

Inspired by Thoreau and London, Chris seeks enlightenment in the wild. Despite a philosophical understanding of the power of nature, Chris believes he can survive the untamed wilderness of Alaska. Although nature is the locus for self-realisation and growth for Chris, it is also what destroys him. As the viewer watches him slowly deteriorate, we come to fully comprehend the force of nature – suggesting man’s inability to control it.

• Penn’s depiction of McCandless’ deterioration suggests human’s inability to control nature.
• Penn endorses the liberating power of literature, but cautions the idealism contained within romantic depictions of nature.

LITERARY TECHNIQUES

Narrative voice.

An important aspect of Into the Wild to consider is that McCandless’ story, while true, is told through Sean Penn’s directorial lens, which is in turn based on Jon Krakeur’s book. The story is informed by McCandless’ writings, and interviews with those who knew him, but is ultimately a work of artistic interpretation. Consider how this affect’s a viewer’s perception of Chris, does this raise questions around representation and identity? This is in direct contrast to Tracks , which is a first person, linear past tense, autobiographical account of the writer’s experience. Where Robyn is completely in control of her narrative, McCandless’ is subject to the artistic interpretation of others.

Anthropomorphism

Anthropomorphism is defined as the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to a god, animal, or object. Robyn repeatedly personifies the animals she encounters. The camels in particular take on their own human personalities in her life. This technique, called anthropomorphism, can be used to complement a discussion of the theme of isolation. Robyn attributes distinct characteristics to each camel, suggesting her need for companionship and the powerful absence of human connection in prolonged periods of isolation.

Davidson’s depiction of her dependence on animals reveals deeper meanings about her inability to depend on, and communicate with, humans in the same way. Robyn’s reliance on her dog, Dookie, becomes more intense as the journey continues. Upon Dookie’s death, both the reader and Robyn experience the dog’s death as a powerful blow.

• “I am quite sure Diggity was more than a dog, or rather other than dog. (p. 207)”
• “But I said goodbye to a creature I had loved unconditionally, without question. ... I walked out into the morning and felt nothing. I was numb, empty. All I knew was I mustn‟t stop walking. (p. 223)
”
• “Diggity had become a cherished friend rather than simply a pet. (p. 227)”
• Kate: “remembered humans and hated them”
• Zeleika: “had a lovely gentle nature” “the street-smart, crafty, unfazable, self-possessed leader”
• Dookie: “nominally king, but if anything untoward happened he was the first to hide behind Zeleika’s skirts”
• Goliath: “cheeky, pushy, self-centred, demanding, petulant, arrogant, spoilt and delightful”

SAMPLE PARAGRAPHS

Prompt: Discuss the ways in which the environment assists the protagonists in their journey for self-discovery.

Introduction: In forging connections with the environment and people around us, humans end up inadvertently discovering themselves. It is this notion that resonates throughout both Robyn Davidson’s 1970 memoir, Tracks , and Sean Penn’s 2007 film, Into the Wild , where the relationships that the protagonists form throughout their journeys leads to intense self- discovery and growth. Both Davidson and McCandless seek knowledge and guidance through both the individuals they meet and, specifically to McCandless, the books he reads, citing it as a means of grappling with the fundamental stages of self-discovery. Whilst Davidson and McCandless experience different relationships with their immediate family, it is ultimately the concept of family that underpins their motivations and inspires them to pursue their journeys – both physical and psychological. Further, the respective temporal environments in which both protagonists are immersed in emerge as a distinct theme that facilitates each stage of self- discovery in the climatic lead up to the ultimate self-realisation.

Body Paragraph 1: Both Into the Wild  and Tracks endorse the guiding power of influential figures on both protagonists, as a catalyst for their growth. Davidson commences her self-described ‘lunatic’ journey with little knowledge of the wild to substantiate her mammoth ambition. That her drive outweighs her preparation manifests in the early moments of the text, wherein Davidson endures a grueling internship with the impulsive ‘maniac’ Kurt Posel. This man appears the epitome of the ‘biased, bigoted, boring and above all, brutal’ man she describes as the stereotypical ‘Aussie male’. Kurt is abusive to both Davidson and his wife, but his eccentric and impulsive ways expose her to the harsh realities of bush living. Ultimately, Kurt’s guidance allows Davidson to gain the fundamental skills she needs to train camels, whose dispositions reflect the erratic nature of Kurt himself. In direct contrast to this tense, exploitative relationship, is Davidson’s nuanced and spiritually rewarding relationship with Mr. Eddie, an aboriginal elder whom she describes as a “sheer pleasure to be with”.  Despite an ostensible language barrier, Eddie’s instruction of the Indigenous Arts and Culture leave an impressionable impact on Davidson’s character and personality. By accepting Eddie’s guidance at a pivotal point in her journey, Davidson’s ambivalent sense of self, the overwhelming feeling of being an imposter, is diminished. Davidson becomes more grounded and connected to her environment; the knowledge that she derives from key characters contributes to a distinct conformational change in her personality and thus critically assists her in developing a strong sense of one self.  A similar theme resonates in Into the Wild , where Chris McCandless heavily relies upon the guidance of various prominent figures he meets throughout his journey as well as ‘the characters of the books he loved from writers like Tolstoy, Jack London and Thoreau’ whose words he could and often would ‘summon….to suit any occasion’. The fact that McCandless readily referred to the words of the likes of Tolstoy, London, and Thoreau amidst times of mental angst and challenge, is a significant reflection of not only the quintessential teacher and student relationship he shares with them, but also the level of impact they have had in shaping in the ideological processes that define Chris’s values and sense of oneself. This very idea is furthered by Sean Penn when he depicts Christopher McCandless quoting soviet Russian poet, Boris Pasternak, suggesting that humans ‘ought to call each thing by it’s right name’, following which he acts impulsively and with great haste, engineered with rapid and distorted camera movements. In doing so, Penn illustrates the importance that Chris places upon the words of such idealists to the stage where he acts upon their advice without giving them proper consideration within his literal, temporal context. The protagonists of both Into the Wild and Tracks , both rely upon the knowledge and guidance of individuals, be they physical or via literature, as a means of grappling with their fundamental understanding of the human spirit and in doing so their intricate understanding of themselves.

Body Paragraph 2: Both texts demonstrate a degree of discontentment and resent towards the institutionalized, '20th century convention' of family. Davidson describes the notion of family as “invisible ropes and chains” of guilt, she comments that families lack for the most part, a true sense of love. This sentiment is starkly contrasted with Davidson’s intense engagement with the wild, which she describes in the language of love and connection. “I love you. i love you sky, bird, wind, desert, desert, desert’ proclaims Davidson, as she describes having “no more loved ones to care about” and “no more ties” to bind her to material existence. Davidson laments the distortion of her journey for public consumption, stating “so far people had said that i wanted to commit suicide, that i wanted to do penance for my mother’s death…” this comment is one of the only references to her mother’s suicide, which can be interpreted as a catalyst for her ambivalence about the notion of family. This experience evidently informs Davidsons’s somewhat impenetrable exterior and suggests a deeper complexity to her resistance of 20th century societal expectations. Similarly, Christopher McCandless articulates a powerful contempt for family. McCandless feels impeded in his personal motivations by the familial concepts of ‘graduating college’ and ‘getting a job’ which he describes as “20th century inventions” inextricably linked with “this world of material excess”. McCandless expands on this point, commenting that his pursuit for self-discovery has ultimately resulted in ‘the killing of the false being within’, the ‘false being’ that was bound to the societal expectations and the material conventions of the time. Chris’ departure into the wild is as much of an act of punishment for his family, as it is about Chris discovering true freedom and metaphysical spirituality. It is this idea of ‘telling the world’ of his family’s misdeeds that continually motivates Chris to continue on with his journey, which is depicted by Penn through the countless solo enactments and impersonation of both Chris’ mother and father, often depicting a negative experience which has quite evidently scarred his ‘crystal like’ mind. Family is thus, a primary motivation for both key characters within Tracks and Into the Wild to firstly partake on their journey, but more significantly to discover an uncorrupted, unbiased ‘true’ version of them that had been lost amidst ‘this world of material excess’.

