middle school persuasive speech topics

100 Persuasive Speech Topics for Students

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If you are planning a persuasive speech, you should think about a topic that can engage your audience. For this reason, you may want to consider a few topics before settling on the one that allows you to be more descriptive and entertaining.

Another important factor when picking a persuasive speech topic is to choose one that can provoke your audience. If you stir up a little emotion in your audience members, you'll keep their attention.

The list below is provided to help you brainstorm. Choose a topic from this list, or use it to generate an idea of your own. It could even be an idea that opposes the proposed example. For instance, instead of arguing American workers should be guaranteed a three-day weekend by law, you could argue why this shouldn't be the case.

How to Pick a Good Persuasive Speech Topic

Persuasive speeches are generally meant to convince an audience to agree with an idea you present. The topics can range from political to scientific or societal, and professional to personal—or even fun. They can be almost anything.

Just remember, a persuasive speech is different than a persuasive essay because you are presenting to an audience. So as you decide on a topic, think about your audience and decide on a subject matter that will be appropriate, compelling, and engaging to discuss. Perhaps it's a timely issue attracting a lot of news coverage, or maybe you want to be motivational and encourage a healthy activity. Whatever it is, structure your argument with a hook to capture attention , a clear definition of the topic or issue, and finally, your proposed solution or opinion.

100 Examples of Persuasive Speech Topics

• Studying martial arts is good for mind and health.
• Competitive sports can teach us about life.
• Reality shows are exploiting people.
• Community service should be a graduation requirement for all high school students.
• The characteristics that make a person a hero.
• It's important to grow things in a garden.
• Violent video games are dangerous.
• Lyrics in a song can impact our lives.
• Traveling and studying abroad are positive experiences.
• Journal writing is therapeutic.
• You should spend time with your grandparents.
• A laptop is better than a tablet.
• Religion and science can go hand in hand.
• School uniforms are good.
• All-female colleges and all-male colleges are bad.
• Multiple-choice tests are better than essay tests .
• We should not spend money on space exploration.
• Open-book tests are as effective as closed-book tests.
• Security cameras keep us safer.
• Parents should have access to students' grades.
• Small classes are better than big classes.
• You need to start saving for retirement now.
• Credit cards are harmful to college students.
• We should have a royal family.
• We should protect endangered animals.
• Texting while driving is dangerous.
• You can write a novel.
• Recycling should be required in the U.S.
• State colleges are better than private colleges.
• Private colleges are better than state colleges.
• We should do away with penny coins.
• Fast food containers hurt the environment.
• Plastic straws are harmful to the environment.
• You can eat and enjoy healthy snacks.
• You can become a millionaire.
• Dogs are better pets than cats.
• You should own a bird.
• It's unethical to keep birds in cages.
• Liberal arts degrees prepare graduates to be better workers than other degrees.
• Hunting animals should be banned.
• Football is a dangerous sport.
• School days should start later.
• Night school is better than day school.
• Technical training is better than a college degree.
• Immigration laws should be more lenient.
• Students should be able to choose their schools.
• Everyone should learn to play a musical instrument.
• Grass lawns should be prohibited.
• Sharks should be protected.
• We should do away with cars and go back to horse and carriage for transportation.
• We should use more wind power.
• We should pay more taxes.
• We should do away with taxes.
• Teachers should be tested like students.
• We should not interfere in the affairs of other countries.
• Every student should join a club.
• Homeschooling is better than traditional schooling.
• People should stay married for life.
• Smoking in public should be illegal.
• College students should live on campus .
• Parents should let students fail.
• Giving to charity is good.
• Education makes us happier people.
• T​he ​ death penalty should be outlawed.
• Bigfoot is real.
• We should increase train travel to save the environment.
• We should read more classic books.
• Fame is bad for young children.
• Athletes should stay loyal to teams.
• We should reform our prisons.
• Juvenile offenders should not go to boot camps.
• Abraham Lincoln was the best president.
• Abraham Lincoln gets too much credit.
• Students should be allowed to have cell phones in elementary, middle, and high school.
• College student-athletes should be paid for playing.
• Elderly citizens on fixed income should receive free public transportation.
• Colleges and universities should be free to attend.
• All American citizens should complete one year of community service.
• Students should be required to take Spanish language classes.
• Every student should be required to learn at least one foreign language .
• Marijuana should be legal for recreational use nationwide.
• Commercial testing of products on animals should no longer be allowed.
• High school students should be required to participate in at least one team sport.
• The minimum drinking age in the U.S. should be 25.
• Replacing fossil fuels with cheaper alternative energy options should be mandated.
• Churches need to contribute their share of taxes.
• The Cuba embargo should be maintained by the U.S.
• America should replace income taxes with a nationwide flat tax.
• Once they reach the age of 18, all U.S. citizens should be automatically registered to vote .
• Doctor-assisted suicide should be legal.
• Spammers—people who bombard the internet with unsolicited email—should be banned from sending junk mail.
• Every automobile driver should be required to take a new driver's test every three years.
• Electroshock treatment is not a humane form of therapy.
• Global warming is not real.
• Single-parent adoption should be encouraged and promoted.
• Gun companies should be held accountable for gun crimes.
• Human cloning is not moral.
• Religion does not belong in public education.
• Juveniles should not be tried as adults.
• American workers should be guaranteed a three-day weekend by law.
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100 Persuasive Speech Topics for Kids

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Kids' persuasive speech topics cover everything from current events to age old childhood milestones. If you've been assigned a persuasive writing speech, look for a topic you know a lot about and really stand behind.

Easy Persuasive Speech Topics for Beginners

Students in grades two and up who are just starting to learn about the different types of essays and writing can select easy topics about things they are very familiar with. These persuasive writing prompts work great for short speeches.

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Fun and Interesting Topics

• Kids should start every morning with yoga.
• Cereal is not a healthy breakfast.
• Showering every day isn't important.
• Kids' clothing should always be designed by kids.
• Being a YouTube star is a real job.
• Boredom is good for kids.
• Borrowing books from the library is better than buying them from a store.
• Hamsters are the best first pet for kids.
• Every person is completely unique.
• My town is the best place for families with young children to live.
• Being an only child is better than having siblings.
• Kids should have TVs in their bedrooms.
• Jeans are the most uncomfortable article of clothing.

Educational Topics

• Cursive writing shouldn't be taught in schools.
• Lunch periods should be longer for younger kids and shorter for older kids.
• Kids shouldn't be allowed to bring homemade treats to share at school.
• Homework should be optional for kids.
• Schools should mandate that all kids learn about all holidays celebrated around the world.
• All schools should have outdoor classrooms available.
• All foods should be grown or raised by small farmers.
• Playing video games is a good hobby for kids.
• Gardening is an easy way to eat healthier.
• Reading is more important than math.
• Kids should get to choose what classes they take in elementary school.

Global Topics

• People's differences make the world a more interesting place.
• Kids under age 13 shouldn't be allowed to have jobs anywhere in the world.
• The world is round.
• Dinosaurs really did exist and go extinct.
• People should only be allowed to eat food that grows or lives in their country.
• International pen pals are good for kids.
• Learning a second language is helpful for everyone.
• There should be one form of money that every country uses.
• Every country should have its own kind of schools.
• Governments should offer free travel to other countries for educational purposes.

Intermediate Persuasive Speech Topics for Children

Kids in upper elementary grades who have some practice in writing persuasive speeches can choose topics that might be a little more controversial. These unique speech topics leave room for longer arguments and feature more interesting subjects.

• Kids should have cell phones.
• Kids, not adults, should decide how much screen time to have each day.
• Every town should be required to have a playground.
• Waffle cones are better than regular ice cream cones.
• Dogs are better companions than cats.
• Wearing pajamas in public is inappropriate.
• Short hair is for boys and long hair is for girls.
• Kids should have fewer toys and more cardboard boxes to play with.
• Girls like to play with action figures.
• Pokemon are cooler than Yo Kai.
• Mosquitos are the most annoying of all bugs.
• Zoos are unsafe for young children.
• Kids under age 13 should be banned from having social media accounts.
• Classrooms shouldn't have traditional desks.
• School lunches should include some junk food options.
• Every school should have child representatives on their hiring committee.
• Naps are important for kids of all ages, not just babies and toddlers.
• The government should stop making paper money and only use coins.
• Robots make life easier for humans.
• Children's books should be written by children.
• Field trips and real-world experiences are more useful than classroom lectures.
• Columbus discovered America.
• Kids should be allowed to skip high school and go to college early if they want.
• Dancing in public should be outlawed.
• Voice recognition locks are safer than fingerprint recognition locks.
• People should only eat foods they grow or catch.
• All people in the world should speak English.
• All countries should have the same rules about weapons.
• Every child should spend a year living in another country with their family.
• Men and women should have the same rights no matter what country they live in.
• Adults should encourage child participation in strikes and marches for important causes.
• The current U.S. President represents the country well.
• Global competition is good for everyone.

Advanced Persuasive Speech Topics for Kids

Upper elementary and lower middle grade students with lots of speech writing experience can pick more complex topics that elicit bigger emotional reactions.

• TV shows and movies for kids should have stronger content guidelines.
• Real life heroes like police officers and firefighters would be more approachable if they dressed like Power Rangers and other super heroes.
• Virtual reality games are better than 3D games.
• Parents of bullies should be punished for their child's actions.
• "Crap" and "Heck" are bad words.
• Riding a bike is not that easy.
• Funny cat videos are funnier than funny baby videos.
• There's no such thing as too many stuffed animals.
• Goats say "maa," not "baa."
• Kids sports are safe.
• Holidays shouldn't be celebrated in schools.
• Kids should rate their teachers at the start and end of every school year.
• Recess and classroom physical activity breaks help kids focus in school.
• School buses should have a driver and at least two aides.
• Classes should be grouped by ability levels rather than ages.
• Technology makes people's lives better.
• Middle school is still elementary school.
• Schools should mandate classes where kids teach each other.
• No one, teachers or students, should be allowed to bring cell phones into the school.
• Kids should be allowed to take off their shoes in their classroom.
• Students should not have to ask permission to take drinks and bathroom breaks.
• Global warming isn't real.
• Every country can have its own guidelines for who is allowed to leave or enter.
• Kids can help combat climate change.
• Astronauts will find life on other planets.
• Daylight Savings Time should be eliminated.
• Aquariums and zoos help with wildlife conservation.
• People should be allowed to clone animals.
• Sugar should be outlawed.
• McDonald's is better than Burger King.
• Tribal cultures should be preserved.
• Companies should not be allowed to build their products in other countries.
• People should call countries by their native name, not a translated name.

