Persuasive Speech Topics

Below you will find some ideas for good persuasive speech topics. Use this list as a last resort, student speeches are almost always more successful when the student chooses a topic that genuinely interests them, rather than merely picking one from a list. Keep your audience and time limits in mind, as well.

  1. General education classes
  2. United Nations
  3. Coke vs. Pepsi
  4. Eating fast-food
  5. Voting
  6. Organ donation
  7. Blood donation
  8. Stem-cell research: pros and cons
  9. Educational costs
  10. Lowering the drinking age
  11. Immigration
  12. Legalizing gambling
  13. Legalizing marijuana
  14. Legalizing prostitution
  15. Smoking in public
  16. Public displays of affection
  17. Prayer in schools
  18. Seat belt laws
  19. Helmet laws
  20. Boxers vs. briefs
  21. Mandatory retirement ages
  22. Social security
  23. Speed limits
  24. Bar closing hours
  25. Smoking
  26. Airport security
  27. Open source code
  28. Ritalin
  29. Media bias
  30. Gun control
  31. Hunting
  32. Oil drilling in Alaska
  33. Alternative fuels
  34. Vegetarianism
  35. Wearing fur
  36. Animal testing
  37. Sports teams named after ethnic groups
  38. Paying college athletes: should they be paid for playing?
  39. Volunteering
  40. Speaking English in America
  41. Taking care of your teeth
  42. Privacy rights
  43. Advertising
  44. Cosmetic surgery
  45. Wal-Mart
  46. Internet dating
  47. Having pets spayed/neutered
  48. Liberal arts majors
  49. School uniforms
  50. Term limits
  51. Academic fraud
  52. College class attendance-taking
  53. Nuclear arms
  54. Microsoft
  55. Cost of prescription drugs
  56. Parental pressure on child actors and athletes
  57. Living wills
  58. Assisted suicide
  59. Public funding of sports stadiums
  60. Welfare reform
  61. Cell phones in public
  62. Personal hygiene
  63. Factory farms
  64. Organic farming
  65. Zoning laws
  66. Over-development
  67. Over-population
  68. Toll roads
  69. State vehicle inspection
  70. Title IX in sports
  71. Landfills
  72. Frivolous lawsuits
  73. Election reform
  74. Animal trapping
  75. Mandatory sentencing
  76. Littering
  77. Crying babies in public
  78. School breakfast programs
  79. Internet gambling
  80. The Patriot Act
  81. NAFTA
  82. Ford vs. Chevy
  83. SUV’s
  84. Affirmative Action
  85. TV ratings
  86. Nuclear power
  87. Corporate corruption
  88. Prison over-population
  89. Education in prisons
  90. Drinking more water
  91. E-mail SPAM
  92. Video games and children
  93. Revisionist history
  94. NC-17 movies
  95. The SAT’s
  96. Women’s rights
  97. Children divorcing their parents
  98. Adoption
  99. Reservation casinos
  100. Smog
  101. Minimum wage
  102. Labor unions
  103. The I.R.S.
  104. Socialized medicine
  105. Community College vs. Four Year College
  106. Military spending
  107. Cloning
  108. The War in Iraq
  109. Recycling
  110. Drinking and driving
  111. Ebonics
  112. Food additives
  113. Presidential pardons
  114. Are UFO’s real?
  115. Are ghosts real?
  116. Hooters
  117. Polygamy
  118. Paparazzi
  119. Steroid use
  120. Homosexuals in the military
  121. Artificial insemination
  122. Eating veal
  123. Medicare reform
  124. Gay Marriage
  125. Evolution

If you would like to see more ideas, please see 150 more below.