Conclusion: Both Tracks and Into the Wild explore the inextricable link between ones environment and their personal growth. Nature is emphasised as a world removed from the materialistic excess of modern urban life, in which one can engage with an alternative, radical set of values. Both Davidson and McCandless escape from the confinements of their lives and experience profound transformations over the course of their journeys. Thus, both Davidson and Penn comment on the omniscient, multifaceted nature of the environment around a person being instrumental in moulding each stage of the journey of self-discovery and transformation.

*A big shout out to Suraj Hari, 2017 graduate and currently studying Medicine in Tasmania, who is a contributing author of this blog post.

Passage 1: Act 1 Scene 3

   [Aside] Two truths are told,

   As happy prologues to the swelling act

   Of the imperial theme.--I thank you, gentlemen.

[Aside] This supernatural soliciting

   Cannot be ill, cannot be good: if ill,

   Why hath it given me earnest of success,

   Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor:

   If good, why do I yield to that suggestion

   Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair

   And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,

   Against the use of nature? Present fears

   Are less than horrible imaginings:

   My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,  

   Shakes so my single state of man that function

   Is smother'd in surmise, and nothing is

   But what is not.

Passage One from Act 1 Scene 3 takes place just after Macbeth has just been announced as Thane of Cawdor proving part of the Witches’ prophecy true “All hail Macbeth…Thane of Cawdor…/that shalt be king hereafter.” This part of the play is the first insight we have on Macbeth’s inner thoughts.  

Macbeth’s firm and thoughtful tone in the opening alliteration “two truths are told ” stresses how serious he takes the Witches’ predictions. Shakespeare presents this passage as a soliloquy in order to convey Macbeth’s true inner thoughts and motives. As this is Macbeth’s first soliloquy, it emphasises the strong possibility of Macbeth heading down a dark journey as he cannot forget the Witches’ predictions “(it) cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill, / Why hath it given me earnest of success, Commencing in a truth?”

Shakespeare uses the metaphor of theatre for fate . The meta-theatrical reference, ‘as happy prologues to the swelling act’ makes the audience consider the action that will unfold in the following scenes through foreshadowing.

Macbeth feels that committing regicide will be a “supernatural soliciting”. The word “supernatural” demonstrates that Macbeth acknowledges that such an act is “against the use of nature.” It suggests that if Macbeth kills Duncan, he will forever be trapped in the supernatural world for his dishonourable action. The alliteration of “supernatural soliciting” sounds incredibly seductive, and therefore highlights Macbeth’s lust and thirst for the crown.

There is a physiological response to his unnerving thoughts as the ‘horrid image doth unfix my hair’ and ‘my seated heart knock at my ribs’ , emphasising the horror of Macbeth has with himself  at his thoughts.

The personification “my seated heart knock at my ribs” once again depicts the increasing fear that Macbeth experiences as his heart is not “seated” with its connotations of calmness and steadiness but “knock(ing)” which is associated with alarming fear.

As Macbeth struggles with his conscience and fears “my thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,/ Shakes so my single state of man,”  he is uncertain whether or not he should take the prophecy into his own hands and murder Duncan or, let time decide his fate “time and the hour runs through the roughest day”. The consonance ’s’, Shakes so my single state of man”.. ‍

The alliteration “smothered in surmise” demonstrates how Macbeth’s vivid imagination causes him to struggle with fear and hesitate undergoing the action that is foreseen by him as a “horrid image.” These mental images are of significance throughout the play as it is evident that Macbeth’ conscience results in him “seeing” a dagger and also Banquo’s ghost.

The antithesis “and nothing is,/ But what is not” is deliberately broken up into two lines to demonstrate the ambiguity of Macbeth’s thoughts and the confusion which evidently contributes to his overall fear. Macbeth’s actions become overpowered by his imagination until ‘nothing is but what is not’ or imagination carries more weight than action. The partial alliteration of ‘smother’d in surmise’ and the antithesis of ‘nothing is but what is not’ makes this notion seem again, particularly seductive to the audience. The word ‘smother’d’ , with it’s connotations of oppression, further amplifies the notion and even suggests that Macbeth’s imagination takes the place of his will.

The Great Gatsby is usually studied in the Australian curriculum under Area of Study 1 - Text Response. For a detailed guide on Text Response, check out our Ultimate Guide to VCE Text Response .

Call it the greatest American novel or ultimate story of unrequited romance— The Great Gatsby is undoubtedly a stunning snapshot of one of the most American decades that America has ever seen. The 1920s saw significant economic growth after WWI, and what’s more American than material excess, wealth, and prosperity? The stock market was going off, businesses were booming, and people were having a great time.

Well, not everybody—and on the flipside, what’s more American than socio-economic inequality or the ever-quixotic American Dream?

In this blog, we’ll go through the novel in this context, examine some of its key themes, and also have a think about the critiques it raises about American society. We’ll also go through an essay prompt that ties some of these things together.

Life in the Roaring Twenties

This snapshot from the 2013 film adaptation actually tells us a lot about the 1920s. On the one hand, social and cultural norms were shifting—men no longer sported beards, and women were dressing more androgynously and provocatively. On the other hand, the modern, American economy was emerging—people began buying costly consumer goods (like cars, appliances, telephones etc.) using credit rather than cash. This meant that average American families were able to get these things for the first time, while more prosperous families were able to live in extreme excess.

In Fitzgerald’s novel, the Buchanans are one such family. Tom and his wife Daisy have belonged to the 1% for generations, and the 1920s saw them cement their wealth and status. At the same time, the booming economy meant that others (like the narrator Nick) were relocating to cities in pursuit of wealth, and (like Gatsby) making significant financial inroads themselves. 

The Great Gatsby traces how the differences between these characters can be destructive even if they’re all wealthy. Add a drop of Gatsby’s unrequited love for Daisy, and you have a story that ultimately examines how far people go for romance, and what money simply can’t buy. 

The answer to that isn’t so obvious though. Yes, money can’t buy love, but it also can’t buy a lot of other things associated with the lifestyle and the values of established wealth. We’ll get into some of this now.

Wealth and class

Fitzgerald explores tensions between three socio-economic classes—the establishment, the ‘nouveau riche’ and the working class.

Tom and Daisy belong to the ‘old money’ establishment, where wealth is generational and inherited . This means they were born into already wealthy families, which affects their upbringing and ultimately defines them, from the way they speak (Tom’s “paternal contempt” and Daisy’s voice, “full of money”) to their major life decisions (including marriage, symbolised through the “string of pearls” he buys for her—which, fun fact, is estimated to be worth millions of dollars today). It also affects their values, as we’ll see in the following section.  For now, consider this image of their home (and those ponies on the left, which they also own), described as follows:

“The lawn started at the beach and ran toward the front door for [400 metres], jumping over sun-dials and brick walls and burning gardens—finally when it reached the house drifting up the side in bright vines as though from the momentum of its run.”

Nick Carraway also comes from a similar (though not as extravagant) background—his family had been rich by Midwestern standards for “three generations” before he came to New York.

Conversely, Gatsby belongs to the ‘ nouveau riche ’, or new money. Unlike the Buchanans, Gatsby was born into a poor family, only coming to wealth in the 1920s boom. Specifically, he inherited money from Dan Cody after running away from home at 17.

Although they are all rich, there are significant cultural differences between old and new money. Old money have their own culture of feigned politeness which Gatsby doesn’t quite get. When Tom and the Sloanes invite Nick and Gatsby to supper in chapter six, Gatsby naively accepts, to which Tom would respond behind his back, “Doesn’t he know [Mrs. Sloane] doesn’t want him?” Even though Gatsby is financially their equal, his newfound wealth can’t buy his way into their (nasty, horrible) lifestyle.

Finally, this is contrasted with the working class, particularly George and Myrtle Wilson who we meet in chapter two. They live in a grey “valley of ashes”, the detritus of a prosperous society whose wealth is limited to the 1%. Fitzgerald even calls it a “solemn dumping ground”, suggesting that life is precarious and difficult here. Consider what separates George—“blond, spiritless… and faintly handsome”—from Tom (hint: $$).

Myrtle is described differently, however—she is a “faintly stout” woman with “perceptible vitality”. This may be less of a description of her and more of a commentary on Tom’s sexuality, and what attracts him to her such that he cheats on Daisy with her. Still, Myrtle’s relative poverty is evident in her expressions of desire throughout their meeting—“I want to get one of those dogs,” she says, and Tom just hands her the money.