More Speech Topics for Kids

Speech topic examples and ideas from other types of speeches can be adapted to persuasive writing with a few minor wording changes.

• Get students started with motivational speech topics for kids that are uplifting and less controversial.
• Beginning writers can select simple kids speech topics for their first persuasive essays.
• Some of the most interesting speech topics for kids include subjects they haven't encountered in real life.
• Use examples of funny speeches for kids to show how students can inject humor into any kind of speech.

State Your Case

Most people agree that writing in elementary school is important because it gives kids a way to express their thoughts and feelings in a way others can understand. Persuasive writing is all about stating your case, or point, and all the facts that support this opinion. Choose a topic you believe in or are passionate about to create the best persuasive speech.

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Are you looking for persuasive speech topics to assign to your students? Don’t worry; we have you covered. Check out our list of 136 persuasive speech topics for students.

• Testing products on animals: is it ethical or not?
• Is it right to keep animals in zoos?
• Should we use products made with animal fur?
• Euthanizing stray animals: is it ethical?
• Can a companion or service animal change someone’s life?
• Is it rational to be scared of harmless yet frightening or unusual animals?
• Keeping wild and exotic pets away from their natural habitat. Is it ethical?
• Should we spay pets to control overpopulation?
• Keeping exotic animals at home. Is it good for them?
• Ten ways we can help animals live better
• Personality disorders among teens. Are they easy to identify?
• How our differences make us unique
• Phobias of children, teens, and adults. What are the similarities and differences?
• When is it right to give children medication for mental issues?
• Suicide among teenagers. Is the media affecting it?
• Studying psychology stresses students out
• Peer pressure is the cause of a lot of delinquency during the teenage years
• The importance of people skills
• Are introverts better entrepreneurs?
• How can a mentor affect your success as an entrepreneur?
• Understanding your position in the market. How can it affect your current and future business plan?
• Can social media affect your marketing plan?
• Should you start a business based on your passions?
• Starting a successful business with no money
• The value of unique business ideas
• Using feedback from unhappy customers to enhance your sales
• The importance of delegation
• Employers are asking for their employees’ social media accounts. Is it right or wrong?
• Employers shouldn’t ask questions related to an employee’s personal life
• Life as a teen addicted to technology
• Teachers contribute more to society than a lot of other professions
• Video games promote violence among children and teens
• Are music videos appropriate for children and teens to watch?
• Mental health and well-being should be one of the subjects studied in school
• Kids under 16 years shouldn’t have their own social media accounts
• Exam results shouldn’t be used to label students
• Dealing with bullies. Is it suitable to punish them?
• Are K-12 schools rigorous enough?
• How to overcome shyness
• Which sport should you play to stay fit and healthy?
• How to write the best title for your speech?
• How to overcome your fear of public speaking?
• What is the best way to solve challenging Math problems?
• A migraine is usually overlooked at school or in a workplace
• Alternative medication: The truth and the myths
• Infertility in couples is related to stress and unhealthy lifestyles
• Mental health issues affect the whole society
• The food industry causes obesity
• Everyone should donate blood at least once a year
• How to overcome back pain? Different treatment options
• Using a mouthwash after brushing your teeth is essential for your dental health
• Do cell phones affect our brains?
• Non-smokers should be first on organ transplant lists
• Is biohacking good for your health?
• Diet beverages do not make you lose weight
• How to keep your immune system strong
• How to improve the way your body and brain function
• Social media affects people’s self-image and self-esteem
• Competitive sports teaches us a lot about life
• Who is a hero? What are the qualities of a hero?
• Learning from your mistakes
• Spending time with your grandparents
• Brilliant ways to make money in the 21st century
• Living underwater: A reality or science fiction?
• Texting while driving should be illegal
• Using single-use plastic containers should be banned
• School days should start later in the day
• Immigration laws should be more lenient
• Living with refugees from other countries
• Students should be able to pick their schools
• Parents should be able to pick their child’s schools
• Should human beings control the weather?
• Simple ways to overcome stress
• People who spend their time playing video games are more prone to depression
• Video games can enhance people’s brain functioning
• Children who play video games have faster responses
• How will gaming look ten years from now?
• Virtual reality affects people’s perception
• Living without computers is impossible
• A video game can be the easiest way to teach kids
• Watching people playing video games is as fun as watching sports in person
• Will playing video games cause behavior problems?
• The gaming industry is affecting every aspect of our lives
• Video games are just as popular among adults
• Playing video games with random people online makes you more sociable and outgoing
• Using genetically modified foods is bad for our health
• Using painkillers is not healthy
• The technology revolution is changing life way too fast
• Human beings should depend more on renewable energy
• The power of crystal healing can improve our mental and physical health
• How your diet can cause the onset of different health conditions
• Using supplements should be controlled
• Coming up with guidelines that control STEM cell research
• How can science be used to improve the lives of physically challenged individuals?
• High-school and middle-school students should be trained to do PowerPoint presentations
• Improving students’ presentation skills
• Should uniforms be obligatory in schools?
• Should there be separate classrooms for boys and girls?
• Students sent to boarding schools: A responsibility and a risk
• The possible positive effect of spending a year as an exchange student
• Cell phones shouldn’t be allowed in schools
• Taking a year off school. Can it help you?
• Hilarious games in the class can help shy students get along with others
• Grades: Are they a fair way to evaluate academic performance?
• More political and legal measures should be taken to protect the environment
• Keeping an animal away from its home will affect the environmental balance
• Businesses have a serious obligation towards protecting the environment
• There should be a strict policy against polluting the ocean
• Should there be government policies against the use of disposable diapers?
• Recycling paper is going to save our planet
• Are we taking the right measures to address global warming?
• Can child abuse and traumas lead to future mental disorders?
• Can family history make children more prone to stress and anxiety?
• Should children and teens be worried more about their privacy or safety?
• Can video games be used to educate children and teens?
• Having an older/younger sibling. The perks and the challenges
• Internet censorship for kids, is it a must?
• The problem of governmental spending on biological weapons
• Are we taking the right steps to eliminate cultural sensitivity?
• Obesity in children is related to living a fast-paced life. What is the role of the parents
• Getting and renewing a driving license: Is one test per lifetime enough?
• Should smokers pay a health tax?
• Is the government spending too much on the military sector?
• Can writing a journal help you become a better person?
• Reality shows affect people’s mental health
• Song lyrics affect our lives in several ways
• Should an artist comply with the rules set by society while working on a project?
• Can action movies cause stress and anxiety?
• Reading inspirational and humorous quotes improves your mood
• Why reading an informational article in a list form is easier
• Studying religion is motivational
• How do we overcome conflicts and arguments between people who believe in different religions?
• Should religion be allowed in schools?
• Scriptures from the Bible can help people renew their belief
• Current vs. ancient interpretations of the Bible: Which is more factual?
• Children should be allowed to choose their religion

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Everything begins with an idea!

Persuasive Speech Topics for Middle School

Persuasive speech is a kind of speech that a person makes with an intention to convince the audience to accept his or her own view about a particular topic of discussion. Right from middle school, students sometimes make attempts to promote their views about diverse things like education, morals, and so on. While very few students naturally can persuade audience through their speeches, majority of students need to develop the ability through regular practices. Although the process of speech delivery seems like the most challenging aspect of persuasion, the process of topic selection is truly the most challenging aspect. A lot of persuaders find it challenging to get a single topic that can sum up all their major ideas, and yet sounds interesting enough to capture the attention of the audience. We understand that middle school students may not have enough time to brainstorm for a topic like that, so we’ve decided to help them get the best topics easily. As you read on, you will find some captivating persuasive speech topics for middle school.  Go through them to get a topic for your persuasive speech. All topics that we listed below are easy enough for middle school students to talk on, so be confident that you’ll quickly get good points to convince your audience.

• There shouldn’t be age discrimination in our society
• The Elderly must not be abused
• Face-to-Face Social Interaction Should Still Exist Despite The Invention Of Platforms like Facebook And MySpace
• The current methods of school discipline are too strict
• Internet Dating Is Harmful
• Middle School Students Deserve To Have Enough Leisure Time
• Sex Education Should Be Compulsory in Middle Schools
• Middle School Students Should Learn About Birth Control
• Feminism Should Be Discouraged Among Middle School Students
• Students Should Have Some Time To Enjoy Their Favorite TV Shows
• Girls who have once been abused should not lose hope in life
• There should be some kinds of punishment for academic dishonesty
• The society should discourage addiction
• Extended recess time has many negative impacts on students
• Dating on campuses is not a crime
• Animal experiment is not a crime
• Cellphones should be allowed in middle schools
• Students should receive lesser homework
• Homework Should Be Banned
• Other forms of testing performance should replace exams
• High schools should have a later start time
• Higher education should be free for all admitted students
• Should school officials don’t have the right to search students’ lockers and personal possessions
• School uniforms should not be compulsory
• Every student should learn sign language as a second language
• Students should be group by ability in classrooms rather than age
• Students should recite the Pledge of Allegiance every morning at school
• Students’ Lockers Should Not Be Checked
• Teachers should receive payment on the basis of performance
• School authorities should frown at school bullying
• A traditional nine-month calendar is more effective than a year-round school calendar
• Co-ed education is more effective than single-gender schools
• Nightly homework is unhealthy for students
• Social media plays a positive role in the school environment
• Students should not partake in gambling
• Homeschooling is equally effective
• Students should join Internet chatrooms and share ideas
• Grounding is an unjust way to punish students
• College degrees should be enough requirement for securing employment
• Minimum Wage Should Be Changed For Teenagers
• Juvenile Crime Should Attract A Huge Fine
• Pregnant teenagers should not be stigmatized
• Television is a Bad Influence
• The law against air pollution is not effective enough
• Standardized tests are not an accurate measure of student ability
• Disabilities Act Should Be In Every Nations
• Media Violence Should Be Discouraged
• Drug policy should not give rooms for drug abuse
• Teenagers should not be allowed to smoke
• Child labor is a crime that should attract severe punishment
• Children from Single parent families should not be stigmatized in society
• Government should intervene in situations of intense family violence
• Drunk driving should attract both fine and imprisonment
• Vaccinations should be free
• Women’s rights should be prioritized in society
• Private school vouchers are not providing quality education up to the required standard
• The abuse of alcohol in public should attract punishment
• Domestic violence should attract punishment
• Students should have some time to play video games
• Colleges should stop putting excessive stock in standardized test scores
• Television does not have positive impacts on students

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, 105 interesting persuasive speech topics for any project.

