Know Your Topic
Clearly defining your topic sets boundaries within your talk and helps you effectively convey your message. Your topic informs the title, structure, and flow of your talk.
How Can You ‘Know’ Your Topic?
When developing a talk, defining your topic is an important step that should be done early in your process. Ask yourself these two questions:
Will I be able to choose my own topic or will it be assigned to me?
When giving a talk, you may have the flexibility to define your own topic, or you may be asked to speak on a specific topic assigned to you.
How broad or narrow should the scope of the talk be?
The scope of your talk depends on your audience. The more general their knowledge, the more broad your topic should be. Avoid technical or methodological details when speaking to a broader audience.
Before developing your talk, finalize your topic. You should be able to clearly finish the following two sentences.
My topic is ____________.
This topic is important because ______________.
I Have a Topic. Now What?
Observations can help you frame the talk to the interests of the audience. After you define your topic, reflect on the following questions. To help answer them, use research articles, social media, conferences, and your own experiences as inspiration. Your responses can build the structure and flow of your talk.
- What aspects of the topic are interest me? The audience? The field?
- What am I knowledgeable about on this topic? What do I want to learn more about? Where is my expertise?
- Have I made any observations about this topic?
Put it into Practice
Brainstorm the topic for your next talk. Use the checklist below to develop your topic.
My topic is:
- Specific. I have identified the “what” and “why.”
- Clear and concise. The topic conveys the main idea in a few sentences.