Personal experiences include problems encountered and solved, places you have been, things you have observed, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, parenthood, hobbies and interests. In every aspect of your life you have acquired special knowledge based upon your own personal experiences. To turn your knowledge into a speech topic all you have to do is consider your audience and speak from your personal knowledge based upon audience characteristics and how you can connect with them. Even otherwise mundane topics become intriguing when they are told from a unique perspective with passion. Focus on detail and description that uses all the senses to bring your topic to life for the listener.
Every type of work provides special or even unique experiences. Possible topics for personal knowledge speeches include the handling of particular challenges, special knowledge acquired through work in a given field, observations of others while working at your job, and skills you have gained through your work. Audiences connect when your personal knowledge leads them to greater understanding or new ideas. Tell audiences your own reactions to situations and how certain experiences changed your life or your way of thinking.
Research your audience. Learn what interests them. Find common ground and then choose a common element about which you have personal knowledge and passion. If you have raised twins, an audience of young parents, especially parents of twins, will gain from your speech about how you overcame the challenges of handling two same-age children. Whatever your topic, tell your audience about successful techniques you learned and resources you found. Health concerns, economic concerns and life cycle challenges are all topics that appeal to a wide audience.
People you have encountered or thoroughly researched make excellent personal knowledge speech topics if their life stories relate to the interests of your audience. Make a list of your family members, teachers, work associates, friends, acquaintances and individuals you have studied. Jot down a word or a line about each one that is a reminder of a story that is worthy of retelling. Choose an individual or group of individuals as a personal knowledge speech topic based upon your own passions and the interests of your audience. Consider what your audience will learn from becoming acquainted with this individual or individuals through your speech.