General Education

Are you struggling to find good persuasive speech topics? It can be hard to find a topic that interests both you and your audience, but in this guide we've done the hard work and created a list of 105 great persuasive speech ideas. They're organized into ten categories and cover a variety of topics, so you're sure to find one that interests you.

In addition to our list, we also go over which factors make good persuasive speech topics and three tips you should follow when researching and writing your persuasive speech.

What Makes a Good Persuasive Speech Topic?

What makes certain persuasive speech topics better than others? There are numerous reasons, but in this section we discuss three of the most important factors of great topics for a persuasive speech.

It's Something You Know About or Are Interested in Learning About

The most important factor in choosing and creating a great persuasive speech is picking a topic you care about and are interested in. You'll need to do a lot of research on this topic, and if it's something you like learning about, that'll make the process much easier and more enjoyable. It'll also help you sound passionate and informed when you talk, both important factors in giving an excellent persuasive speech.

It's a Topic People Care About

In fourth grade, after being told I could give a persuasive speech on any topic I wanted to , I chose to discuss why the Saguaro cactus should be the United State's national plant. Even though I gave an impassioned talk and drew a life-size Saguaro cactus on butcher paper to hang behind me, I doubt anyone enjoyed the speech much.

I'd recently returned from a family vacation to Arizona where I'd seen Saguaro cacti for the first time and decided they were the coolest thing ever. However, most people don't care that much about Saguaro cacti, and most people don't care what our national plant is or if we even have one (for the record, the US has a national flower, and it's the rose).

Spare yourself the smattering of bored applause my nine-old self got at the end of my speech and choose something you think people will be interested in hearing about. This also ties into knowing your audience, which we discuss more in the final section.

It Isn't Overdone

When I was in high school, nearly every persuasive speech my classmates and I were assigned was the exact same topic: should the drinking age be lowered to 18? I got this prompt in English class, on standardized tests, in speech and debate class, etc. I've written and presented about it so often I could probably still rattle off all the main points of my old speeches word-for-word.

You can imagine that everyone's eyes glazed over whenever classmates gave their speeches on this topic. We'd heard about it so many times that, even if it was a topic we cared about, speeches on it just didn't interest us anymore.

The are many potential topics for a persuasive speech. Be wary of choosing one that's cliche or overdone. Even if you give a great speech, it'll be harder to keep your audience interested if they feel like they already know what you're going to say.

An exception to this rule is that if you feel you have a new viewpoint or facts about the topic that currently aren't common knowledge. Including them can make an overdone topic interesting. If you do this, be sure to make it clear early on in your speech that you have unique info or opinions on the topic so your audience knows to expect something new.

105 Topics for a Persuasive Speech

Here's our list of 105 great persuasive speech ideas. We made sure to choose topics that aren't overdone, yet that many people will have an interest in, and we also made a point of choosing topics with multiple viewpoints rather than simplistic topics that have a more obvious right answer (i.e. Is bullying bad?). The topics are organized into ten categories.

Arts/Culture

• Should art and music therapy be covered by health insurance?
• Should all students be required to learn an instrument in school?
• Should all national museums be free to citizens?
• Should graffiti be considered art?
• Should offensive language be removed from works of classic literature?
• Are paper books better than e-books?
• Should all interns be paid for their work?
• Should employees receive bonuses for walking or biking to work?
• Will Brexit hurt or help the UK's economy?
• Should all people over the age of 65 be able to ride the bus for free?
• Should the federal minimum wage be increased?
• Should tipping in restaurants be mandatory?
• Should Black Friday sales be allowed to start on Thanksgiving?
• Should students who bully others be expelled?
• Should all schools require students wear uniforms?
• Should boys and girls be taught in separate classrooms?
• Should students be allowed to listen to music during study hall?
• Should all elementary schools be required to teach a foreign language?
• Should schools include meditation or relaxation breaks during the day?
• Should grades in gym class affect students' GPAs?
• Should teachers get a bonus when their students score well on standardized tests?
• Should children of undocumented immigrants be allowed to attend public schools?
• Should students get paid for getting a certain GPA?
• Should students be allowed to have their cell phones with them during school?
• Should high school students be allowed to leave school during lunch breaks?
• Should Greek life at colleges be abolished?
• Should high school students be required to volunteer a certain number of hours before they can graduate?
• Should schools still teach cursive handwriting?
• What are the best ways for schools to stop bullying?
• Should prostitution be legalized?
• Should people with more than one DUI lose their driver's license?
• Should people be required to shovel snow from the sidewalks in front of their house?
• Should minors be able to drink alcohol in their home if they have their parent's consent?
• Should guns be allowed on college campuses?
• Should flag burning as a form of protest be illegal?
• Should welfare recipients be required to pass a drug test?
• Should white supremacist groups be allowed to hold rallies in public places?
• Should assault weapons be illegal?
• Should the death penalty be abolished?
• Should beauty pageants for children be banned?
• Is it OK to refuse to serve same-sex couples based on religious beliefs?
• Should transgender people be allowed to serve in the military?
• Is it better to live together before marriage or to wait?
• Should affirmative action be allowed?
• Should prisoners be allowed to vote?
• Should Columbus Day be replaced with Indigenous Peoples' Day?

Government/Politics

• Should the government spend more money on developing high-speed rail lines and less on building new roads?
• Should the government be allowed to censor internet content deemed inappropriate?
• Should Puerto Rico become the 51st state?
• Should Scotland declare independence from the United Kingdom?
• Whose face should be on the next new currency printed by the US?
• Should people convicted of drug possession be sent to recovery programs instead of jail?
• Should voting be made compulsory?
• Who was the best American president?
• Should the military budget be reduced?
• Should the President be allowed to serve more than two terms?
• Should a border fence be built between the United States and Mexico?
• Should countries pay ransom to terrorist groups in order to free hostages?
• Should minors be able to purchase birth control without their parent's consent?
• Should hiding or lying about your HIV status with someone you're sleeping with be illegal?
• Should governments tax soda and other sugary drinks and use the revenue for public health?
• Should high schools provide free condoms to students?
• Should the US switch to single-payer health care?
• Should healthy people be required to regularly donate blood?
• Should assisted suicide be legal?
• Should religious organizations be required to pay taxes?
• Should priests be allowed to get married?
• Should the religious slaughter of animals be banned?
• Should the Church of Scientology be exempt from paying taxes?
• Should women be allowed to be priests?
• Should countries be allowed to only accept refugees with certain religious beliefs?
• Should public prayer be allowed in schools?

Science/Environment

• Should human cloning be allowed?
• Should people be allowed to own exotic animals like tigers and monkeys?
• Should "animal selfies" in tourist locations with well-known animal species (like koalas and tigers) be allowed?
• Should genetically modified foods be sold in grocery stores?
• Should people be allowed to own pit bulls?
• Should parents be allowed to choose the sex of their unborn children?
• Should vaccinations be required for students to attend public school?
• What is the best type of renewable energy?
• Should plastic bags be banned in grocery stores?
• Should the United States rejoin the Paris Agreement?
• Should puppy mills be banned?
• Should fracking be legal?
• Should animal testing be illegal?
• Should offshore drilling be allowed in protected marine areas?
• Should the US government increase NASA's budget?
• Should Pluto still be considered a planet?
• Should college athletes be paid for being on a sports team?
• Should all athletes be required to pass regular drug tests?
• Should professional female athletes be paid the same as male athletes in the same sport?
• Are there any cases when athletes should be allowed to use steroids?
• Should college sports teams receive less funding?
• Should boxing be illegal?
• Should schools be required to teach all students how to swim?
• Should cheerleading be considered a sport?
• Should parents let their children play tackle football?
• Will robots reduce or increase human employment opportunities?
• What age should children be allowed to have a cell phone?
• Should libraries be replaced with unlimited access to e-books?
• Overall, has technology helped connect people or isolate them?
• Should self-driving cars be legal?
• Should all new buildings be energy efficient?
• Is Net Neutrality a good thing or a bad thing?
• Do violent video games encourage players to become violent in real life?

3 Bonus Tips for Crafting Your Persuasive Speech

Of course, giving a great persuasive speech requires more than just choosing a good topic. Follow the three tips below to create an outstanding speech that'll interest and impress your audience.

Do Your Research

For a persuasive speech, there's nothing worse than getting an audience question that shows you misunderstood the issue or left an important piece out. It makes your entire speech look weak and unconvincing.

Before you start writing a single word of your speech, be sure to do lots of research on all sides of the topic. Look at different sources and points of view to be sure you're getting the full picture, and if you know any experts on the topic, be sure to ask their opinion too.

Consider All the Angles

Persuasive speech topics are rarely black and white, which means there will be multiple sides and viewpoints on the topic. For example, for the topic "Should people be allowed to own pit bulls?" there are two obvious viewpoints: everyone should be allowed to own a pit bull if they want to, and no one should be allowed to own a pit bull. But there are other options you should also consider: people should only own a pit bull if they pass a dog training class, people should be able to own pit bulls, but only if it's the only dog they own, people should be able to own pi tbulls but only if they live a certain distance from schools, people should be able to own pit bulls only if the dog passes an obedience class, etc.

Thinking about all these angles and including them in your speech will make you seem well-informed on the topic, and it'll increase the quality of your speech by looking at difference nuances of the issue.

Know Your Audience

Whenever you give a speech, it's important to consider your audience, and this is especially true for persuasive speeches when you're trying to convince people to believe a certain viewpoint. When writing your speech, think about what your audience likely already knows about the topic, what they probably need explained, and what aspects of the topic they care about most. Also consider what the audience will be most concerned about for a certain topic, and be sure to address those concerns.

For example, if you're giving a speech to a Catholic organization on why you think priests should be allowed to marry, you don't need to go over the history of Catholicism or its core beliefs (which they probably already know), but you should mention any research or prominent opinions that support your view (which they likely don't know about). They may be concerned that priests who marry won't be as committed to God or their congregations, so be sure to address those concerns and why they shouldn't worry about them as much as they may think. Discussing your topic with people (ideally those with viewpoints similar to those of your future audience) before you give your speech is a good way to get a better understanding of how your audience thinks.