Ultimately, looking at the novel through the lens of class, we see a society where upward social mobility and making a living for yourself is possible, just not for everybody. Even when you get rich, it doesn’t guarantee that you’ll suddenly, seamlessly integrate into the lives of old money. 

Morality and values

Added to this story of social stratification is a moral dimension, where Fitzgerald can be a little more critical. 

Firstly, old money is portrayed as shallow . Daisy’s marriage to Tom and the Sloanes’ insincerity are elements of this, but another good example is Gatsby’s party guests. Many aren’t actually invited—they invite themselves, and “they came and went without having met Gatsby at all.” Their vacuous relationship to Gatsby is exposed when he dies, and they completely abandon him. Klipspringer, “the boarder”, basically lived in Gatsby’s house, and even then he still wouldn’t come to the funeral, only calling up to get a “pair of shoes” back. 

The rich are also depicted as cruel and inconsiderate, insulated from repercussions by their wealth. Nick’s description of Tom’s “cruel body” is repeatedly realised, as he breaks Myrtle’s nose in chapter two and condescends Gatsby with “magnanimous scorn” in chapter seven. After Myrtle dies, Nick spots the Buchanans “conspiring” and describes them as “smash[ing] up things and creatures and then retreat[ing] back into their money or their vast carelessness”—he sees them as fundamentally selfish.

Gatsby is portrayed more sympathetically though, which may come from his humble upbringing and his desire to be liked. This is probably the key question of the novel—is he a hero, or a villain? The moral of the story, or a warning? Consumed by love, or corrupted by wealth?

I’m going to leave most of those for the next section, but I’ll finish here with one last snippet: Lucille, a guest at his parties, tears her dress and Gatsby immediately sends her a “new evening gown”. Weird flex, but at least he’s being selfless…

That said, a major part of Gatsby’s character is his dishonesty, which complicates his moral identity. 

For starters, he fabricates a new identity and deals in shady business just to reignite his five-year-old romance with Daisy. We see this through the emergence of Meyer Wolfsheim, with whom he has unclear business “gonnegtions”, and the resultant wealth he now enjoys. 

In chapter three, Owl Eyes describes Gatsby as a “regular Belasco”, comparing him to a film director who was well-known for the realism of his sets. This is a really lucid analysis of Gatsby, who is in many ways just like a film director constructing a whole fantasy world.

It’s also unclear if he loves Daisy for who she is, or just the idea of Daisy and the wealth she represents. Indeed, he doesn’t seem to treat her as a person, but more like something that he can pursue (like wealth). This is a good read, so I won’t really get into it here—just consider how much things have changed since Gatsby first met Daisy (like her marriage and her children), and how Gatsby ignores the way her life has changed in favour of his still, stationary memory of who she used to be.

Love, desire and hope

All of this makes it tricky to distil what the novel’s message actually is. 

Is it that Gatsby is a good person, especially cast against the corrupt old money?  

This analysis isn’t wrong, and it actually works well with a lot of textual evidence. Where Nick resents the Buchanans, he feels sympathy for Gatsby. He explicitly says, “they’re a rotten crowd…you’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.” Maybe love was an honourable goal compared to money, which ostensibly makes you “cruel” and “careless”. 

I wouldn’t say he was cruel, but this reading is complicated by how he can be careless, choosing not to care about Daisy’s agency, and letting his desires overtake these considerations. 

Is it that Gatsby and his desire for Daisy were corrupted by wealth despite his good intentions? 

There’s also evidence to suggest wealth corrupts—Nick describes it as “foul dust” that “preyed” on Gatsby, eroding his good character and leaving behind someone who resembles the vacuous elite. Although love might’ve been an honourable goal, it got diluted by money. 

Gatsby’s paradigm for understanding the world becomes driven by materialism, and he objectifies Daisy. He starts trying to buy something that he originally didn’t need to buy—Daisy’s love. She certainly didn’t fall in love with this man who owned a mansion and a closet full of “beautiful shirts.” Thus, Gatsby is a sympathetic product of a system that was always stacked against him (a poor boy from North Dakota). Capitalism, right?

Is it that capitalist America provides nothing for people to pursue except for wealth, and therefore little reason for people to feel hope?

Past the basics: structural economic tension and the doomed American Dream

Now we want to start thinking beyond the characters (e.g. if Gatsby is a good person or not) and also factor in their social, historical, political and economic context (e.g. if he was doomed to begin with by a society driven by money). This subheading does sound a bit much, but we’ll break it down here. 

A key part of this novel is the American Dream, the idea that America is a land of freedom and equal opportunity, that anyone can ‘make it’ if they truly try. Value is placed on upward social mobility (moving up from a working-class background) and economic prosperity (making $$), which defined much of the Roaring 20s…

…for some. 

For many others, there was significant tension between these lofty values and their lived reality of life on the ground. As much as society around them was prospering, they just couldn’t get a piece of the pie, and this is what makes it structural—as hard as George Wilson might work, he just can’t get himself out of the Valley of Ashes and into wealth. Indeed, you can’t achieve the Dream without cheating (as Gatsby did). 

So, there’s this tension, this irreconcilable gap between economic goals and actual means. Through this lens, the tragedy of The Great Gatsby multiplies. It’s no longer just about someone who can’t buy love with money—it’s about how nobody’s dreams are really attainable. Not everyone can get money, and money can only get you so far. Everyone is stuck, and the American Dream is basically just a myth. 

Thus, the novel could be interpreted as a takedown of capitalist America, which convinced people like Gatsby that the answer to everything was money, and he bolted after the “green light” allure of cold, hard cash only to find out that it wasn’t enough, that it wasn’t the answer in the end.  (.

Consider what kind of message that sends to people like the Wilsons—if money can’t actually buy happiness, what good is it really to chase it? And remember that Gatsby had to cheat to get rich in the first place. 

Is [the novel’s message] that capitalist America provides nothing for people to pursue except for wealth, and therefore little reason for people to feel hope?

You tell me.

Prompt: what does Fitzgerald suggest about social stratification in the 1920s?

Whenever you get a new essay topic, you can use LSG’s THINK and EXECUTE strategy , a technique to help you write better VCE essays. If you’re unfamiliar with this strategy, then check it out in How To Write A Killer Text Response .

Let’s try applying this to a prompt. I’ll italicise the key points that have been brought up throughout this post. 

Firstly, social stratification clearly divided society along economic lines . This could be paragraph one, exploring how class separated the Buchanans and Wilsons of the world, and how their lifestyles were so completely different even though they all lived in the prosperity of the Roaring 20s . George Wilson was “worn-out” from work, but he still couldn’t generate upward social mobility for his family, stuck in the Valley of Ashes. Conversely, Tom Buchanan is born into a rich family with his beach-facing mansion and polo ponies . Colour is an important symbol here—the Valley is grey, while East Egg is filled with colour (a green light here, a “blue coupe” there…).

The next paragraph might look at the cultural dimension , exploring how you just can’t buy a way of life. This might involve analysing Gatsby’s wealth as deluding him into thinking he can “repeat the past” by buying into the life(style) of old money . This is where Fitzgerald disillusions us about the American Dream —he presents a reality where it isn’t possible for anyone to ‘make it’, where the Buchanans still treat you with scorn even if you’re just as wealthy. Gatsby’s dishonesty is ultimately a shallow one—try as he might, he just cannot fit in and win Daisy back.

Finally, we should consider the moral dimension —even though the wealthier socioeconomic classes enjoyed more lavish, luxurious lifestyles, Fitzgerald also argued that they were the most morally bankrupt. Money corrupted the wealthy to the point where they simply did not care about the lives of the poor, as seen in the Buchanans’ response to Myrtle’s death. Even Gatsby had to compromise his integrity and deal in shady business in order to get rich—he isn’t perfect either. Social stratification may look ostentatious and shiny on the outside, but the rich are actually portrayed as shallow and corrupt. 

A good essay on this novel will typically combine some of these dimensions and build a multilayered analysis. Stratification, love, wealth, morality—all of these big ideas can be broken down in terms of social, economic, cultural circumstances, so make sure to consider all angles when you write. 

Have a go at these prompts!

1. Nick is biased in his assessment of Gatsby—both of them are no better than the corrupt, wealthy Buchanans. Do you agree?

