Brainstorm ideas of topics you know something about and that are important to you. For instance, if you have a special pet that makes life better for you, you could tell your audience about the things your pet does. If a teacher in high school made an impression on you, you might want to talk about one or two specific things that teacher did. If you had a particularly fun job once, you could talk about some of the things that made it fun. Brainstorming should take about one hour.

Determine what kind of audience you$$ll speak to$,$ how large it is$,$ and what the occasion is$.$ For example, if you$$ve chosen to talk about your experiences with your pet, your audience could be members of a local Humane Society gathered to discuss increasing adoptions of homeless pets. If you$$ve chosen to talk about your experiences in science class, you could prepare for a speech before a group of high school students at a science fair, or for a group of teachers at an educational seminar. If you$$re going to talk about a job you had once, your audience could be made up of people who still work for the company.