More Resources for Writing Persuasive Speeches

If you need more guidance or just want to check out some examples of great persuasive writing, consider checking out the following books:

• Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History by William Safire—This collection of great speeches throughout history will help you decide how to style your own argument.
• The Essentials of Persuasive Public Speaking by Sims Wyeth—For quick direct tips on public speaking, try this all-purpose guide.
• Talk Like TED: The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds by Carmine Gallo—This popular book breaks down what makes TED talks work and how you can employ those skills in your own presentations.
• We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Make Good Art by Neil Gaiman—These two recent speeches by contemporary writers offer stellar examples of how to craft a compelling (and engaging) argument.

Conclusion: Persuasive Speech Ideas

Good persuasive speech topics can be difficult to think of, but in this guide we've compiled a list of 105 interesting persuasive speech topics for you to look through.

The best persuasive speech ideas will be on a topic you're interested in, aren't overdone, and will be about something your audience cares about.

After you've chosen your topic, keep these three tips in mind when writing your persuasive speech:

• Do your research
• Consider all the angles
• Know your audience

What's Next?

Now that you have persuasive speech topics, it's time to hone your persuasive speech techniques. Find out what ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos are and how to use them here .

Looking to take your persuasive technique from speech to sheets (of paper)? Get our three key tips on how to write an argumentative essay , or learn by reading through our thorough breakdown of how to build an essay, step by step .

Want a great GPA? Check out our step-by-step guide to getting good grades in high school so you can have a stellar transcript.

Interested in learning about other great extracurricular opportunities? Learn more about job shadowing , community service , and volunteer abroad programs.

Still trying to figure out your courses? Check out our expert guide on which classes you should take in high school.

Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points? We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

These recommendations are based solely on our knowledge and experience. If you purchase an item through one of our links, PrepScholar may receive a commission.

Christine graduated from Michigan State University with degrees in Environmental Biology and Geography and received her Master's from Duke University. In high school she scored in the 99th percentile on the SAT and was named a National Merit Finalist. She has taught English and biology in several countries.

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Speech Topics - 100s of them!

By:  Susan Dugdale   | Last modified: 01-10-2023

Speech ideas ordered by speech type & theme 

So you're preparing to give a speech.

The next step, unless you've been told or you've already decided for yourself, is choosing a topic.

What will you talk about?  There are literally so many possibilities.

To make choosing a subject easier, here's a collection of speech topic suggestions arranged either by speech type,  age group or theme. 

• Demonstration speech topics  (5 pages: 738 + topics)
• Speech topics for kids  (2 pages: 150 + topics)
• Persuasive topics  (6 pages: 998+ topics)

125 examples of narrative speech topics

• 60 vocal variety and body language topics

145 good cause and effect topics for students

• Fun public speaking topics  (2 pages:165 topics)
• 180+ interesting topics for students  (1 page: 180 + topics)
• Good informative speech topics  (1 page: 100s of topics)
• Commemorative speech topic ideas  (1 page: themes)
• Argumentative/controversial speech topics  (1 page: 290 topics)
• Easter themed speech topics  (1 page: 32 topics)
• Impromptu speech topics  (4 pages: 570 topics)
• Printable impromptu speech topics  (98 proverbs or quotations ready-to-go)

Teacher or student, these lists are for you.

I hope they're useful! Happy speaking, Susan

Demonstration speech ideas

These are the 'show and tell' or 'how to' speeches where you demonstrate a skill, make something, or explain how something works. Think of these speeches as stepping through a process from beginning to end, showing and explaining every step of the way.

The goal of them is often to inspire those listening to try whatever is being shown for themselves.

I have five pages of topics specifically selected because they are good for demonstration speeches. You'll see the lists are adaptable to meet the needs of people of middle school age and upwards.

• 290 themed 'how to' demonstration speech ideas   
• 6 themed demonstration topic lists using the magic of 'how'
• 50 soft skill 'how to' demonstrative speech topics
• 100+ 10-minute, or less, demonstration speech topics
• 188 funny how-to speech topics

Return to Top

Speech topics for kids

I've got two pages of speech topics especially chosen with children in mind. They're mainly for kids in the middle school age bracket (11 - 14 years old) but are readily adaptable for those either younger or older.

Both pages are really useful if you're a teacher or parent looking for inspiration! I've carefully put together lists covering social/community issues, arts and culture, sports and games, food, fun and whimsy, hobbies, and more. 

-  8 themed lists of speech topics for children

- 50+ elocution topics for kids

Persuasive speech topics

Convince me!

Change my mind!

Challenge my thinking!

Convert me!

And, if appropriate, make me laugh!

Whatever topic you choose you will be expected to take a position on it and persuade your audience to consider what you're saying about it seriously.

For example:

'To be vegan is the only right, and moral way to live.'

'Good or right thinking is a matter of opinion.' 

My six persuasive speech topic pages are below.

• 50 good persuasive speech topics
• 5 0+ persuasive speech topic ideas
• 105 fun persuasive speech topics
• 309 easy persuasive speech topics
• 310 persuasive speech topics for college
• 108 feminist persuasive speech topics

125 strong ideas for effective story telling speeches, preparation guidelines, plus a printable narrative speech outline.

If you're looking for suggestions for the Toastmasters Level Three Project 'Connect with storytelling' these will get you off to a great start.

Go to: 125 examples of narrative speech topics

60 vocal variety & body language topics

60 speech topic ideas to help you work with body language and gesture. They're perfect for evocative personal storytelling speeches or for either of these Toastmasters Pathway projects:

• Level 2: Learning Your Style: Effective Body Language or,
• Level 1:  Mastering Fundamentals: Vocal Variety and Body Language

Go to 6 0 vocal variety and body language speech topics

Cause and effect topics for speeches and essays to challenge, connect and make a difference. With explanations, examples and a free printable blank fish bone diagram, (an extremely useful visual cause and effect analytical tool), to download for your own use.

Go to 145 good cause and effect topics

Fun public speaking topics

They're silly; deliberately daft and ridiculous!

These speech topics focus on light-hearted nonsense, tilting the world side-ways, giving your audience a glimpse of it funny side-up.

Gems include:

• 'How to procrastinate like a professional',
• 'How to look innocent',
• 'Why lying can be useful', ...

Go on. Make them snort with laughter. Visit:

• 60 fun public speaking topics for kids of all ages 
• 1 88 funny how-to speech topics

180 + interesting speech topic ideas

Here's a page of topic suggestions encouraging people to push beyond ordinary.

There's a bundle of 50 ideas around the growing influence of social media, a collection of 45 thought provoking suggestions centered on your very own community and family history, 61 'weird' topics, and more. 

You only need ONE truly bright and original idea, right?

Have a look here for it.

There are  180  interesting speech topic ideas   to browse through. 

Good informative speech topics

An informative speech does what its title says: it informs. It gives the facts about the topic. Not people's feelings about the subject - just the facts.

Informational speech topic possibilities are quite truly endless.  Use my page as a beginning to set your own creative juices in motion.

Visit:  100s of good informational speech topics

Commemorative speech topic ideas

A commemorative or tribute speech honors the memory of  a person, a group, an institution, a thing, an event or an idea.

Use this  commemorative speech topic helper  page (and its resource links) to identify the right topic and theme to match the event you've been asked to speak at.

239 controversial or argumentative speech topics

These topics are deliberately provocative. They cover four broad areas affecting us all: the food we eat, our children (from infancy through to teenage years), and the communities/countries we live in.

In addition to the 239 topics there are comprehensive guidelines about choosing the best topic: one fitting yourself and your audience. 

Find yourself a controversial speech topic .

Note: these topics are best suited for high school and college students.

32 Easter themed speech topics

Easter - what is its history? What are the special days, like Palm Sunday, all about? What do bunnies and chocolate eggs have to do with it? Why does the White House have a tradition of egg-rolling as part of its Easter celebrations?

Use this page of 32  Easter speech topic possibilities  to find an idea for an inspirational  demonstration or an interesting informative speech.

Impromptu speech topics

Help! I have a class and need lots of impromptu speech topics for them to practice with.

You've got them here. I have four pages of topics for impromptu speeches.

You'll find them suitable for middle school and upwards. They're great for public speaking clubs too.

• 200 impromptu speech topics
• 150 1 minute speech topics - with sample speech outlines, speeches: full text & audio
• 11 themed sets of fun topics for impromptu speeches
• 80+ themed table topic questions, with printables   

And last, but not least there's ...

98 printable impromptu speech topic cards, an almost* instantly available resource for busy public speaking teachers.

If you're time-poor and need a grab-and-go solution to your "HELP! I want speech topics for my public speaking class, and I need them now" problem, check these out.

Printable Impromptu Speech Topic Cards

* It'll take you 5 minutes to select the set you want, (proverbs or quotations), pay, and have it downloaded ready for printing. You'll be getting 98 themed speech topic cards - a great reusable resource for $4.75.

& One Minute Speeches!

Another almost instantly available resource.

A fun and hugely effective impromptu speaking activity. You get topics + instructions for the core activity, plus three advanced variations for $5.95. Take a look - One Minute Speeches .

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Persuasive Speech Topics for Middle School

The elocution or a speech competition is one of the most common competitions for school students. It helps improve your child's speech, social and leadership skills when they have to stand up on that stage, and deliver a speech that makes the audience want to hear more. This article has some persuasive speech topics for middle schoolers.

Like it? Share it!

The elocution or a speech competition is one of the most common competitions for school students. It helps improve your child’s speech, social and leadership skills when they have to stand up on that stage, and deliver a speech that makes the audience want to hear more. This article has some persuasive speech topics for middle schoolers.

When I was in school, there would always be this one kid every year in the annual elocution competition, who would belt out that overdone bit about ‘I Have a Dream’. No offense meant to Martin Luther King or his rather soul-stirring speech, but I have to admit that it used to get a bit too irritating hearing the same thing over and over. And I used to think back then, why don’t people come up with some original topics, and not the done-and-dusted ones about coming to bury Caesar and not to praise him?

So I had a dream myself to come up and suggest persuasive speech topics for middle school students. I can understand that perhaps at that age, they may not have the maturity to come up with topics of their own. So they can read on here, to get some really original speech topics that are not only interesting, but quite contemporary, too. And, if you write something on your own, rather than just blurting out another person’s speech, even the judges might find it quite impressive.

