One of the toughest tasks when tackling a rapid-fire presentation such as PechaKucha or Ignite is landing on a unique and original topic. I created this infographic to assist students in brainstorming and choosing an Ignite presenation topic.

1. Choosing an Ignite Topic
A visual guide
Choosing a strong Ignite topic is the foundation for your project. Here are four surefire ways
to choose a strong topic.
Engage in divergent
1.and convergent thinking.
It’s now time to collect and create information. resist the
temptation during this initial phase to sit down with
presentation software; it’s not quite time for that yet.
--Nancy Duarte
“
”
Generate as many
ideas as possible.
(Wild idea)
Divergent
Convergent
Narrow it down to
the best ideas
Consider the working
memory system to be a bit
like a glass of water.... If
too much water is added
too quickly, the glass
overflows.
Christopher
Craft, Palmetto
Learning, LLC
Avoid topics that are
2.overdone & old hat.
Hint: if it’s on a speech topics
website, it’s overdone.
Narrow your
3.topic & Focus.
All of climate change
(too broad)
Setting Thermostat
(too narrow)
successful speech topics.Learn the secret of choosing4.
What do I
know?
What do I
love?
What
matters to
the audience?
1
2 4
3
5
Topic description Zone 1 Fix?
1. Perfect Speech Topic
You know about it, you care about it, your
audience cares about it.
Stop! You’ve found it!
2. Great Topic, No Passion
You know about it, and your audience is
interested. Too bad you don’t care.
Rediscover your passion.
3. Great Topic, Wrong
Audience
You know about it, and you care about it, but
it’s not the right audience.
Find common ground with your
audience.
4. Fascinating Topic, No
Personal Knowledge
You are fascinated by it, and your audience is
interested, but you know nothing about it.
Grow your knowledge. Or, turn
your presentation into an informal
discussion.
5. It’s a Hobby, But is it a
Topic?
You like it and it interests your audience, but
you don’t know very much about it.
Use passion to fuel your research
and audience analysis.
References:
Dlugan, A. (2010, October 25). “The Secret of Choosing Successful Speech Topics”. Six Minutes: Public Speaking and Presentation Skills Blog. Retrieved February 24, 2013, from http://
sixminutes.dlugan.com/speech-topics/
Duarte, N. (2010). Resonate: present visual stories that transform audiences. Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.
Duarte, N. (2012). HBR guide to persuasive presentations. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Review Press.
Reynolds, G. (2011). The naked presenter: delivering powerful presentations with, or without, slides. Berkeley, CA: New Riders.
Water Drop Vector Image: by Fernando Vasconcelos via the Noun Project
Typefaces: Edmondsans by james Edmonson and Ostrich by Tyler Finck
Word Cloud by Tagxedo
3 ways to Go Green at Home
(just right)
Off Limits/Overdone:Off Limits/Overdone:
eating healthy & exercising
PC/Mac
social media marketing
abortion/death penalty
smoking cigarettes
legalizing marijuana
violent video games
save the world/go green
be successful/follow your dreams
music is too commercial