The purpose of a demonstrative speech is to show the audience how to do something. It goes beyond telling people in the audience about a subject yet does not aim to convince them to do it in a certain way. Good demonstrative speech topics include something that has a process that is relevant to the audience.
If you’re a teacher at heart, the perfect way to instruct the audience is with a demonstrative speech topic. Your purpose is to show them how to do something without persuasion. Your goal is to make your presentation informative and interesting to the audience before you.
Demonstrative speeches might cover a task or action like “how to cook fajitas” or “how to play pickleball” to projects like “how to start a business,” “how to manage grief,” or “how to lose weight.”
What Is A Demonstrative Speech?
In a demonstrative speech, you explain how to do something. The most common example involves a step-by-step process where the presenter walks the audience through a how-to tutorial.
When giving a demonstrative speech, the presenter can supplement their speech in several concrete ways:
- Demonstrate the task: A great way to make a how-to speech even better is to demonstrate the task you are teaching.
- Provide illustrated handouts: If you cannot clearly demonstrate your idea in the context of your speech or at your location, providing handouts can be a good substitute.
- Create a PowerPoint presentation: Create a PowerPoint or other type of visual aid to accompany your demonstration speech.
- Provide an outline: Making a demonstration speech outline ensures you remember all crucial steps. Also, providing an outline to your audience can help them remember. Don’t forget to leave room for note-taking.
- Offer a step-by-step guide: Another handout you can provide is a step-by-step guide that the audience can reference during the presentation and later.
- Use props: Don’t forget to assemble all your visual aids for your speech.
A speech on how to decorate a cake might use physical props, while one on how to make money online would require a PowerPoint and handouts. To make sure the audience can see a live physical demonstration, having the demo projected on screens is very helpful.
How Does It Vary From An Informative Or Persuasive Speech?
In an informative speech, the presenter educates the audience on a topic. A persuasive speech involves the speaker trying to convince those in attendance to agree with a particular viewpoint or stance on a topic or do things a certain way.
A demonstrative speech goes beyond an informative speech by adding a demonstration that shows how to do a task.
If the subject was fly fishing, here is how the three speeches would look.
The informative speech would answer questions such as, what fly fishing? Where do you do it? How do you do it? What kinds of fish can you catch with it?
The demonstrative speech might show the audience how to do it and how to prepare for it
A persuasive speech might try to convince an audience that fly fishing is the best type of fishing out there,
For example, one might talk about fly fishing in an informative speech on the topic, but a demonstrative speech shows how to do something. Perhaps a speaker could try to convince an audience that fly fishing is the best type of fishing out there, which would be a persuasive speech.
The speaker might start out with the premise that fly fishing is great fun and more fun than other types of fishing without trying to convince the audience that is the best.
What Are The Types Of Demonstrative Speech?
- Funny Demonstration Speech
- Informative Demonstration Speech
- “How To” Demonstration Speech
What Kinds Of Topics Do Not Work For Demonstrative Speeches?
If it is not something you can explain, walk the audience through, teach them to do, or understand, it most likely will not be a good topic for a demonstrative speech. You may need to change your topic or change the type of speech to another type.
Choosing a Topic
Things to consider when searching through demonstration speech ideas:
- Audience: Who is your target audience? A speech on making a TikTok video might not go over well at a senior center. However, the audience at a senior center is likely to be very interested in learning about estate planning.
- Venue: Where are you speaking? Think about the physical constraints of the venue, as well as the technology you may (or may not) have access to. If you are speaking on a small stage in a small room, teaching about a golf swing or fly fishing might not work unless via PowerPoint. Someone speaking outside on a camping retreat might not have technology access for the presentation. Keep all of these things in mind.
- Rights: Are you breaking any copyright laws in your demonstration speech? Be certain that you have the right to display or present anything you plan to share during your speech.
- Your Interests and Strengths: Don’t try to be something or someone you are not. Even very good demonstration speech ideas can fall flat if you are not well-versed on the topic or if your presentation is inaccurate.
What Are Some Good Demonstrative Speech Topics?
When choosing a topic, remember that even the most mundane topics can be turned into a unique demonstration speech. Making yourself memorable lies in the little things. Here are 75 demonstration speech topic ideas.
- How to snowboard
- How to ice skate
- How to race the mile
- How to train for a race (5K, half marathon, marathon, etc.)
- How to throw a surprise party
- How to lace running shoes
- How to solve a Rubik’s cube
- How to play chess
- How to set a kitchen table for a formal dinner
- How to crochet
- How to knit
- How to braid hair
- How to dance (waltz, polka, line dance, etc)
- How to make your own wedding cake
- How to swing a golf club (driver, wedge, hybrid)
- How to make your own greeting cards
- How to change a flat tire
- How to perform magic tricks
- How to make your own ice cream
- How to make a homemade pizza
- How to make lasagna
- How to eat with chopsticks
- How to change a baby’s diaper
- How to bathe a baby
- How to bathe a dog
- How to house-train a puppy
- How to litter-train a kitten
- How to put your dog on a diet
- How to trim your own hair
- How to make Irish coffee
- How to make a milkshake
- How to eat with good table manners.
- How to learn a foreign language (Spanish, Italian, German, etc.).
- How to get your high school equivalency (GED)
- How to fold fancy napkins
- How to fold origami
- How to write a research paper
- How to write a limerick
- How to do pushups
- How to do pull-ups
- How to bake a cake
- How to make muffins
- How to make candles
- How to make your own soap
- How to control your blood sugar through diet
- How to win at Fortnight (any gaming or computer game)
- How to troubleshoot problems on your phone (iPhone, Android, etc.)
- How to get better at speech writing
- How to make a fast summer salad
- How to make a paper airplane
- How to show someone you are listening intently
- How to make strong eye contact without getting nervous
- How to interview for a job
- How college students can find scholarships
- How to make a Halloween mask out of household items
- How to write with WordPress
- How to use chopsticks
- How to make a WiFi antenna booster
- How to do yoga
- How to make wind chimes
- How to create a weightlifting plan
- How to make a dreamcatcher
- How to build a snowman
- How to identify constellations
- How to do string art
- How to make a kite
- How to fly a kite
- How to say goodbye to someone you love
- How to plan your own funeral
- How to write a business plan
- How to plan a European vacation
- How to pack your suitcase with minimal wrinkling
- How to dress for an interview
- How to drive a stick shift (manual transmission)
- How to write a blog
- How to snowboard
- How to ice skate
- How to race the mile
- How to train for a race (5K, half marathon, marathon, etc.)
- How to throw a surprise party
- How to lace running shoes
- How to solve a Rubik’s cube
- How to play chess
- How to set a kitchen table for a formal dinner
- How to crochet
- How to knit
- How to braid hair
- How to dance (waltz, polka, line dance, etc)
- How to make your own wedding cake
- How to swing a golf club (driver, wedge, hybrid)
- How to make your own greeting cards
- How to change a flat tire