2. In The Great Gatsby , money is a stronger motivating factor than love. Do you agree?

3. Daisy Buchanan is more innocent than guilty—explore this statement with reference to at least 2 other characters. 

4. What does Fitzgerald say about happiness in The Great Gatsby ?

5. Is money the true antagonist of The Great Gatsby ?

6. The women of The Great Gatsby are all victims of a patriarchal society. To what extent do you agree? (Hint: are they all equally victimised?)

Challenge: According to Fitzgerald, what really lays underneath the façade of the Roaring 20s? Make reference to at least 2 symbols in The Great Gatsby . (Hint: façade = “an outward appearance that conceals a less pleasant reality” – think about things like colours, clothes, buildings etc.)

The Ultimate Guide to VCE Text Response

How To Write A Killer Text Response Study Guide

How to embed quotes in your essay like a boss

How to turn your Text Response essays from average to A+

5 Tips for a mic drop worthy essay conclusion

The Importance of the Introduction

When Lisa suggested that I blog about what teachers want in their students my immediate response was “Don’t we all want the same things!” We want our students to exhibit the insight and dedication that signals a top class learner. Additionally, it is obvious that teachers want students who are interested in the subject. Interested students make interesting lessons.

However, in my pondering on this question I have realised that for me students who are willing to engage with the text and commit to the task are always preferable.

Especially in English your teachers are looking for your willingness to explore your own ideas rather than rehash what others think. Your fresh perspective is welcome in a world where it’s all been said before… (and again!)

Another thing I like to find in a student is a unique style. There’s something sincere and credible about writing that speaks with its own distinct timbre, its individual structure and its authentic voice. This is the sort of writing that has you wanting to read on rather than doggedly plodding along to the end wishing that they had stuck to the lower word limit.

I can be a touch (*ahem*) pedantic and traditional in my views. I mean I love a page that is neatly written in a legible well-formed hand. There’s no chance of missing your meaning when your teacher can see what you’re saying. And something I instil in my students if they have not come to me already equipped with it is the ability to write on alternate lines only – I need a place to comment. You need a place to edit and this layout guards against sensory overload for your marker. Being willing to pay attention to apparently trivial details like this is the difference between a good student and a top student.

10 popular questions from VCE students answered by a VCE teacher

1. My teacher says I have problems with my expression. What can I do to fix this?

Lisa has already posted one of the best ways to fix your expression: that is to read it aloud. The natural rhythms of your expression will be clearer to you and you will find that your ‘mouth’ often makes corrections as you articulate your prose.

Another excellent way to find your voice is to read quality writing. Make it a habit to read a few pages every day. You can use the books on the VCE reading lists, you can go to your local library, find classics online and look at the opinion columns in the city newspapers. The more you read the better you will be at phrasing your ideas succinctly.

2. Teachers often say, “you need to develop your essay more”. What does this really mean?

This means that you look beyond what the topic statement or prompt demands that you address and explore what it invites you to consider.

Too many students are content to skim along the surface of the text. Take a deep breath and dive right into the depths of the ideas and points of views that are proposed in each text.

Formulate your own ideas and then develop them: explain and elaborate. Pick a thematic concern in one of your texts and follow its progress through the text; that way you will understand it with greater awareness of the author’s intentions.

3. In regards to Text Response, should students be ready to write on both their texts for the exam?

I would encourage students to be prepared for both texts. Apart from the extra analysis practice you get by preparing for both texts, you can never be 100% sure that you have adequately covered all options for the type of reading and responding topic you may face.

However, if you know your text intimately, if you have explored its nuances thoroughly and are so familiar with its narrative that it’s like your best friend then, yes, going into the exam with the plan of responding to one text will be possible.

4. Is it important to make my essay ‘sound’ good by using ‘sophisticated’ language?

One of the criteria for a successful response and a regularly commented upon aspect of a successful essay is your ability to show “strong language skills”.

Having a broad vocabulary base – a word bank – will enable you to express your ideas fluently and with eloquence. Additionally, used appropriately (no Malapropisms please like the student who wrote that “parents these days pamper to their children’s every desire”) some sophisticated words will add gloss to your piece. Think of BIG words as the seasoning of your essay – there to enhance, to titillate your reader to continue, not to overpower her. This is definitely a case where  “less is more”. A little advanced vocabulary adds depth and interest; too much and meaning is sacrificed to effect.

5. In regards to Writing in Context, which is the easiest form to score well in? (for example: short story, essay, poem, speech etc.)

Note: This question is no longer relevant to the current English study design.

No one form is easier than another – it depends on the strength of the individual student. Find your strengths and cater to them. Perhaps you are skilled at taking a stance and validating that position with reasoned and logical rhetoric. If so then you should consider a form of the persuasive genre. If you are an adept storyteller with a flair for creating believable characters then opt for a type of creative response.

The way to excel is more about your authenticity as a writer rather than the type of text you produce.  

6.In regards to Writing in Context, would it be best to stick to a conventional essay structure or write  in the form of a hybrid? (for example, merging creative with expository writing.)

This reminds me of how subjective the marking process can be. I’m not a fan of hybrids, although according to the assessors’ comments there have been some successful results by students who choose to take this approach.

I think the hybrid type of response is better suited to the practiced, confident and polished writers amongst you.

Again, your score won’t depend on the form in which you decide to write your piece but on the degree to which you satisfy the criteria.

7. How should I prepare for the exam?

You should prepare for the exam by reading and rereading, watching and watching again, thinking and challenging those thoughts. You should do this until you come to a point where you know the text so thoroughly that you are equipped with enough knowledge about the text to enable you to respond to any topic with finesse.

You should discuss the texts with your friends, your fellow students, your teachers and your tutors.

You should look at study guides and compare your ideas to those you find in the many guides available.

You should brainstorm topics and write some full-length essays under exam conditions.

8. During the exam, ideally which essays should be approached first, second and last, and why?

There’s no set way of doing the exam. Some students like to attack the part of the exam that they are most confident about first – that can save valuable time for the more challenging section. Do it the way that you feel more comfortable with.

Others find it more useful to do the hardest first and get it out of the way. One successful student I know wrote half of each essay in order and then went back and finished each. Only attempt this approach if you are super confident about your voice and your capability for each section.

9. How can I avoid ‘retelling the plot’?

Only tell the story when it is essential for explanation and elaboration. A great tip was passed on to me by a student who attends one of the bigger boys schools: to test if you are telling the story see how many of your sentences express an opinion – the key word here is opinion, obviously.

Assume that your teachers and markers know the text and use the events from your selected novels, plays or films to validate your ideas. You are required to make relevant textual reference in your discussion as a means of evidencing your thoughts, so you cannot omit all elements of the narrative – just be fussy about what you include.

10. How can I make my conclusions more interesting?

A conclusion should be just what its name implies – it should show the position that you have reached having explored the topic (question, statement, media text). One of the most tedious ways to conclude is the one in which you summarise what you have already written. Another no-no is the restatement of your introduction.

You should make your conclusion show what you have deduced after your exploration of the required task. It is appropriate and useful to comment on authorial message in the conclusion. Just this one amendment from the tired old approach will raise your score.

This guide was written by a past VCE teacher who wishes to remain anonymous. Thank you ‘VF’ for your expert advice!

[Video Transcript]

