Good 2-Minute Speech Topics for Students

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Written By Jim Peterson

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.

The fear of public speaking is something that a lot of people share. It’s usually named as one of the most common fears that people have. Believe it or not, the best way to conquer a fear of public speaking is to just do it—a lot. Because the more you do it, the easier it gets. Eventually, you’ll start to get a little more comfortable and it’s not a problem anymore. Believe it or not, you might actually start to enjoy it. This is one reason why it’s important for children and adolescents to give speeches in school.

The 2-Minute Speech

A 2-minute speech is a great way to ease into public speaking which is why it’s commonly used in the classroom. It’s short. It’s fast. It gives everyone in the class a chance to participate.2 minute speech topics

One thing that can help get young children and teens over their initial nervousness is to give them an interesting topic to talk about. Sometimes, it can be something that they genuinely have an interest in and might be excited to give a speech on. Or it can be something funny to help them break through their nervousness.

Topics for young children should be fun, simple, and something they can easily come up with on their own. You don’t want to give them a topic that is too difficult or requires too much preparation. Let’s face it, they’re going to be really nervous. The focus should be learning how to cope with speaking in front of a group comfortably and effectively, not necessarily on the content, subject, or topic.

Topics for teenagers and high school ESL students can be a little more personal or in depth but still needs to be a demonstrative speech, motivational speech, persuasive speech topic, an informative speech topic, or a funny impromptu speech in order to captivate the audience. Depending on the subject of the class where the student is giving the speech, the topic can loosely relate to whatever is being taught. That said, it’s important to remember that teenagers are also going to be nervous—in some cases, very nervous. Perhaps even more so than younger children because teenagers tend to worry more about what other people will think and are very concerned with fitting in.

Choosing the topic is important, especially for a 2-minute speech and will help with student progress. However, there is no point in giving a talk on Donald Trump for a few minutes if you don’t know anything about him. But don’t worry, we have some great ideas.

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List of 2-Minute Speech Topics

School-Aged Children

  1. My Favorite Animal
  2. My Favorite Stuffed Animal
  3. The Best Toy Ever
  4. My Favorite Food for Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner
  5. Something I Love To Do for Fun
  6. How to Build with Lego
  7. The Best Day of My Life
  8. The Smartest Cartoon Character
  9. The Worst Chore
  10. The Best Cookie
  11. The Best Place to Go in Summer
  12. How to Eat an Apple
  13. Why Is the Sky Blue?
  14. If I Had a Superpower
  15. A New Rule I Would Make
  16. My Favorite Cereal
  17. What Is the Best Letter of the Alphabet?
  18. Is Summer Better than Winter?
  19. When I Grow Up
  20. Best Thing to Do at Recess
  21. How to Eat Pancakes
  22. Pizza Crust: Yes or No?
  23. A Time I was Brave
  24. The Greatest Animal on the Farm
  25. My Favorite T-Shirt
  26. The Funniest Thing to Do with My Mom/Dad
  27. What Is the Best Pet?
  28. Who is My Hero?
  29. If I Had $100
  30. The Best Thing about A Farm
  31. Where Do Rainbows Come From?
  32. Why I Like Being the Oldest/Youngest Sibling
  33. How to Have Fun in the Rain
  34. The Best Thing about October
  35. The Grossest Pizza Topping
  36. The Hardest Thing I Ever Did
  37. Sandwiches: With or Without Crusts
  38. The Tastiest Fruit
  39. The Best Thing That Is the Color Red/Blue/Orange
  40. When I Learned to Tie My Shoes
  41. Creamy or Chunky Peanut Butter
  42. Why Does It Rain?
  43. What Is Thunder?
  44. Crayons or Markers: Which Are Better?
  45. How to Make Peanut Butter and Jelly
  46. The Best Thing about Having a Dog/Cat
  47. My Halloween Costume
  48. When I Learned to Ride a Bike
  49. My Best Friend
  50. How to Pick a Book to Read
  51. The Best Thing about My Mom/Dad/Sister/Brother
  52. My Favorite Ice Cream Flavor
  53. My Favorite Animal at the Zoo
  54. What Is the Best Color Apple?
  55. Ketchup On Your French Fries: Yes or No

