169 Five-Minute Topics for a Killer Speech or Presentation

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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.

There are pros and cons to giving a 5-minute presentation. One good thing is the length. Long presentations can easily become boring, and you have a much better chance of keeping your audience engaged from beginning to end than with a 5-minute speech.

List of Topics for a 5-Minute Speech or Presentation

5 minute speech topics

Choosing a topic is extremely important. To help you getting started, here is a list of some killer topics for 5-minute speech or presentation.

Animals

  1. Why it’s better to adopt a pet from a shelter
  2. Choosing the perfect leash for your dog
  3. What is the best food for your pet?
  4. How much exercise does your pet need?
  5. The horror of puppy mills
  6. Bringing back endangered species
  7. How long are giraffes in labor
  8. Domestication of horses
  9. Picking the right vet
  10. Sleeping with your dog
  11. Why should you get goats in pairs
  12. Ethics of zoos
  13. Bringing back endangered species
  14. The domestication of dogs
  15. How to keep a goldfish alive for a long time
  16. How to choose the right pet
  17. Why cats are so independent
  18. When to get a dog
  19. What kind of dog is best for a household with children
  20. Why therapy animals work

Education

  1. How to find the money to go to college
  2. How much control should the federal government have over curriculum design?
  3. How to choose a college
  4. Ideas for narrowing down a career choice
  5. When to declare a major
  6. Benefits of charter schools
  7. Why charter schools are bad
  8. Negative effects of school vouchers
  9. Attracting the right people to the teaching profession
  10. Discipline in the classroom
  11. Memory tricks that work
  12. Why homework is bad
  13. Should students still have to use the books in the library?
  14. Why cursive should still be taught in schools
  15. Textbooks vs. tablets
  16. Benefits of going to a trade school
  17. Are there positives to taking a gap year?
  18. The problem with low teacher pay
  19. Social media in the classroom
  20. Benefits of integrating apps into the classroom

Family

  1. The importance of attachment
  2. How to compromise on names for your kids
  3. What is the ideal age to start a family
  4. How important are grandparents
  5. Traveling with children
  6. Strategies for potty training
  7. How to help a child with nightmares
  8. Middle child syndrome
  9. How many kids should you have?
  10. How to recognize a gifted child
  11. When your child doesn’t like to eat
  12. How to encourage good eating habits
  13. When to intervene with a bully
  14. Being active in your child’s school
  15. The benefits of aunts and uncles
  16. When family falls apart
  17. The first days with a new baby
  18. When to call the doctor
  19. Caring for an ailing parent
  20. Balancing home and career

Financial

  1. When to start saving for retirement
  2. IRA vs. Roth IRA
  3. When should you start saving for your children’s college education?
  4. Crowdfunded loans vs. the bank
  5. How Kickstarter changed everything
  6. Using your HSA
  7. How to apply for a mortgage
  8. Improving your credit score
  9. How to negotiate a raise
  10. Renting vs. buying
  11. How does compound interest work?
  12. How to ask for a promotion
  13. When is it time to get a new job?
  14. What to do when you find out a coworker makes more than you
  15. How much of a down payment on a house do you really need?
  16. Living on minimum wage
  17. Is it better to lease or buy a new car?
  18. How to budget for a new car
  19. What to do when you lose your job
  20. Using credit cards responsibly

Food & Drink

  1. Is rare meat safe?
  2. Vegan vs. vegetarian
  3. Microbrews vs. standard brewing
  4. How to make your own wine
  5. What are hops?
  6. Best plants for a backyard garden
  7. When to transplant sprouts
  8. Bananas and plantains
  9. How to make a brine for pickling
  10. Where did brunch begin?
  11. Why pineapple belongs on a pizza
  12. When to order in
  13. Planning a menu
  14. Meal planning and grocery lists
  15. Is free range really better?
  16. The perfect macaroni and cheese
  17. Growing your own herbs
  18. How to make your own pasta
  19. How to make cookies that are softer
  20. Benefits of drinking black coffee

Health

  1. Benefits of a gluten-free diet
  2. Is the paleo diet accurate?
  3. Effects of not getting enough sleep
  4. Are meal subscription services worth it?
  5. Downsides to Crossfit
  6. Benefits of yoga
  7. How to meditate
  8. Can therapy change the way your mind works?
  9. Are GMOs really dangerous?
  10. The truth about diet soda
  11. Importance of hydration
  12. Why cleanses don’t work
  13. Best juice diet
  14. Most effective exercise for burning calories
  15. Do essential oils really work?

History

  1. The history of television
  2. When the railway was king
  3. Thwarted assassination attempts
  4. The first Olympics
  5. Media during World War II
  6. Military advancements between World War I and World War II
  7. War photographers
  8. Things you didn’t learn in history class
  9. Historical lies
  10. The early Internet

Media

  1. Why podcasts are great
  2. Most unbiased news channel
  3. When do people tune into the news most
  4. How relevant are women’s magazines?
  5. Cable vs. Netflix
  6. How worried should you be about your browsing history?
  7. How to limit screen time
  8. Why it’s bad to use your smartphone right before bed
  9. Apple vs. Android

Relationships

  1. The best age to get married
  2. How to get an amicable divorce
  3. Finding a roommate
  4. Splitting financial responsibilities evenly among the household
  5. How to have a happy marriage
  6. Choosing your family
  7. How to fight effectively
  8. Signs of an abusive relationship
  9. What to look for in a spouse
  10. When to let it go

Self-Help

  1. How to overcome self-doubt
  2. Faking confidence
  3. Becoming comfortable with yourself
  4. How to say no
  5. Relaxation techniques
  6. Controlling anxiety
  7. Qualities of a leader
  8. The importance of self-care
  9. Identifying triggers
  10. How to eliminate negativity
  11. Making new habits

Social Media

  1. Ethics of posting pictures of your children on social media
  2. How Internet ads are tailored to you
  3. How to advertise your business on Facebook
  4. Privacy and social media
  5. How to protect your personal information
  6. When to allow your kids to get their own social media accounts
  7. Why you shouldn’t post your location on social media
  8. How to use a hashtag
  9. Uncovering Twitter Bots
  10. Snapchat etiquette

Supernatural

  1. Proof that aliens exist
  2. Debunking crop circles
  3. Is Bigfoot real?
  4. Proof that ghosts exist

23 thoughts on “169 Five-Minute Topics for a Killer Speech or Presentation”

  1. Risks of abortion
    Wage gap
    How social media impacts education/mental health
    Why it’s important to have a good stable mental health
    Do teenagers really spend all their time on their phones
    Gsce requirements unfair or reasonable

  2. Here is a kind of a dense topic, domestic abuse. Why does it happen? What are some ways to identify a abusive relationship? How does it affect families? Why is the abuser abusive?

  3. I have presentation next two day concerning with my classroom. I must choose five topics but i can’t think how to choose these topics. Please! help me

  4. i need a best topic to present on that is educational to consumer science and food nutrition students. can i please be assisted

  5. what if the earth stopped spinning
    pros and cons of being an artist
    how Gen Z affected slang
    why people are afraid of the dark
    why knowing how to play an instrument is beneficial/not needed

    Here’s a controversial one: are trans, intersex and non-binary people getting the same right as every else?

  6. I have a presentation this week I don’t understand how to find a good title please help me I’m a diploma student the speech must have more than 10 minutes

  7. hi lol i like these topics but i need a trendy one like something new or like a natural phenomene or someth like that… 🙂

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