‍ Hey guys. So previously I've done a video where I talked about how to write a thousand word, a thousand, a thousand-worded essay, and one hour. And so that segues into this particular video where I'm talking about writing three essays in three hours. So if you haven't watched that video, then I'll pop it up in the comment. I'll pop it up in the card up above. I would recommend you go watch that first before you watch this, because pretty much all of the concepts that I talk about in that video, uh, I just expected details that you should know for this video. So instead of actually breaking down the essays as I did in the previous video, what I'm going to do this time is talk more so about, you know, how to actually write three essays in three hours and just not get burnt out and not die, basically. ‍ Yeah, it's that serious. So I've got a few tips for you guys, but I'll keep this short. First thing is that yes, you do want to practice at least one time writing three essays in three hours. And the reason why I say that is because inevitably there will come times where one essay will kind of overlap into another hour. And you just want to ensure that you can know how to handle those situations when we're practicing in one hour blocks. I think it's fantastic to make sure that we can do that, but then kind of like three hours and three essays is another ballgame altogether. So I would recommend at least practicing once sitting down somewhere and just smashing out the three hours worth of work, just so that you know exactly what it's going to feel like when you go into the exam. Now, most schools will actually offer a, like a mock exam for you to do so that literally could be your one practice that you just need. But if you were like me, you might want to do it twice. So in your own time, kind of print off your own exam paper and go ahead and just set aside three hours and just do it that way. The second thing is I heavily emphasized doing reading time. So reading time is pretty much your mental thinking game going strong. And this is where a lot of your pre-work will be done before we actually go into the essays themselves. So make sure you practice reading time. It's 15 minutes before the actual exam, but in that 15 minutes, you can plan three of your essays and you can look up in your dictionary, any key words that you might want to define, or you could even look up the dictionary and try to find synonyms for particular keywords. So what I mean by that is when you open up a dictionary and you look up that word inside the dictionary, often the definition for it will have synonyms for it. So that's like my little hack that I had when I was at school. And then the last thing I would say is just make sure you know what to do if you go over time. So, like I mentioned before, there may be situations where, you know, worst case scenario, you don't finish your essay in time. And that could be because of many reasons. But first thing for you to remember is if you're running over time, sacrifice your conclusion first, do not sacrifice your third body paragraph. I think mostly what happens is students will kind of be somewhere in the third body paragraph for that essay, but rather than skipping that and just do it a little bit of a mess to finish it up and then going into the conclusion, finish off your third body paragraph. And then just forget about the conclusion. The reason why I say that is because a conclusion is basically just the summary of what your entire essay is about. It's not really supposed to be, to add in any new information where as your third body paragraph. You're still explaining your ideas. You're still elaborating and discussing the prompt itself. So that is way more important to get you the marks that you need than a conclusion. The next thing I would do if you're running behind is save a proofreading until very last. So in the last video I talked about doing proofreading last five minutes of every essay. But if you do not have time for that later, leave all your proofreading until the very end and, and you might find that you only have five minutes, it's true proofread all of your essays, but at least you kind of have that reassurance was that you made yourself more time to write beforehand. And so if you literally find yourself writing right up until the last minute and you can't perforate fine sacrifice that too. ‍ Now last thing is, let's just say that you have sacrificed your conclusion and you're still writing your third body paragraph right up until the very last minute. You still have at least half a paragraph to go, but you know, the first hour is over and you need to move onto your second essay. I feel like you can either approach this two ways. The first way is just finish it off, but then move on to the next one as quick as possible. And obviously your hope there is that you will finish the second essay in time within that hour. So that by the time you get to your thing, essay, you are on track again. Right? But in the other alternative that you could do, and probably one that I via towards a little bit more is just stop your third paragraph. Okay? You still have maybe five more sentences you still want to write, but just move onto your next one. I think that's kind of important because what happens is once we start running into the next hour, you will find that with your first essay, you'll run maybe five minutes into your second hour, but then you might find that you run 10 minutes into the third hour with your second essay leaving only 15 minutes to finish your third essay. And that might not be like what you want. And you might know that you just won't be able to achieve that because the third essay is maybe the hardest one that you left to last. And that's the one that usually takes you the longest. So yeah, like these are just thoughts and considerations for you guys to take away with whatever you guys do. I think just be strategic. Think about these things beforehand, because they are things that could trip you up when you are in the exam, you're stressed, you're anxious, you're under time pressure and you just need to get things done. It might kind of make you do like bad decisions or you might do something out of the ordinary that you normally wouldn't do. But if you think about these things beforehand and think about, okay, this is what I'm going to do. If this situation occurs, then at least you kind of have some control over what's happening. And that gives you a little bit of reassurance. That is it from me. I wanted to let you guys know that because we are approaching the end of year. And I know that you guys might not need English help from me very shortly, especially when you're in year 12. I wanted to let you guys know that I do have a personal YouTube channel as well. So that's just linked up above for you. And also in the description box below. If you're interested in following me there, then go ahead and subscribe. I would really love to see you guys there and just be able to still have the connection with you guys. You know, it'd be nice to not only just have you guys on board with me for a year, and then you guys kind of disappear and do your own thing, I'd still really love to stay in contact and be able to hear how you guys are going to once you finish school. So I will see you guys next time. Bye!

Updated on 11/12/2020

• Introductions
• Themes in Ransom and The Queen
• Similarities and Differences
• Literary and Cinematic Techniques in Ransom and The Queen
• Essay Topics for Ransom and The Queen
• Resources for Ransom and The Queen

1. Introductions

Set during the Trojan War, one of the most famous events in Greek mythology, David Malouf’s historical fiction Ransom seeks to explore the overwhelming destruction caused by war , and the immense power of reconciliation . Drawing on The Iliad , the epic poem by Homer, Malouf focuses on the events of one day and night, in which King Priam of Troy travels to the enemy Greek encampment to plead with the warrior Achilles to release the body of Priam’s son, Hector. Maddened by grief at the murder of his friend Patroclus, Achilles desecrates the body of Hector as revenge. Despite Achilles’ refusal to give up Hector’s body, Priam is convinced there must be a way of reclaiming the body – of pitting new ways against the old, and forcing the hand of fate. Malouf’s fable reflects the epic themes of the Trojan War, as fatherhood , love , grief , and pride are expertly recast for our times.

To learn more, head over to our Ransom Study Guide (which covers themes, characters, and more).

Set in the weeks leading up to and after the infamous death of Princess Diana in 1997, The Queen captures the private moments of the monarchy's grief and loss , and Queen Elizabeth II's inner conflict as she attempts to keep her private and public affairs separate.

The film opens with Tony Blair's "landslide victory" in the election as the "youngest Prime Minister in almost two hundred years", preempting viewers of the "radical modernisation" that's to come as he takes the reign. Juxtaposed with Blair's introduction is the stoic Queen Elizabeth II, residing in Buckingham Palace serenaded by bagpipes, in a ritual unchanged since Queen Victoria, immediately establishing the entrenched traditional values she represents. Princess Diana’s sudden death at the hands of relentless paparazzi results in turmoil in both the lives of those in the monarchy and adoring British citizens who mourn for the loss of the “people's princess". As days ensue with no public response from the Royal Family, the British people grow in disdain towards the authority , demanding a more empathetic response. Caught between the people and the monarchy is Blair, who sees the Royal Family’s public image suffer as a result of inaction.

Despite heavy resistance from the Queen, he eventually encourages her to surrender old royal protocols and adopt a more modern approach to meet public expectation: to fly the flag at half-mast, hold a public funeral, and publicly grieve for the loss of Princess Diana – all in all, to show the people that the monarchy cares. The Queen’s decision to accept Blair’s advice ultimately reconnects her with the British people and restores the Royal Family’s reputation amongst the public.

Together, Ransom and The Queen showcase the challenges involved in leadership roles : the inner conflict that leaves these individuals torn between their private and public demands . More on this in the next section.

2. Themes in Ransom and The Queen ‍

Parenthood and leadership.

In both texts, deaths act as a catalyst for both Priam and the Queen’s personal change – Priam’s son Hector, and the Queen’s, ex-daughter-in-law, Princess Diana.

In Ransom , we learn of the familial sacrifice Priam has needed to make as a leader . His separation from loved ones is expected as he has been ‘asked to stand…at a kingly distance from the human, which in [his] kingly role…[he] can have no part in'. Up until Hector’s death, Priam has been removed from paternal experiences, a sad truth when he admits that his relationships with his children are merely ‘formal and symbolic,’ and a part of the ‘splendour and the ordeal of kingship'. Unlike his wife Hecuba, whose grief is assailed by intimate moments with her children as she recalls, ‘Troilus was very late in walking…I was in labour for eighteen hours with Hector', Priam is unable to recall these private memories . Despite what would ordinarily be experiences shared by both father and mother, Priam cannot echo his wife’s grief to the same extent as these experiences have not been ‘in his sphere’ and he is even ‘unnerved’ by them. Malouf demonstrates how Priam’s royal obligations have suffocated his role as a father, and consequentially, he has been unable to connect with his family in the way he would desire to.

While Priam’s overt expressiveness in his limitations as a father may sway empathy from Ransom readers, Queen Elizabeth’s stoicism at first makes her appear cold-hearted and unfeeling. Her reaction to Prince Charles’ desire to fly a private jet to see Diana in hospital (‘Isn’t that precisely the sort of extravagance they always attack us for?…this isn’t a matter of state.’) is one from a leader's mindset - she's more concerned of the media’s reaction, rather than offering familial care and concern. However, as the film unfolds, viewers come to understand that her stoicism doesn’t necessarily come about because of her own personal choice , but rather, because her leadership role demands it of her.