Preferred Topics for Middle School Students A good speech idea is one on which the students write on their own; something which is very contemporary to them, and they can easily connect with. It should be a topic, which students themselves feel very comfortable with, and hence they can speak about it better.

Current Affairs Current affairs make really good speech topics because, along with the elocution abilities of the student, they also bring out their thought process and thinking abilities. Here are some speech topics for current affairs.

• Isn’t Health Insurance the Right of All Americans?
• Should Violent Video Games be Banned?
• Is Death Penalty Inhuman?
• Euthanasia and the Right to Die
• Some Thoughts About Human Cloning
• Pros and Cons of Adoption
• The Grim Reality of Climate Change
• Should an Extra Language be Made Mandatory in Schools?
• Should Hunting be Made Illegal?
• Should Sportsmen be Allowed to Use Steroids?
• Is it Right to Ban Fur Clothing?

Student Life There are some students who prefer talking about issues that are specific to people of their generation. This is because, students can directly associate with some of these things, and for them, such topics tend to become an interesting subject to talk about.

• Are Websites like Facebook or MySpace Substituting Face-to-Face Social Interaction?
• Should Homework be Banned?
• Television is a Bad Influence
• Pros and Cons of Co-education Schools
• Importance of Finding a Career
• Is There a More Effective Punishment than Grounding?
• Should Schools Make Uniforms Compulsory?
• Sex Education in Schools
• Teen Pregnancy
• Best TV Shows for Middle School Students
• Should Students’ Lockers be Checked?
• Does Television have a Positive Influence on Students?
• Should Exams be Replaced by Other Forms of Testing Performance?
• Is Internet Dating Harmful?
• Should Cell Phones be Allowed in School?
• Should the Minimum Wage be Changed for Adolescents or Teenagers?
• Should Teachers be Paid on the Basis of Performance?
• School Violence
• Homeschooling
• Internet Chat Rooms
• Dating Campus Issues
• Academic Dishonesty

Funny Topics There are some students that just cannot pull off the intensity, which is needed for serious topics, and it would be best that they don’t try those. So here are some light-hearted yet funny topics for a middle school speech.

• Unusual Career Choices
• Why Some Brands are More Popular in Schools than Others?
• Some Funny Experiences of the Last Year
• Celebrities Who Have the Greatest Pull on American Students Today
• A Critical Evaluation of Our Superheroes: Batman, Spider-man or Superman?
• What if There was No Harry Potter/Twilight?
• When I Grow Up …
• Stupid Things My Pet Keeps Doing
• Is There Life After Death?
• Is There Life on Mars?
• Are Vampires Real?
• Do Aliens Exist?
• Do Ghosts Exist?

Social Issues According to the current scenario of the world, a student must be well-informed regarding the issues related to our society. They must be well aware of the evils of society that affect lives of people to a great extent. The middle school students would definitely like to speak on such topics, which will not only be informative for the other students, but also create an impression on judges.

• Abuse of the Elderly
• Abused Women
• Women’s Rights
• Working Women
• Age Discrimination
• Aging Population
• Air Pollution
• Alcohol Abuse
• Birth Control
• Child Labor
• Social Welfare
• Vaccinations
• Single Parent Families
• Disabilities Act
• Animal Welfare
• Drug Policy
• Foster Care
• Bilingual Education

Crime-related Topics For a teenager, topics like these will give them a complete insight about the crimes that can ruin their lives. Usually, people don’t discuss such topics, and hence the teenagers remain oblivious of such hideous crimes. These will be interesting and rare subjects to discuss.

• Battered Women
• Animal Rights
• Ethnic Violence
• Family Violence
• Juvenile Crime
• Media Violence
• Organized Crime
• Drunk Driving
• Prison Regime
• Term Limits
• Alternative Imprisonment
• Animal Experimentation
• Chain Gangs
• Death Penalty
• Domestic Violence

Political and Global Issues Being part of a particular country and a responsible citizen, the students must be aware of the issues related to their country. They must be well-equipped with the global knowledge and the issues related to it. This will prove to be another informative topic to talk on.

• Arab-Israeli Conflict
• Armed Conflicts
• Fat Tax On Food
• Government Fraud and Waste
• Homeland Security
• Homeless in America
• Immigration
• Agricultural Policy
• Legal System
• World Trade
• Cameras in Courtrooms
• Capital Punishment
• Church State Issues
• City Curfews
• Civil Rights
• Climate Change Policy
• Foreign Oil Dependence
• Foreign Policy
• Endangered Oceans
• Endangered Species
• Islamic Fundamentalism
• Medical Ethics
• National Tobacco Settlement
• Racial Profiling
• Religious Right
• Tobacco Industry
• Urban Terrorism
• War On Drugs
• Water Resources
• Welfare Reform
• Women in the Military
• Academic Freedom
• Afghanistan
• Airline Safety
• American Education Reform

Science and Technology Keeping pace with the accelerated development in the field of science and technology, today’s generation would love to speak on a topic as good as this.

• Nuclear Technology
• Space Exploration
• Aliens and UFOs
• Biodiversity
• Voluntary National Testing
• Biological and Chemical Weapons
• Atomic Energy

Medical and Health-related Topics Well, this can be an interesting pick for science students, and specially for those who desire to have a lucrative career in the medical arena.

• Organ Donation
• Infectious Diseases
• Health Care Policy
• Reproductive Technologies
• Alternative Medicine

General Topics Finally, here are some universal topics to choose from:

• Rainforests
• Transportation
• Beginning of Life Issues
• Bermuda Triangle
• Body Piercings

As you can see, there is life beyond the done-and-dusted topics. These were some middle school level speech topics, which will be a much-needed breath of fresh air, not only for you, but also for the audiences and the judges!

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60 Persuasive Essay Topics

Needs persuasive essay topics and prompts? We’ve got 60 persuasive essay topics that will give students an opportunity to craft persuasive essays and/or arguments for oral debate. Our persuasive essay topics are designed to spark critical thinking and can be modified for students in elementary, middle and high school. They are grouped by topic for easy student and teacher reference. Feel free to print the entire list of persuasive essay topics for plenty of inspiration for your next persuasive or argumentative essay assignment!

Society and Culture Persuasive Essay Topics

Have humans become too dependent on technology?

• Persuasive Essay Topic: Who contributes more to modern society: teachers or doctors?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should gaming and casinos be legalized in all states?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Is the use of pesticides in farming worth the health risks?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Is the idea of the “American Dream” still attainable in today’s society?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should parents be held accountable/responsible for what their children post on social media websites?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should corporations be required to engage in responsible citizenship, including environmental accountability?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Is the Electoral College system still effective?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Are zoos important and necessary sources of conservation and research or outdated displays of exotic animals?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: What means of producing electricity has the least harmful impact on the environment?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should the government be required to provide health insurance to all its citizens?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should the drinking age be lowered?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should guaranteeing medical care to all citizens be a responsibility of the government?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Does the general population have the right to access information about the private lives of politicians?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should there be mandatory water rationing during drought conditions?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should there be a reinstatement of the military draft?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Who was the most effective American president?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Who is the most effective current political leader outside of America?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should there be body scanners at airports to detect weapons?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Is it more effective to volunteer your time or to donate your money to a cause you support?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should corporations be allowed to collect an individual’s personal data from social media sources without their consent?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Are current methods of discouraging cyberbullying and harassment effective?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should the government have access to tracking information through our mobile devices?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Who should bear the responsibility for making change in a society: individual citizens or elected officials?

Schools and Education Essay and Speech Topics

• Persuasive Essay Topic: Are private school vouchers helping our society to provide a quality education for all?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: What is more effective: coed education or single-gender schools?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Do colleges put too much stock in standardized test scores?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should students be required to recite the Pledge of Allegiance each morning at school?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: What role should current events play in a child’s school curriculum?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: What is the impact of school uniforms?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Does extended recess time have a positive impact on student health and learning?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should sign language be taught to all students as a second language?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should high schools have a later start time?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should schools ban the use of cell phones by students during school hours?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: What is the impact of assigning nightly homework to students?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: During which grade should students begin to receive homework assignments?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: What is the role social media should have in the school environment?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: What is more effective, a year-round school calendar or a traditional nine-month calendar?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should school officials be allowed to search students’ lockers and personal possessions?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should students be grouped by age or by ability in school classrooms?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: What is the most important subject taught in school?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Are there any academic benefits to the study of video games?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Are current methods of school discipline effective?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should higher education be free for all admitted students?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Are standardized tests an accurate measure of student learning or ability?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: What are the most effective ways to curb school bullying?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Is a college degree a requirement for success in life?

Personal Choices and Personal Values Essay and Speech Topics

• Persuasive Essay Topic: Which makes a better pet, a dog or a cat?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Have reality television shows changed people’s television viewing habits?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: What is the best book you have ever read, and why was it so good?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Is it better to give or to receive?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Is it still important to teach manners and etiquette to children?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: When should children be permitted to have their own cell phones?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: If you won the lottery and could only donate the money to charity, which cause would you choose and why?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Which lifestyle is more conducive to a happy life, urban living or country living?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Should children be limited to the number of hours they are allowed to play video games every week?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: If you could time travel, would it be better to visit the past or the future?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Is it better to be a night owl or an early bird?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: Do opposites really attract?
• Persuasive Essay Topic: What is more important: earning a large salary or doing work that benefits other people?

Looking for more essay topics? Compare and Contrast Essay Topics Descriptive Essay Topics Cause and Effect Essay Topics Narrative Essay Topics

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Persuasive essay examples & writing tips.

75 Persuasive Essay Topics for Middle School

At some points in middle school, schoolchildren will be made to write essays to prove points and convince their readers. These essays, called persuasive essays, help the students become decisive and to stand by their choices. They also help build the charisma and morale needed to convince other people of their choices.

An example of such is the persuasive essay rubric middle school students are made or encouraged to write.

Persuasive Essay Prompts Middle School Students Will Find Helpful

Choosing the right persuasive essay topic is as important as writing a good essay. This is because right from the topic you choose, you must be able to convince your readers to pick up your essay and read till the end. This article provides 75 persuasive essay topics for middle school students or persuasive essay ideas for middle school students.

