A good first topic sits where three circles overlap: what you know, what you enjoy, and what your audience cares about. Public speaking coach Andrew Dlugan suggests this Venn diagram approach as a strong starting place for finding a topic, though it is a starting point, not a guarantee of a great one. First action: write three lists and circle anything in all three. Try Why I keep a walking routine if it fits.
First action: write three lists and circle anything in all three. Try Why I keep a walking routine if it fits.
Your first three steps
Write your working title in one sentence from the overlapping lists, such as Why I started a walking routine.
List two or three specific moments that fit the title, for example the stairs, the doctor visit, the joining colleague, so the middle of the talk has real material to draw on.
Filter for comfort: you have no obligation to share any detail you would rather keep private, so drop anything you do not want an audience to hear.
Sketch a three-part skeleton: one opening line that states the topic, two or three stories for the middle, and one closing sentence that lands your point.
Say it out loud once, timing it roughly; if it runs over about five minutes, cut the weakest story.
A finished first talk
Here is a finished first talk built from those steps, short enough to say in under five minutes.
Why I started a walking routine. Two years ago I could barely climb the stairs at work without stopping. My doctor said one word: move. So I started walking ten minutes after lunch. At first it felt pointless. Then the stairs got easy, my sleep improved, and a colleague joined me. Now we walk every day, and that ten-minute habit rebuilt my energy. If you want one small change, pick a ten-minute walk and start this week.
The opening line, Why I started a walking routine, names the topic exactly as step one suggests, so the audience knows the subject within seconds.
The middle holds two small stories, the stairs and the joining colleague, instead of one-liners, so there is always something concrete to say while you speak.
The closing sentence, pick a ten-minute walk and start this week, lands the point in one line, matching the skeleton from step four.
If any line feels too private, swap it: the doctor detail could become simply a health check made me rethink my habits, and the talk still works.
Completion check
Read your draft once, aloud if you can, and ask whether it passes these five tests. Mostly yes means you are ready to practice.
Does the opening line name the topic clearly enough that a listener knows the subject within seconds?
Does the closing sentence land the point the opening promised, or does it drift into something new?
Can you state, for each middle story, a beginning, a turn, and a result? If any story is a thin one-liner you plan to expand on the spot, grow it or cut it.
Does it run under about five minutes when you say it aloud at a natural pace?
Is every detail something you are comfortable sharing, with nothing you would rather keep private?