TIP: Save the words ‘stoicism’ and ‘stoic’ to use in your essay. These words describe someone who experiences suffering but doesn’t openly express it.

We see the Queen’s quiet intentions to protect her grandchildren – ‘I think the less attention one draws to [Diana’s death], the better…for the boys’ – yet her silence is the inadvertent cause of public scorn. As such, Frears doesn’t make a villain out of the Queen, someone who on the outside may seem unfeeling and apathetic, but encourages viewers to see her from a unique perspective – a woman who struggles to manage her identity in both the private and public light.

It is only when Priam and the Queen detach themselves from their traditional roles that we see a change for the better in both of their personal journeys. Priam’s removal of his ‘jewelled amulet [and] golden armbands’ is symbolic of his shedding of the royal weight, and paving way for his step into a paternal role. Likewise, the Queen’s physical distancing from Buckingham Palace, an iconic symbol for tradition , into the public sphere where she mingles with the British people enables her to finally play the role of a grandmother. Both texts show how parenthood can lead to a more enriched human experience. Malouf finally portrays Priam as a happy man when he has the vision to be remembered in his legacy for his role as a father first, then as a king. Likewise in The Queen, her highness’ public mourning connects her with her people , and brings her joy and delight at last.

Tradition, Change, and the New

Both texts explore the challenging tug and pull between upholding traditions and making way for the new.

As humans, we cherish traditions because they are customs or beliefs that have been passed on from generation to generation. They have sentimental value, and by continuing on these traditions, our actions show that we respect the path our elders have laid for us. Tradition is not necessarily depicted in a negative light in either texts, but rather, shown to have its place. The Queen’s resistance against sailing the flag at half mast is out of deference for her elders. Even Somax’s casual storytelling about his daughter-in-law’s griddlecakes is customary, as each time his son would ‘set up the stones’ and her ‘quick and light…flipping’ of the cakes. However, Frears and Malouf both assert that adaptability in upholding tradition is also needed in order for us to grow and develop as humans.  

The new is not depicted as an experience one should fear, but rather, an experience one should approach with curiosity . As Malouf writes, ‘[Priam] saw that what was new could also be pleasurable'. The following positive expressions from the king ‘chuckling’ and ‘smiling’ echo the sentiment that while humans naturally resist change, embracing it is often beneficial to our lives. To be meta, Ransom is the retelling of the Trojan events, but Malouf adds to this tradition with a fresh perspective on the story.

Frears and Malouf both demonstrate that change is often propelled into possibility through the support and urging of others . Priam’s vision for his journey is instilled by the goddess Iris, who comes to him in a dream. His consequential journey is supported by Somax, whose ordinary everyday experiences teach Priam more about fatherhood than he had learnt as a father himself. Meanwhile, Achilles drags Hector’s body day after day, with no intention of change until Priam suddenly appears in his camp. Both texts highlight the influence those surrounding us can have on our personal change.

3. Similarities and Differences

At LSG, we use the CONVERGENT and DIVERGENT strategy to help us easily find points of similarity and difference. This is particularly important when it comes to essay writing, because you want to know that you're coming up with unique comparative points (compared to the rest of the Victorian cohort!). I don't discuss this strategy in detail here, but if you're interested, it's worth checking out my How To Write A Killer Comparative ebook to see how you can really set yourself apart and ace Comparative writing. I use this strategy throughout my discussion of themes above and techniques in the next section. To help you get started, here are some questions to get you thinking about the similarities and differences between the two texts:

• Public vs. Private Spheres: how is public vs. private life portrayed in either texts?
• Stories and Storytelling: who tells the story in either texts? Is there power in storytelling? Why do humans share stories?
• Grief, Death, and Loss: How do humans deal with death? What emotions do we experience?

4. Literary and Cinematic Techniques in Ransom and The Queen

Opening portrayals of queen elizabeth and priam.

When Charles consoles Prince William and Harry after informing them of their mother’s death, Queen Elizabeth peers inwards from outside the room, distant and removed from her family. The enclosed frame of the door only serves to heighten her isolation from her family as she is pained by the ‘unrestrained intimacy and affection’ between the boys and their father, something she is unable to partake in. Her face half-covered by the shadows stresses how her familial experience only occurs from afar as she prioritises her role as her highness. Internal change, at least at this point in the film, has yet to begin.

Meanwhile in Ransom , Priam’s journey of personal change is established immediately as he realises that he needs to move beyond this ‘brief six feet of earth he moves and breathes in'. The finite space he has become accustomed to now almost represents (and this may be an intense interpretation) a jail cell in which he as a father, as a human being, has been incarcerated in. He is ready to pursue a new identity beyond just that as a king. Both Ransom and The Queen showcase the sacrifices made by both leaders, and the rigid, almost-dehumanising expectations that are set upon them when they take reign. Both texts encourage their audience to empathise with the leaders , for the challenges they face in their unique positions.

The Queen Film Techniques

I created an in-depth video on the first 20 or so minutes of The Queen you'd might find helpful. Have a watch and see whether you missed out on any film techniques:

[Video Transcription]

To begin with, we have this quote that is displayed at the very start of the film, and it says,

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown,"

and it's spoken by Henry IV Part II. So, the Part II gives me an indication that this is a quote from some way in Shakespeare's texts. If I then go on Google and actually have a look and type up this quote, then I know for sure that it is indeed from Henry IV Part II, a text and play that was written by William Shakespeare. So, I'm telling you these things because this is actually how I would go on to learn information about the film. I don't just automatically know for sure that it is from this particular text that Shakespeare wrote up. So, I want to ensure that I'm right by going and having a look at Google.

Quotes at the start of any film, at the start of any book, usually have importance to them and they usually should give you an insight as to what's to come. And, for me, I find when I look at this particular quote, it definitely links to the themes of leadership, of motherhood, parenthood, and of perhaps the sacrifices that the queen has needed to make in order to lead her nation. So, with this particular quote, I would write it down somewhere and keep it in mind as you're watching the remainder of the film, because you'll see those themes come to life and have a better understanding of what this quote is talking about.

So, immediately, this film opens up with a news presenter talking about Tony Blair going to the election polls. It's displayed as footage on a TV screen. This gives us insight into a couple of different things. Firstly, it gives us context. The second thing is that it's displayed on a TV and it's broadcasted by a news channel. And, as you probably know, the media, the paparazzi, and just the entire culture of representing news during this time is something that will be heavily explored throughout this film. Especially because it may or may not have led to the death of Princess Diana.

So, again, contextually, it gives us an idea that around this time, the news media was quite overwhelming and omnipresent, which means that it was sort of just everywhere. It was always around. It's sort of no different from today, but there's a reason why they establish it as an opening shot. And that's just sort of give us as viewers an understanding that the news has a big play in what's going to happen in the remainder of this film.

So, I really liked the quote,

"We're in danger of losing too much that is good about this country, as it is,"

that's spoken by the painter, who's drawing a portrait of the queen. This, again, sort of establishes that idea of change immediately at the beginning of the film, or should I say, resistance to change. So, it's already sort of outlining the path that this film is about to take.

Again, I really like this quote,

"The sheer joy of being partial."

So, from the onset with the queen, I think it's important to understand that we don't villainise her, or at least the director doesn't villainise her. He portrays her as a human being, as somebody who is in this position of the queen, which has a lot of weight upon it. And you can tell that she's all glammed up and she's fulfilling her role as the queen, but she's admitting that she envies us as everyday citizens being able to vote, to be able to have an opinion, and just go to the booths. To me, this establishes her as somebody who I empathise with, or sympathise with even.

I think this part with the music in the background and how the queen breaks the fourth wall. So, the fourth wall is basically when any character inside a film actually looks directly at the camera, at you, as the audience. And, to me, this gives me a sense of joy. It makes me feel like it's quite funny, the way that she's looking at us, especially with the...and again, this sort of reiterates my idea that we're not supposed to look at the queen as some evil or some cold-hearted person who is unfeeling for Diana's death later on, but that she's just like one of us and she can participate in a joke and we come to see this in a little bit.