Persuasive Essay Topics for Middle School

Below is a compilation of topics for persuasive essay rubric middle school and other middle school students can choose from:

• Teenagers should be allowed to vote
• Saving the Earth should be everybody’s business
• Sign languages should be taught in all schools
• Students should be allowed to pick their teachers
• Students should be taught valuable manners in schools
• The Child Right Act should be included in every school’s curriculum
• Schools should not impose wearing uniforms on their students
• Students should be made to wear uniforms
• Adults should pay more attention to their children’s overall welfare
• Pop culture has a negative effect on young people
• Pop culture has a positive effect on young people
• Students should be allowed to take personalised classes
• Self defence classes should be mandatory for students
• Middle school students should be taught how to defend themselves
• Schools need to encourage their students to spend more time reading
• Adults should take time to monitor their children’s progress in schools
• Important values should be taught at home
• No child should be forced to grow up
• Parents must be ready to take responsibility for their children
• Parents should learn to make investments for their children’s futures
• Parents should teach their children good spending habits
• Children should be taught to save money
• Children under the age of 18 should not be made to work
• Parents have to pay special attention to their children to make sure they are not being bullied
• Schools need to take stricter measures against students that bully others
• No child is too old to learn about avoiding strangers
• People should be taught the best way to interact with special needs children
• Both bullies and their parents should be made to face punishments
• Students should be allowed to bring their pets to schools
• Students should be taught relevant subjects in schools
• Every child should be taught to speak at least one foreign language
• Video games should be regarded as part of school curricular activities
• Middle school students should be allowed to have cell phones
• Students who bully others should be expelled
• Holidays should be spent with loved ones
• People should do more to help homeless people
• Sharing is an important value to have
• Body shaming is a form of bullying
• Sex education should be compulsory
• Cooking classes should be mandatory for students
• Students should be taught ways to ensure their security
• Children under the age of 18 should not be allowed to be babysitters
• Students should be taught healthy lifestyles both at home and in schools
• Parents should take out time to get to know their children better
• Good communication skills should be taught in schools
• Teenagers should be allowed to make political decisions
• The government is hiding the truth about aliens
• Children should be given free education
• Every child should be allowed to take time off from school
• Every school should teach their students proper etiquette
• Ever child needs to know their home address and parents’ phone numbers
• Junior school students should be made to take regular spelling tests
• Pop quizzes should be encouraged
• Students should be encouraged to form study groups
• Schools need to implement proper hygiene practices
• Parents should make sure their children practice proper hygiene
• Schools need to make students involved in their future
• Every child should learn a skill
• Every child should know the basic rules of environmental protection
• Schools should give students proper counseling
• Student’s health should be taken seriously
• Students should be taught good dietary practices
• Sports keep students away from crimes
• Schools need to allow indigenous attires
• Having too much money can be bad
• Rich people need to help poor people
• The government needs to do more
• Lockers are unnecessary
• Every child should have a proper lunch
• All teachers should be nice
• Every child should have a reading corner
• Children should be allowed to pick meals
• Every child needs a home
• Stability is important in a child’s life
• Creativity should be encouraged

All these topics are good enough for you to write a convincing essay about, so pick whichever you feel comfortable with.

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My Speech Class

Public Speaking Tips & Speech Topics

434 Good Persuasive Speech Topics

Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class.

Are you struggling to find a good persuasive speech topic ? We know – it can be hard to think of an interesting topic!

We’ve done all  the hard work and created a list of 400+ great persuasive speech ideas for college students, teachers, and anyone interested in public speaking. They’re organized into categories to make it easier for you to find one that that genuinely interests you.

In addition to our collection of speech topic ideas, we also have some tips on selecting a  good topic, as well as researchihng, writing, and delivering your persuasive speech.

What Makes a Good Persuasive Speech Topic?

Crafting a persuasive speech or writing a persuasive essay begins with picking the right topic. What makes a good persuasive speech topic? What are the most important factors that make it or break it when it comes to a good persuasive speech topic?

You are much more likely to be successful with your speech when you choose a topic that interests you, rather than merely picking one from a list.

Talking about something you know or would like to know more about well makes it much easier and fun!

Can We Write Your Speech?

Get your audience blown away with help from a professional speechwriter. Free proofreading and copy-editing included.

Some speech topics have been done to death. They are tired and stale, and are not likely to excite you or your audience (think abortion, gun control, smoking, same-sex marriage). Find a topic that grabs you and your audience, something new and fresh, unique and original.

• Interesting

A good persuasive speech topic is one that you can use to grab the audience’s attention, inform and persuade, and provide a strong persuasive argument for adopting your point of view.

You want to pick a topic that your audience cares and what to hear about.

How To Select a Good Persuasive Topic

How to narrow down this list of ideas?

First, make a rough inventory:

• Which of the speech topics are you interested in?
• What amuses you, makes you move right the way, happy or sad?
• Which topics do you know something about?
• Which topics would you like to research?

Review your inventory list and narrow your choices by answering these questions:

• Do you know global, national, state, community, job or school-related problems and solutions, issues or controversies, related to the persuasive speech ideas?
• Are you excited about any historical or current events, places, processes, organizations or interesting people?
• Do you have certain concerns, opinions, or beliefs?
• Do you think something has to change in the human attitude or social values?
• Did you see or hear something in the news or read about in library books on any of these topics?
• Is there a link with personal experiences, professional or personal goals?

All the answers on the questions above help you to find your angle of approach for a conclusive speech. So, select a few specific angles. Those can serve as the basic main points.

Best 10 Persuasive Speech Topics

Don’t have time to read our full list of 400+ topic ideas? Here is our list of 10 best persuasive speech topics.

• Money can’t buy love or happiness
• Cooking should be taught in schools
• The minimum wage should be increased
• Advertising is a mind game
• Introverts make great leaders
• Eating meat is unethical
• Anyone under 16 should not be allowed to date
• Sustainable clothes are not really sustainable
• The penny coin should be phased out

List of Persuasive Speech Topics

• Constitutional Issues
• Easy and Simple
• Environment
• Food and Drink
• Funny and Humorous
• College Students
• International Relations
• Motivational
• National Security
• Practical Knowledge
• Relationships

10 Animal Persuasive Speech Topics

• Should more pets be adopted than bought from a breeder?
• Are pitbulls a vicious breed?
• Should a dog that has bitten somebody be executed?
• Should we tame wild animals like lions and sharks.
• Should battery farming still be legal?
• Should ‘factory farming’ be banned?
• Adopting pets is the best choice.
• How do puppy mills affect us?
• The benefits of having pets.
• Why cats make the perfect pet.

See this page for a full list of Speech Topics About Animals .

12 Automotive Persuasive Speech Topics

• Should the public first learn how to drive a manual transmission before obtaining their license?
• Drivers should have to take three courses before getting a license.
• Should young children use booster seats in vehicles?
• Hands-free cell phone use in cars should be promoted.
• Should the driving age be 14?
• The danger of texting and driving.
• Watch out for animals when driving.
• Why police should not chase a car.
• Why you should buy a Japanese car.
• Why sports cars are dangerous.
• Driving tests should be free.
• Share the road with bikes.

10 Business Persuasive Speech Topics

The world of business has so many aspects to it, but at the end of the day they are all about customer relations, about making money and about the relationship between employers and employees.

Below are topics that can be used to persuade your audience on a variety of business topics.

A tongue in cheek topic that can be used is “Hiring a lazy person isn’t always a bad thing”, this could be used to persuade an audience that often lazy people find the quickest solution to get something done, resulting in quickly completed work because they just want to get it over and done with.

• Advertising has tons of mind games.
• Advertising standards should be higher.
• The importance of understanding niche marketing.
• Why introverts make good leaders.
• Owning a business means you will lose your friends.
• Business will harden you.
• You should never go into business with family members.
• Just because someone knows you it doesn’t mean you owe them any discounts.
• To be a business owner you must learn to be well organized.
• It’s important that a business should have personality.

See this page for a full list of Persuasive Speech Topics for Business .

5 Constitutional Issues Persuasive Speech Topics

• Do you think it would be fair for the government to detain suspected terrorists without proper trial?
• Should flag burning as a form of protest be prohibited?
• Should every day begin with a silent prayer at school?
• Why alcohol should be illegal.
• Prayer in schools should not be mandatory.

10 Easy and Simple Persuasive Speech Topics

Below follow topics that should be easy enough to persuade your audience without going into too much research. There are some which can be used as ‘tongue in cheek’ topics such as ‘The paparazzi are the real stalkers’ and ‘People need to visit the dentist more often’.

• People should not text while driving.
• Celebrities who break the law should receive stiffer penalties.
• Teachers should pass a basic exam every few years to renew their certification.
• Cities should offer free bike-sharing programs.
• People should eat less junk food.
• We should do more to end poverty and world hunger.
• We should value the elders in our society and learn from their wisdom.
• Money can’t buy love or happiness.
• Children should be offered incentives for doing right, rather than punishment for wrongdoing.
• More recycling should be encouraged.

See this page for a full list of Easy and Simple Persuasive Speech Topics .

9 Economy Persuasive Speech Topics

• Should products manufactured outside the U.S. come with an additional tax?
• Buy products that are made in the USA.
• Free trade agreements are bad for workers.
• The trade deficit with China is dangerous.
• The minimum wage should be increased.
• Daylight savings time has many advantages for our economy.
• The oil companies are to blame for the rising energy prices.
• In most countries the economy is in the mighty hands of just a few multinational corporations.
• Hiring cheaper foreign employees hurts our economy.

10 Education Persuasive Speech Topics

• Teachers should have to pass a test of basic skills every decade to renew their certifications.
• Should free college tuition be offered to poor children?
• Would it be better to introduce a set of skills tests for students, before they graduate high school?
• Do you believe that students who are responsible for cyberbullying should be expelled from school?
• Would it be better if high school students completed community service hours to graduate?
• Do you think elementary and high school students should be allowed to use cell phones at school?
• Should students have to be on the honor roll in order to play sports?
• Art and music programs in public schools are an essential part of education.
• Schools should have the right to search students’ personal property (backpacks, lockers, pockets) to fight drugs in schools.
• Do you think students should be allowed to listen to music during study hall?

See this page for a full list of Education Persuasive Speech Topics .

10 Environment Persuasive Speech Topics

• Should there be stricter laws for protecting endangered species?
• Should only native plants be grown in gardens?
• More people should carpool or use public transportation.
• Should the U.S. limit the use of natural resources?
• How pollution is negatively affecting humanity.
• We should use algae to make oil instead of drilling.
• Why hydraulic fracturing should be banned.
• Why we shouldn’t use disposable diapers.
• Hybrid cars are good for the environment.
• We should keep our community clean.