Teenagers

  1. Teaching Grandma to Use a Smartphone
  2. How to Survive a Zombie Apocalypse
  3. Would You Rather Use Textbooks or Tablets in Class?
  4. How to Effectively Fake Being Sick
  5. The Most Annoying Thing my Mom/Dad Ever Did
  6. Prom: Yay or Nay?
  7. The Biggest Lesson I Have Learned
  8. If Time Travel Were Real
  9. The Stupidest Rule My Parents Have
  10. A Much Needed Invention
  11. Why I Love/Hate Vampires
  12. The Best Book I’ve Ever Read
  13. How to Tell a Fact from an Opinion
  14. Explaining Snapchat to Your Parents
  15. The Best App on My Phone
  16. Three Things I Can’t Live without
  17. The Best Lifehack I Ever Heard
  18. How Do I Feel when My Cell Battery is at 10%?
  19. The Best Advice I Ever Got
  20. My Favorite Sandwich
  21. My Dream Car
  22. What I’m Dreading about College
  23. Facebook vs. Twitter
  24. How Social Media Makes my Life Better/Worse
  25. How to Compose the Perfect Tweet
  26. My Favorite Snapchat Filter
  27. Best Member of my Favorite Band
  28. Greatest Song Lyrics of All Time
  29. Is there Value in Homework?
  30. Should School Start Later?
  31. Naps: Yay or Nay?
  32. iPhone vs. Android
  33. My Biggest Fear
  34. My After School Job
  35. Things I Could Have Done Instead of Preparing this Speech
  36. Pineapple on Pizza
  37. Best Toppings for a Burger
  38. If I Could Only Listen to One Song for the Rest of My Life
  39. How I Got my Driver’s License
  40. Why Video Games Are Good
  41. One Movie I Still Love from When I Was Little
  42. The First Thing I Ever Bought for Myself
  43. The Worst Superpower
  44. The Most Disgusting Household Chore
  45. If I Could Eat Only One Food for the Rest of My Life
  46. Spotify vs. Pandora
  47. Best Song to Listen to When Feeling Happy/Sad
  48. Bad Date Ideas
  49. The Greatest Purchase I Ever Made
  50. My Favorite Instagram Filter
  51. Texting or Calling?
  52. If I Had $1,000
  53. Something That Scares Me about Graduating
  54. How to Ask Someone On a Date
  55. My Favorite T-Shirt

2 Minute Speech Topics: 4 Illustrations

Speech: Cons of the War in Iraq

Main Point I Too many American troops and Iraqi civilians are killed. Time to build up the country with the help of the locals.
II The final cost of the combats are sky high and we are not able to collect those billions of dollars back. Even when we could rely on oil revenues and pay back sessions of the International Monetary Fund.
III The integrity and the world opinion of the USA is at risk if we stay. Our efforts ought to aspire sustaining democray in that nation and assist in democratic values and constituencies.

Speech: Teleworking Is a Win-Win Solution

Main Point I Reduces traffic jams in the early days of the week, and at the end of working hours at our main roads.
II Reduces transportation pollution; as there are less passenger vehicles and heavy lorries on the road that leaven CO2 emissions.
III No late or non-arrival of employees any more. It saves society billions of dollars in terms of productivity and road maintenance.
IV Reduces child day care costs when both parents are hurrying and rushing.
V More time when urgently needed for family matters, like loving, caring, gaming, experiencing what is the cloud and so on.

Speech: Political Term Limits – An Evil Necessity

I Avoid too much power in the same office of a small group of people in the long term.
II Nerds and totally incapable whimps will leave the stage after the limit.
III Career bureaucrats, media elites and professional lobby interest groups will replaced.

Speech: Online Casino Offers Are Dangerous

I Getting your winner money after you cash out is a very slow traject.
II No form of appeal against in case of a dispute about the game or rules.
III It’s very addicting and only a few people can resist the desire to try over and over again to win lost money back.
IV Your credit card balance will drop down in a snap.
V There is much more to tell about bad experiences with online casino offers, dive back into your own past perhaps …

20 thoughts on “Good 2-Minute Speech Topics for Students”

  1. I have to give a speech on Tuesday can you please assist me I was given the topic the class is the rest not the best

  2. Hey can you please help me out I’m in grade 7 I need help to right a 2 minute essay on school Thank you.

  3. There should be reserved ladies seats in public transport.yes or no??
    marks are more important than practical learning.yes or no?
    what should we do when a man or boy boards the ladies compartment in train or metro?

  4. ummmm why can’t our school just let us do our old speech instead of spending two hole hours on thinking of a new on

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