So, in the next scene, we have a wide shot of Buckingham Palace, and in the background, you can hear bagpipes playing. This is something called diegetic sound. Diegetic sound is when you have sounds that come directly from the world in the film. So, the bagpipes sort of establish this sense of tradition. Everything in the scene represents tradition. Buckingham, Palace, the flag, the bagpipes, and that as an early shot of this film sort of shows us the entrenched tradition that exists. That nothing has changed as of yet, and things as sort of going on as they've always had.

Again, Frears is trying to show us the human side of the queen. And so that's why we've got the shot of her waking up in bed. She's all cuddled up and snuggled up in warm and comfy bedding. And it shows that she's vulnerable, in a way. And this is important for us as viewers, as we come to understand her inner thoughts and feelings later on.

So, immediately when the queen wakes up, she has a pile of newspapers in front of her. That adds, again, to that sense of omnipresent media. It's all around us, at least in that period of time.

This time, we have archival footage. So, archival footage is footage that has been taken from that period of time and placed into this film. It adds to the film's sense of authenticity, the fact that it's based off historical offense.

I really like this shot as the queen and Robin walking down the hallway to meet Tony Blair. This is a great snapshot and a great mise-en-scene. And mise-en-scenes, basically, to me anyway, it's when you pause the screen and it's everything that's inside that shot from props, in the foreground, in the background, what the person is wearing, or what the characters are wearing. So, with this particular art, we can not only see the two characters, but we can also see everything that's in the background.

And again, this really adds that sense of tradition because you've got all these paintings from probably famous people back in the day, or ancestors of the monarchy, and then you've got Robin saying he's promising a constitutional shake up, the first one in 300 years, and the queen saying, "Oh, you mean he's going to try and modernise us?" This is a great juxtaposition between the new coming in versus the old.

When Robin makes the joke about Tony Blair's wife having a curtsy that's described as shallow, it's humorous, it's funny, and the queen laughs as a result. The humor that's speckled throughout this film, I think really helps to lighten up the situation, but also to again, show us that the queen is human and that she can enjoy a joke.

I think this is a great snapshot as well. So, we've got the camera looking down at Tony Blair and his wife. When a camera does look down at an object or character, it gives us, as the audience, a sense that that person or character is inferior or they're not in a position of control. And it ties in with the fact that this is Tony Blair's first day in Buckingham Palace as a prime minister and he's only just onboarding the role.

So, in terms of him versus the queen or the monarchy, which is symbolised by everything around him, the setting that he is encompassed in, it shows that he really isn't the one who's playing the field here. He's not the one who is in charge. I love that we've got one of the queen's men giving them rules on what they need to do.

So, we're slowly walking up the stairs towards the queen who is in position of power. So, the staircase is quite symbolic.

Another important thing to know is that Mrs. Blair is actually accompanying the prime minister this first time round that he goes to Buckingham Palace. It shows that he is nervous, he said it himself, but he's not entirely comfortable with his role yet. So he needs the support of his wife. This is in comparison with later in the film at the very end, actually, where Tony Blair goes to Buckingham Palace himself and conducts a meeting with the queen, very similar to the one that he's doing now.

This shot where we've got Mrs. Blair sitting opposite the guard at quite a distance adds to the sense of awkwardness, and it's paralleled with the sense of openness between the queen and the prime minister as well. So, it shows that we've got the old and the new sort of coming together and sort of not really gelling.

Something to keep an eye on is parallels in the film. It's always a really good idea to compare the start and end of this particular film, because we've got such similar scenarios in meaning at the start of the film and in meaning at the end of the film. What you'll notice in this particular scene is that they don't appear in the same shot. They sit opposite one another and one shot on Tony Blair, one shot on the queen, and it sort of goes back and forth. And that's to heighten that sense of distance between them. That sense of unfamiliarity. This is in comparison with the end of the film when we see the two of them walking down the hallway together, out into the garden as equal.

Here's another great shot. So, to add on the idea of the queen having more power versus prime minister, it's quite clear here as he sits down and asks for her hand.

I love the way that Mrs. Blair walks. She's sort of like half...I don't know how you would explain her stride, but it's obviously not one that is aligned with how the queen walks, which is quite poised and quite together. Rather, Mrs. Blair's walk is sort of frumpy, it's sort of bouncy, and her arms are sort of flailing around a little bit, and so adds to that sense of new, of change, of difference. And so that adds to the story of Tony Blair and his family and what he represents as something new and different and probably unwelcome for the queen.

So, that's it, that's my analysis of the first 10 minutes or so of this film. If you're interested in a more detailed film technique analysis, I've just written a killer comparative based on Ransom & The Queen. In this, I show you film techniques that I pick out throughout watching the film, how to analyze them, and also then go on to show you how they are used in A-plus essays. I'm so confident that this study guide will be able to help you improve your understanding of both texts and get you towards that A+ for your SAC and exams.

If you're curious about what's inside the study guide and want to see if it's right for you, head on over and read a free sample to see it for yourself. I hope it gives you something to launch off. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the description box below. I have plenty of resources for you guys down there as well if you needed help for your SAC and exams and I'll catch you guys next time. Bye.

Historical Footage and Context

Based on historical events, The Queen is interspersed with real archive television footage leading to, and following Princess Diana’s death. Frears incorporates these clips to help provide viewers insight on the politics, media culture, and public reaction in 1997.

Princess Diana’s introduction through archival clips at the beginning of the film highlight her as a vulnerable individual at the mercy of oppressive and intrusive tabloid newspapers. The sweeping pan of paparazzi on the night of Diana’s death serves to emphasise the obsessive media, who at the time, were paid in excess of one million pounds for taking photos of her. Moments of her kissing on a boat are revealed to the world without any respect for her privacy. This archival footage helps viewers understand the distressing omnipresence of the media, and the turn of the public against the paparazzi and media following Diana’s death.

Likewise, Malouf uses parts of The Iliad as foundations for his novel. The original tale, written during the 8th century BC, explores in detail Achilles’  refusal to fight for his leader Agamemnon, Patroclus’ role in the war, and also the disputes between the gods as they argue over the fate of mortals. By offering a retrospective of this historical story, Malouf invites readers to better understand the Trojan War and Greek mythology, and the impact the gods had on Trojans and Greeks.

For more discussion on literary and cinematic techniques, have a look at my A Killer Comparative Guide: Ransom & The Queen . In this in-depth study guide, Angelina Xu (ATAR 99.6, 46 English study score) and I also break down 5 essay topics, providing you explanations on how to brainstorm and plan each of these essays, then convert these plans into A+ essays complete with annotations! I've dropped some sample essay topics below for you to try at home yourselves:

5. Essay Topics for Ransom and The Queen

"I told him he shouldn't change a thing." ( The Queen ) Compare how Ransom and The Queen explore resistance to change.

Compare the ways the two texts explore the efficacy of different leadership types.

Compare the ways the two texts explore the importance of storytelling.

'Wordless but not silent.’  ( Ransom ) Ransom and The Queen explore how silence can be louder than words.

"Uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.” ( The Queen ) “...the lighter role of being a man.” ( Ransom). Compare how the two texts show the burden experienced by those in leadership positions.

‍ 6. Resources for Ransom and The Queen

Ransom Study Guide

[Video] Ransom Themes (Revenge, Grief, Forgiveness) and Essay Topic Tips!

The following resources are no longer on the study design; however, you might still pick up a few valuable tips nonetheless:

Ransom and Invictus

Ransom and Invictus Prompts

[Video] Invictus and Ransom | Reading and Comparing

[Video] Ransom Literary Devices & Invictus Film Technique Comparison

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Aegis | North Harford Envirothon team wins third place…

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Aegis | North Harford Envirothon team wins third place in international competition

The event took place at Hobart and William Smith Colleges and saw participation from 49 teams representing the United States, Canada, China and Singapore, according to a news release.

Teams competed across five areas – aquatic studies, forestry, soil science and wildlife and delivered an oral presentation on this year’s special topic, “Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Future,” according to the release. North Harford’s team excelled, securing a spot among the top three for their oral presentation.

The team consisted of returning members, Blake Carberry, Madalyn Caiazzo and Anna O’Leary, along with Frank DeLucia, a senior at North Harford and Jonathan VanBuskirk, a new member and senior at North Harford, according to the release. This year’s achievement surpasses their previous 10th-place finish at last year’s event in New Brunswick, Canada.