See this page for a full list of Environmental Persuasive Speech Topics .

10 Ethics Persuasive Speech Topics

• Do you think female construction workers should have the same salary as male construction workers?
• Should assisted suicide be legal for people who suffer from terminal illnesses?
• Do you think the death penalty is the best punishment for dangerous criminals?
• Should you base your perspective of people on stereotypes you have heard?
• Should product testing on animals or humans be allowed?
• Why you should not choose your child’s genetics.
• Are people morally obligated to help the poor?
• Female genital mutilation should be stopped.
• Is it ethical to eat meat?
• Wearing fur is unethical.

10 Family Persuasive Speech Topics

• Should underaged people be allowed to consume alcohol at home, with parental permission?
• Should children 13 or younger be allowed to watch music videos or music channels like MTV?
• Do you think those older than 13 should be allowed into R-rated movies?
• Should teenagers be allowed to purchase violent video games?
• Is it appropriate for children to watch horror movies?
• Those under 16 should not be allowed to date.
• Parental pressure on child actors and athletes is harmful.
• Why parents should not hit their children.
• Fairy tales are good for young children.
• Why kids should not play R rated games.

See this page for a full list of Family Persuasive Speech Topics . We also have a page with Speech Topics for Kids .

6 Fashion Persuasive Speech Topics

• Men should wear pink.
• Choose an Eco-Fashion Fabrics Wardrobe!
• Are Sustainable Clothes Really Sustainable?
• Jewelry: Less Is More.
• Fashion Reveals Your True Identity.
• Fashion Is An Expression Of The Character

11 Financial Persuasive Speech Topics

• Why banks should ban hats and sunglasses to avoid robberies.
• Student loans should be forgiven.
• Reservation casinos are only beneficial if managed correctly.
• National debt is everyones problem.
• Purchasing a car is smarter than leasing one.
• The Japanese yen is affected by the weakness of the dollar.
• The Euro currency will oust the dollar.
• The Chinese Yuan / Japanese Yen / European Euro will all surpass the Dollar as leading currency.
• Phase the penny coin out.
• Severe budget cuts are the only way to maximise good financial results.
• Keeping a close eye on personal finance is key in achieving something in life.

15 Food and Drink Persuasive Speech Topics

• Genetically modified foods should be labeled.
• Do you believe companies who manufacture alcohol should be allowed to advertise on TV?
• Every child should learn to cook.
• Cooking should be taught in schools.
• Should we donate unused food from supermarkets?
• The history of added sugar in our food.
• We should all grow our own vegetables.
• Eat more fruits and vegetables.
• The promise of genetically engineered food.
• Why peanuts are amazing.
• Drink more orange juice.
• Why people should cook.
• Farmers’ markets should be increased.
• Eating organic is good for your health.
• Get artificial hormones out of food.

See this page for a full list of Speech Topic Ideas On Food, Drink, and Cooking .

10 Fun Persuasive Speech Topics

Fun topics are a great way to get people to listen to what you have to say, because when they are entertained they listen more carefully. Fun topics also help the speaker be more at ease, because the topics are more relaxed. Below follow 100 topics that you can have fun with while persuading your audience. .

• Ghosts are not real.
• We all need to be childish.
• Smokers have more acquaintances.
• Music has the power to heal.
• Diamonds are a girls best friends.
• Couples need to live together before getting married.
• Allow kids to believe in Santa.
• Pick up lines do work.
• Cake is not cake if it is dry.
• Parents must be prepared for the ‘birds and bees’ talk.

See this page for a full list of Fun Persuasive Speech Topics .

10 Funny and Humorous Persuasive Speech Topics

Humour is a fabulous way to get people’s attention. Below are questions and statement topics that can be used to get your points across on a variety of topics.

It is important to remember that there can be a fine line between funny and insulting. So use wit and make it fun without insulting your audience. This would be important to remember with a title like ‘The most dangerous animal out there is a silent woman’.

• Blondes are not as dumb as they look.
• Why funny pick-up lines work.
• Guys gossip more than girls do.
• You should not be Facebook friends with your mom.
• If things go wrong, your horoscope is to blame.
• Students should not have to do a persuasive speech in front of a large audience.
• Millennials should stop wearing spandex yoga pants all the time.
• Dads are more fun than moms.
• Argumentative essays are pointless.
• Shoes that don’t fit right are hazardous to your health.

See this page for a full list of Funny Persuasive Speech Topics .

16 Government Persuasive Speech Topics

• Do you believe there should be stricter federal restrictions regarding content on the internet?
• Should employers be required to post job opportunities on a government-run website?
• The government should provide shelter for the homeless.
• Should the state fund schools run by religions?
• Whose face should be printed on the newest bank note?
• Do you believe Puerto Rico should become a state?
• Our nation’s justice system needs to be improved.
• Should the government have a say in our diets?
• The military budget must be decreased.
• Should people get drug tested for state aid?
• How policy works in local government.
• The government should increase funding of Amtrak.
• Fixing potholes should be a priority of local government.
• Eminent domain should be used rarely.
• The war on drugs is a failure.
• Zoning laws should be common sense.

10 Health Persuasive Speech Topics

• Female minors should be allowed to get birth control without telling their parents.
• Should stem cell researchers be able to use cells from aborted babies to help cure diseases?
• Should doctors be allowed to prescribe contraception for girls under 16?
• Do you think it would be better if the USA had a universal health care system?
• Do you believe free condoms should be distributed in schools?
• Regular exercise will improve your health.
• Restaurants should post all ingredients to prevent allergic reactions.
• Do you believe fast food should come with a warning label?
• The use of animals in medical research is a necessary evil.
• Seat belts ensure all passengers a safer ride.

See this page for a full list of Persuasive Speech Topics on Health and Fitness . We also have a page with Medical Topics .

10 School Persuasive Speech Topics

School is a whole new world, where students discover more about themselves and life around them. These are topics that students will most likely have to deal with at some point during their elementary, middle, and high school careers.

• High school students should be allowed to have cell phones in school.
• High school students should not have to wear school uniforms.
• All high school students should learn a foreign language.
• Girls should be allowed to play on the boys’ sports teams.
• High school students should be required to do community service.
• Extracurricular activities are important for your future.
• Students should be able to stay up late, even on school nights.
• Peer pressure helps students grow as individuals.
• Students should have healthy food options.
• Students should be paid for getting good grades.

See this page for a full list of Persuasive Speech Topics for School Students .

10 College Students Persuasive Speech Topics

The following topics are for college students and about the many different aspects that they will deal with during their time in college.

• College textbooks should be replaced by iPads.
• Mobile phones should be switched off during a lecture.
• College students shouldn’t skip classes.
• Students shouldn’t study something that they are not passionate about.
• Gap years are actually a very good idea.
• Notes should always be taken in class.
• Student loans are expensive and students need to understand what they are getting themselves into.
• Students should get to know other students.
• It’s smart to get the harder classes out of the way first.
• Taking summer classes will help students get ahead of schedule.

See this page for a full list of Persuasive Speech Topics for College Students .

10 Teens Persuasive Speech Topics

The following topics are aimed at teens and subjects which are important and matter to teens.

• Teenage girls should be on birth control.
• Teenage boys are lazier than girls.
• Teens should have weekend jobs.
• Homework should not be given.
• Being popular isn’t a good thing.
• Teens are obsessed with scary things.
• Chores shouldn’t be paid for.
• Sex education must be compulsory.
• Exchange student programs for all students.
• Free time gets teens into trouble.

See this page for a full list of Great Speech Topics for Teens .

5 History Persuasive Speech Topics

• Did the U.S. Army provide their soldiers drugs during the Vietnam war?
• African- American achievements should be celebrated.
• Why Lincoln was the best President.
• Revisionist history is dangerous.
• The moon landing was a lie.

See this page for a full list of History Speech Topics .

10 Interesting Persuasive Speech Topics

Interesting topics will always have an audience glued to every word, even when they may disagree with your point of view. Ultimately it is your job to persuade them that your view is in fact correct.

These topics have a mix of simpler speeches such as “Pick up lines do work” here both humour and a few examples of pick up lines have worked will get you going in the right direction. For a speech with a bit more research put into it there are topics such as “Stem cell research in murder”.

• The standards of beauty are never the same.
• Princess Diana was killed.
• Energy drinks are dangerous.
• School day needs to involve less sitting and more exercise.
• No credit cards for under 25.
• Healthy relationships require conflicts.
• Everyone needs medical insurance.
• Tooth whitening is out of control.
• In future air planes won’t crash.
• Business should hire more apprentices.

See this page for a full list of Persuasive Interesting Speech Topics .

13 International Relations Persuasive Speech Topics

• Do you think it is time for the United States to suspend overseas military operations?
• The U.S. should cut off all foreign aid to dictatorships.
• Why you should volunteer in a developing country.
• Should Scotland be a country of its own?
• China will be the next superpower.
• Is any nation truly independent?
• Should women drive in Saudi Arabia?
• Foreign oil dependence is dangerous.
• Weapons disarmament should be increased.
• The war in Iraq was a mistake.
• The United Nations is important in defusing international crises.
• Human rights should be advanced all over the world.
• China will be the almighty economic superpower by 2025.

10 Law Persuasive Speech Topics

• Should those who are caught driving after consuming alcohol lose their driver’s license for one year?
• Should it be illegal to drive while talking on the phone?
• Should illegal music and movie downloads be prosecuted?
• Do you believe illegal immigrants should be allowed to apply for a driver’s license?
• Should motorcyclists have to wear a helmet?
• People over 65 should be required to take a bi-annual driver’s test.
• Should the driving age be raised to 21?
• Should assault weapons be legal?
• Should known gang members be prohibited from public parks?
• Do you think it should be illegal for people to curse on TV during daytime?

See this page for a full list of Legal Speech Topics .

3 Literature Persuasive Speech Topics

• Why reading is more beneficial than watching television.
• Why it is a good idea to read Fifty Shades of Grey.
• Why people need to read more books.

