An IT related persuasive speech topic?

Cisco Inferno

we are about to do persuasive speeches in my speech class. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on a topic that i can use to persuade the audience. I wish to work on something i feel comfortable with.
I don't want topics thatwould sound too cliche' at the same time though.

any ideas would be appreciated.
an example would be a friend of mine doing 'why people should download music legally'.

thanks.

millworx

How about Meat Eaters vs Vegans, and why it's ok to eat meat... MMmm tastey In-N-Out burger... Thats all the persuasion you need!

Why it's better to eat organic vs non-organic?

Why g4y marriage is/isnt okay (whatever side you lean on)? Funny this board censors the word g4y.

Why universal health care would/wouldn't be benificial?

I dunno just a thought.

millworx

Wait nevermind you said IT related.. duhhh...

Hmm... Why net neutraility is bad / good.
Why people should limit cell phone use and how its harmful to your health.
Why we should ship recycled used equipment to china is bad and how it destroys the environment.

NetworkingStudent

Cisco Inferno wrote: »

we are about to do persuasive speeches in my speech class. I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on a topic that i can use to persuade the audience. I wish to work on something i feel comfortable with.
I don't want topics thatwould sound too cliche' at the same time though.

any ideas would be appreciated.
an example would be a friend of mine doing 'why people should download music legally'.

thanks.

I pasted some links below for you to look over from Toast Masters that might help you plan your speech.

I had some ideas….
Why you should use strong passwords.
Why you should use multiple passwords for different websites—think Sony breach.
Why you should back up your data/hard drive.

I would choose the topic and run it by the teacher and get his/her opinion on it before you develop it. Not only must you chose a topic you want to speak about, but it must also be a topic that your audience is interested in as well.

Toastmasters International - The Equation for Persuasion

Toastmasters International - Tips & Techniques

good luck

mattlee09

NetworkingStudent wrote: »

I pasted some links below for you to look over from Toast Masters that might help you plan your speech.

I had some ideas….
Why you should use strong passwords.
Why you should use multiple passwords for different websites—think Sony breach.
Why you should back up your data/hard drive.

I would choose the topic and run it by the teacher and get his/her opinion on it before you develop it. Not only must you chose a topic you want to speak about, but it must also be a topic that your audience is interested in as well.

Toastmasters International - The Equation for Persuasion

Toastmasters International - Tips & Techniques

good luck

I think these security related ones are definitely good - I go through the same speeches several times a day with my users

Also, as he mentioned with the multiple passwords, there have been several recent incidents in the news (and some people in your class probably have a PS3, or their children have a PS3). So it's certainly relevant, and going through these examples and how they could have been prevented will give you enough material to use (don't know what the specs of the speech are, most of mine had a min/max time allotted, something like 6-8 minutes, which can be difficult depending on the topic chosen).

msteinhilber

Seems just about anytime I have a need to spend more than $3.99 on a patch cable I need to break out persuasive speech principles...

rsutton

If you want something easy, you can pick a topic that falls in to a security best practice.

If you want something that is more challenging, and possibly more fun, you could choose something that the audience is divided on. Some IT related themes that come to mind are parental controls on computers, playing video games at work or whether users should be allowed internet access at work, P2P software, internet censorship etc.

Stiltz79

I had to do one of those in college. I did a persuasive speech against Outsourcing in the IT Industry. Got an A.

Cisco Inferno

thanks alot guys. so many great ideas. for my last speech i talked about the internet and its fiber lines stretching great distances. Ill let you guys know what i lean towards.

thanks! any more suggestions are welcomed!

Cisco Inferno

NetworkingStudent wrote: »

Why you should use multiple passwords for different websites—think Sony breach.

thank you for the info. care to explain this further?

Forsaken_GA

I personally found IT topics far too boring to present to my audience.

My persuasive speech was about why Pirates are better than Ninjas.

Cisco Inferno

i might do PC vs Mac... but its a non-it class in college and i really don't want to hurt anyone's feelings...

any last minute suggestions?

jtoast

I would do the speech on getting rid of cable/satellite television subscriptions and moving to a 100% ethernet based solution. You could get into the moral implications of file sharing vs obtaining programming legally along with the technical requirements of streaming HD video.