Education makes an excellent topic for an authority speech because a large segment of the population can identify with its importance. Parents, children, adolescents, college students and adults returning to school to advance their careers all have a connection to this subject. A speaker could talk briefly about the obvious importance of receiving a good education but he or she could also dig a little deeper and discuss recent educational budget and funding cuts, teacher lay-offs and the disappearance of art and physical education classes and how this affects our children and our collective future.
It is said that people are willing to travel across the world to visit new locations but are not willing to cross the street to vote. Americans are turned off by ongoing corruption in politics. Many citizens lack knowledge about how our political system functions. Therefore, a speech about the importance of voting has the potential to educate people on the level of influence they have in electing their government officials and in changing public policy. If delivered skillfully, it can also enlighten people about the importance of understanding the Electoral College.
Though many will deny the effects of global warming, scientists are discovering more evidence proving that Earth's climate is warming up. Countless sources including books, documentaries, lectures and radio interviews are available for researching global warming. A speaker can take a stance on this subject by either persuading people to believe in or reject climate change. This topic makes a great authority speech because it has all the elements of persuasion and dissuasion.
Many people are not aware of how much sleep they get each night or how much sleep is essential to their well-being. Evidence shows that not getting an average of eight hours of sleep each night is cause for physical and psychological problems. Our fast-paced, high-stress society makes many of us rely on caffeine and energy drinks to get through our busy days. This topic is beneficial for students with early-morning classes, new sleep-deprived mothers, and office and health-care workers with grueling hours.