Topics to Avoid

At the beginning of every year, orators always ask the same question: "What topic should I choose this year?" While that question is difficult to answer, it may be easier to approach the subject from the opposite end - What topics should you avoid? For many different reasons, there are several topic areas that should never be brought in to the category of original oratory. In the following bullets, I will outline the topics that should never be used and why.

POLITICAL - Never, ever make an oratory topic about politics. Why? Well, for starters...no one cares. Take my views for example. I am a fiscal conservative and completely against social issues such as abortion. With that said, if you are with me, there is nothing that you need to hear from me because you already share my views. On the other hand, if you are liberal, there is nothing I can say in a ten minute speech that will change your views. If anything, I would just tick off a liberal by wasting their time. Either way, you won't score highly.

UNSOLVABLE ISSUES - I cant tell you how many lame speeches I have heard that were about solving hunger, having world peace and the worst of all...stereotypes. Let's be candid. Everyone of us stereotypes in one situation or another. For whatever reason, we all have boxes that we put people in. But we cant change that. It is passive and people are going to do whatever they want if they want to. Hence the category of unsolvable issues. In addition to being unsolvable, you sound ignorant if you think you can formulate a 10 minute blueprint for world peace.

CURRENT EVENTS - The whole point of drafting a speech is to have something that you can work with for an entire year. Current events should never be the topic or focal point of an oratory piece. Why? Well, if you were to pick something about animal cruelty last month and focused on the Vick case, great. The only problem is that in the month of august, that is already old news. Earlier today, Michael Jackson's death was ruled a homicide and by next month, that will be old news. Look back on the past few years and you hardly remember things like the Martha Stewart case. Although this may seem obvious, I have seen way too many orators make this mistake.

These are the three biggest areas to avoid. I'm sure there are others and use your responses to conjure debate...What do you think?