“I couldn’t be prouder of this exceptional group of students,” Laura O’Leary, North Harford Envirothon advisor said in the release. “They combine hard work and serious training with a great deal of fun. Securing third place in an international field is truly an outstanding achievement.”

“Being in the top three was our goal, but hearing our team announced felt surreal,” Caiazzo said in the release. “All our training and preparation had finally paid off, but it took a uniquely bonded team to get there.”

The North Harford Envirothon team is eager for the county and state contests in 2025 and hopes to compete in the international competition in Alberta, Canada, according to the release.

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Category 9 minutes read

10 creative ideas for presentations

December 8, 2022

Ready to step up your presentation game? Let’s talk about creative ideas for presentations so you can deliver killer presentations every time. Whether you’re preparing a pitch deck for potential investors or onboarding new hires, you’ll need an engaging presentation to keep your audience interested. That’s right: even if you’re already a pro at public speaking, creative Powerpoint presentations can instantly upgrade your next meeting.

So, what’s the secret to creative presentations? You don’t have to spend hours on every slide, but you should design your slides to impact your audience. Well designed slides can add more power to your words, and they can make you feel more confident during presentations.

Why should you make presentations?

Creative ideas for presentations might not be easy to come by, but they’re important. Why? Presentations are all about storytelling. From business ideas to online classes, presentations offer a unique opportunity to inspire, educate, and persuade your audience.

At the same time, they’re an incredibly flexible (and cost-effective!) communication tool. Even if you’re using presentation design templates , you’ll have the flexibility to tweak the design based on your needs. This way, you can create presentations for different audiences—all while easily adding and removing information to pique your listeners’ interest.

Types of presentation slides

There are all kinds of creative ideas for presentations, but they ultimately serve a few similar purposes. Before diving into presentation design, you’ll need to choose the right slides. Remember: you need well designed slides to leave a lasting impact on your audience. Not only that, but your slides should be visually impactful, easy to understand, and convey key information in just a few words.

So, how can you choose the best slides for your next presentation? Here are some of the most common slides to inspire your presentation design.

Informative presentations

Informative presentations are educational, concise, and straight to the point. While other presentations might entertain or inspire their audience, informative presentations share information to educate their audience.

For example, you might create informative slides during an onboarding program. During new hire onboarding, HR needs to explain what benefits employees will receive, how to file complaints, where employees can find information, and other important hiring details.

Educational presentations

While informative presentations are typically used in the business world, educational presentations are usually used in academics. They’re a great communication tool for sharing ideas, detailing study results, or presenting a hypothesis.

In both in-person and online classrooms, teachers give educational presentations daily. Using beautiful presentation slides, eye-catching visuals, and fun design elements can help keep students interested while conveying key information.

Progress reports

Your business builds a new marketing strategy to achieve its long-term goals. After the newest marketing campaign starts driving results, it’s time to report on the campaign’s progress. Progress report presentations share updates, progress toward deadlines, collected data, and potential areas of improvement.

Inspirational presentations

One of the biggest examples of inspirational presentations? TEDTalks. During TEDTalks, motivational speakers inspire people to rethink their approach or change their behavior.

Most inspirational presentations aren’t as life-changing as TEDTalks, but they keep their audience engaged. For example, a company overview presentation might present information about a company, from its origins to values. Most importantly, it tells the company’s story to show listeners what the company stands for.

Infographic presentations

Whether you’re reporting marketing stats or presenting study results, infographics can be your MVP.

Simply put, an infographic is a multimedia graphic that helps you share information through beautiful designs. It’s an amazing tool for highlighting key statistics, visualizing data, and flexing your creative muscles to spark your audience’s curiosity.

Top 10 unique presentation ideas

Right, so let’s get to our creative ideas for presentations section. Most people tune out of presentations within the first 10 minutes . You need an engaging presentation that keeps your audience hooked, but finding creative ideas for presentations isn’t always easy.

The good news? Whether you’re presenting your master thesis or marketing analytics, it’s possible to create exciting presentations that don’t put your audience to sleep. Here are the best creative Powerpoint ideas to upgrade your next presentation.

1. Channel your inner minimalist

When it comes to unique presentation ideas, minimalism is one of the best ways to make an impact. The key to minimalist design is including just enough information and visual detail to keep your audience engaged. When done right, minimalist presentation slides can make your audience feel relaxed and focused.

2. Use a monochrome color palette

A monochrome color palette uses a single hue with different strengths. For example, you might create a presentation with different shades of orange. For the best results, change the background color to the palest shade, and use the strongest shade for the title. You can even make your photos match by adding an orange-tinted filter.

3. Tell an amazing story

If you want to leave a lasting impact on your audience, storytelling is the tool you need to create a memorable presentation. Sharing personal stories, whether they’re funny or inspirational, can help you connect with your audience and make your presentation more meaningful.

4. Make an impact with bold fonts

Want to draw your audience’s attention to the slide title? Use a bold, chunky font to make your title stand out (bonus points if your title is short, sweet, and straight to the point). The best presentation fonts are easy to read with minimal visual decorations and sharp corners.

5. Experiment with different textures

Mix up your presentation design with different textures, like scrunched paper or textile backgrounds. Here, you might experiment with different types of backgrounds to match your topic. For example, if you’re creating a back-to-school presentation , use notebook paper to match your student’s note-taking style.

6. Use a geometric background

A geometric background can add a pop of color to your presentation without distracting your audience. If you’re feeling bold, use dynamic titled polygons to create movement. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a softer vibe, use circular backgrounds to infuse your slides with creativity.

7. Explain complex concepts with mind maps

Presenting study results? Reporting marketing stats? Instead of playing it safe with snore-worthy slides, keep your presentation fresh with mind maps. By creating mind maps, you’ll be able to showcase complicated information in a visually impactful way.

8. Engage your audience with questions

Make your presentation more interactive by asking questions to your audience. For example, to keep your slides minimal, try displaying only the question on the slide. Once the audience has pitched in their opinions and answers, you can click to the next slide to reveal the actual answer.

9. Stay on brand

Once you’ve captured your audience’s attention, you need a consistent design to keep everyone on the same page. When designing your slides, use your brand’s style guidelines to choose the right color scheme, font styles, and design elements.

10. Replace bullet points with fun design elements

Let’s face it: bullet points can get boring, especially if you’re using them on every slide. Instead of using the same design over and over, create fun slides by replacing boring bullet points with fun designs, like icons, stickers, and pictograms.

Apply creative ideas for presentations through Picsart

Now that we’ve learned all about creative ideas for presentations, it’s time to put that knowledge into practice. An amazing presentation can bring your story to life, helping you keep your audience engaged with pro-grade slides.

Even if you’re not a seasoned designer, you can add fun design elements, bold color palettes, and attention-grabbing visuals with Picsart. Here’s how to bring your creative vision to life with a professional slideshow.

On the web:

1. Open the Picsart Slideshow Maker and start a new project.

2. Choose the desired size for your slideshow. Then, click Upload to upload your own photo or video.

Or, you can explore photos and videos from the Picsart library.

3. After you’ve picked your favorite design, click Text on the left panel sidebar to add text to your slide.

4. To add music, click Audio to explore our library of #FreeToUse music.

5. Click the + button on the right panel sidebar to add a new slide.

6. When you’re finished, click Export , choose the image quality and file type, and download your slideshow.

1. Open the Picsart app and tap on the plus sign (+) to start a new project. 2. Scroll down to Video and choose Slideshow . Then, choose the pictures you’d like to include in your slideshow. Or, you can tap Search to explore the Picsart photo library. 3. After you’ve picked your photos, tap Next .

4. Choose your desired slideshow size and add transition effects to your slides. 5. Upgrade your slideshow with fun effects, music, text, and stickers to engage your audience.

Create at the Speed of Culture

Picsart is a photo and video editing platform and creative community. A top 20 most downloaded app worldwide with over 150 million monthly active users, its AI-powered tools enable creators of all levels to design, edit, draw, and share content anywhere. The platform has amassed one of the largest open-source content collections in the world, including photos, stickers, backgrounds, templates, and more. Used by consumers, marketers, content creators and businesses , Picsart tools fulfill both personal and professional design needs. Picsart has collaborated with major artists and brands like BLACKPINK, Taylor Swift, Lizzo, Ariana Grande, Warner Bros. Entertainment, iHeartMedia, Condé Nast, and more. Download the app or start editing on web today, and upgrade to Gold for premium perks!

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