17 Media Persuasive Speech Topics

• Why it’s wrong for the media to promote a certain beauty standard.
• Is the media responsible for the moral degradation of teens?
• Do magazines marketed to teenagers send the wrong message?
• Why Disney should not be making Star Wars movies.
• Why you should study photography.
• Should certain T.V. shows have age restrictions?
• Why the media is to blame for eating disorders.
• The media does not force us to worship false icons.
• Why the Russian should have beat Rocky.
• Television is harmful to children.
• Why comic books are good to read.
• Some TV shows are educational.
• Make TV more educational.
• We need more funding for public television and radio.
• Violence on television should be regulated.
• Cable TV monopolies destroy competition.
• Katniss Everdeen would alienate Harry Potter.

10 Motivational Persuasive Speech Topics

• School leaders must shape high-achieving learning curricula for students.
• Set a clear goal and devote all your positive energy toward reaching it.
• What to do for people who have no motivation to live a happy life.
• The art of moral imagination is the key to intellectual and spiritual development.
• Why it is hard to follow your dream.
• What keep most of us from following the voice of your heart when it comes to love or even discovery travelling?
• Overcome your stage fright and fear of public speaking.
• Begin with forming a moral tool set when children are young and build further when they are at least 18 years old.
• Aim straightforward in whatever project you undertake, and emphasize and evaluate what you want to achieve often in between the completed parts of the total planning.
• Prudence is an effort you can turn non-believers into believers in your plans.

See this page for a full list of Speech Topics For Motivational Speaking .

6 Music Persuasive Speech Topics

• Why the French horn should be played more.
• Should schools allow uncensored songs at school dances?
• How listening to music could improve your day.
• Why music is beneficial to society.
• MP3 music should be free.
• Rock music is better than Country & Western.

6 National Security Persuasive Speech Topics

• Are intensive security screenings essential for those who travel in airplanes?
• Negotiating with terrorists is sometimes justifiable.
• Should police carry firearms?
• Homosexuals belong in the military.
• Women benefit the military in many ways.
• Should police carry toy guns?

10 Politics Persuasive Speech Topics

• Should it be legal for politicians to accept campaign contributions from corporate lobbyists?
• Why you should vote.
• Ban abusive language in elections.
• Why you should know Bernie Sanders.
• Term limits need to be respected.
• Give Kurdistan back to the Kurds.
• Zimbabwe is the next drama in world politics.
• Central Asian states could become a threat.
• America is not the world’s policeman.
• Globalization pays off.

See this page for a full list of Speech Topics about Politics .

3 Practical Knowledge Persuasive Speech Topics

• Basic survival skills are important to know.
• Basic camping skills everyone should know.
• Personal hygiene is important for professional success.

7 Psychology Persuasive Speech Topics

• Intelligence depends more on the environment than genetics.
• Human development depends primarily on environmental factors.
• Why we should not see psychologists.
• Why do we need to love and to be loved?
• Can money give you happiness?
• Why introverts make the best public speakers.
• Verbal abuse can be much more destructive than physical.

See this page for a full list of Psychology Speech Topics .

23 Relationships Persuasive Speech Topics

• Should young people have internet relationships?
• Men and women speak a different language of love.
• Long distance relationships are possible.
• Why it is important to live together before marriage.
• Teens should live with their friends once a week.
• Jealousy can be a disease.
• Most people say they will break up with a cheating partner, but in the end most people do not.
• Counseling is the solution for working through relationship problems.
• Intimacy is the key to a successful relationship.
• Women cheat more than men do.
• Interreligious Relationships – Love between two people can never be forbidden.
• Arranged marriages must be outlawed.
• Asking someone to wear a condom shows a lack of trust.
• Celibacy is outdated.
• Cheating isn’t wrong if you do it well.
• Co-workers should never date.
• Dating behavior rules are simple for girls: No means No, not Yes.
• Living together before marriage will lower the divorce rate.
• Men and women speak different languages in love matters.
• People only need one good friend.
• Polygamy should be allowed.
• You will learn most from friends that are different from you.
• Romance works best the old fashioned way.

8 Religion Persuasive Speech Topics

• Should public schools teach world religions?
• Students should be allowed to pray in school.
• Women should be priests.
• Religious conflict must be avoided.
• Why Islam is a peaceful religion.
• Islamic fundamentalism is not true Islam.
• Religious cults are dangerous.
• Faith in God should be protected.

See this page for a full list of Topics on Religion and Spirituality .

10 Science Persuasive Speech Topics

• Do you think the United States government should spend more on space programs?
• Why should we be aware of what is happening in outer space?
• Why Pluto should still be considered a planet.
• Mars was the same as Earth in the past.
• Why you should donate your body to science.
• We need more scientific advancements.
• Qualitative research is more preferable than quantitative research.
• Religion and science do not mix. (Or: they do.)
• Scientists have the duty to translate their findings in normal language.
• Theories are useless if they can not be transformed into strategies.

See this page for a full list of Persuasive Science Speech Topics .

11 Self-Help Persuasive Speech Topics

• Art is a stress reliever and can reduce depression.
• With hardwork and determination anyone can be successful.
• Why we should live life spontaneously.
• Improve your time management.
• Embarrassing moments make you stronger.
• Be true to yourself.
• Dress for success.
• How to continue your personal growth.
• The importance of self- confidence.
• If you don’t give up, you’ll make it.
• Talking to yourself can be beneficial.

10 Society Persuasive Speech Topics

• Should larger passengers be obliged to purchase two plane tickets, or two movie tickets?
• Should American families have no more than two children, in order to control population growth?
• Should property owners be obliged to clean the snow from sidewalks on their property?
• Should there be a cop in every bar to make sure people do not drink and drive?
• Do you believe that older people should receive free bus rides?
• Should all citizens of the USA complete one year of community service?
• Do you believe it is time for America to use the metric system?
• Why it should be mandatory for all students to stand for the pledge.
• Do you believe that cities should provide free wireless internet?
• Why living in the country is better than the city.

See this page for a full list of Persuasive Society Speech Topics .

10 Sport Persuasive Speech Topics

Some sports topics can quickly turn into an argument between fans so keep in mind that special care should be taken with some of the suggested topics.

The term soccer was used to distinguished between soccer and American football, feel free to use the term football for those countries that do not use the term soccer.

• Should some musical groups, such as marching band and show choir, be considered a sport?
• Do you think cities should have a bike sharing system?
• Should college athletes be paid?
• Why baseball players should take drug tests before playing.
• High school football programs should receive less funding.
• Female sports should be given equal coverage by the media.
• Should drug tests be mandatory for professional athletes?
• Should athletes be paid less?
• Should drug tests be mandatory for school athletes?
• Winning is not as important as trying your best.

See this page for a full list of Persuasive Sports Speech Topics .

28 Technology Persuasive Speech Topics

• Google and other search engines will be the death of libraries.
• Make sure to backup your computer files several times a day.
• What kind of influence will technology have on our future?
• Printing photos is better than keeping them on a computer.
• Do you believe internet censorship is inappropriate?
• Should nuclear power be used?
• How technology will change our lives.
• Internet could do more to free deaf people from their social isolation.
• Should screen time also be limited for adults?
• Why the government should regulate technology.
• Technology is making people less creative.
• Technology has made life better.
• Why Microsoft Word products should be free.
• Why you should not buy an iPhone.
• Anti-piracy software does not work.
• Internet chatrooms are not safe.
• The amount of spam you see in your mailbox is just the tip of the iceberg.
• We are addicted to the internet.
• Put down your phone and connect with people.
• Electronics are making kids lazy.
• How does a search engine work?
• Apple music should be free.
• The importance of the internet.
• Internet gambling needs more regulation.
• Computer literacy should be increased.
• The importance of internet fraud awareness.
• Why selfies are a thing of the past.
• People who say they do not need or want to use the world wide web are insane.

12 Travel Persuasive Speech Topics

• Why you should go to Bermuda.
• Why airline tickets should be cheaper.
• Traveling makes you more open-minded.
• Always report travel complaints as soon as possible when back home.
• Backpacking means every day unexpected adventures if you are open for it
• If there was no tourism there would be much more poverty.
• Support eco-tourism.
• Tourism ruins historical sites and there should be placed warning signs to awake them.
• Extreme air turbulence can be fatal.
• Fly First Class at least once in your lifetime.
• The best way to travel is in a guided group.
• Antarctica should be closed for tourists and scientists

8 Workplace Persuasive Speech Topics

• Should large corporations hire a number of minorities that are proportionate to the population?
• Do you think 14 year olds should be allowed to hold jobs?
• Why you should choose a high paying job over a fun job.
• Why everyone should work retail once in their life.
• Tipping should be mandatory in restaurants.
• Women make better managers than men.
• The importance of office parties.
• Labor unions should be protected.

Our list of topics is by far the best list you will find online – both in terms of quantity and quality. We add and remove ideas weekly to keep the list up-to-date.

Many timely persuasive speech topics can be found on radio, TV, your local newspaper, or your Facebook and Twitter feeds. We also have Argumentative (which is a type of persuasive speech on a controversial issue) and Policy topics . If you know of a cool topic, please send it to us and we will publish it on our page with fresh topics.

For persuasive essay topic ideas have a look at our list of Interesting Research Paper topics : these can be easily adapted for persuasive speeches.

Write a Gripping Personal Narrative Essay Using Our Cheat Guide

Vote of Thanks Examples

50 thoughts on “434 Good Persuasive Speech Topics”

Thank You! 🙂 Very helpful and inspiring and you get a good laugh out of these topics, wish me luck on my test.

That was some awesome topics for my college presentation thanks for the help 🙂

Thank you so much i got a 82 on my speech! I talked about how women don’t have rights, and that they should be in the kitchen. Thank you again!!!

These topics are good I like give speech. Speech good for speaking. thank for topics

Why smoking can help you make friends

These topic are good. Thank you so much..

Really helpful, I pro-formed a speech outlining why exactly unfaithful thots should be be vanquished from our society. Got a 69.

Thanks so much! I did a speech on the unfaithful thots of our society and the plague being wrought upon the population. We need a solution. Some might say a final, solution.

These topics are great. Thank you

OMG thank you sooooo mush you literally saved my life.

Thankkkk youuuuuuuuuuuuu sooooo much these topics are amazing and thank you for saving my life my speech was why airlines should be cheeper and i got a 99

Great topics but there is no R rating for video games. (Family, Topic 10)

Thank you so much this was really helpful!!!!

these are good topics because im in 5th grade in my class right now and we are starting pursasive right now

Why sex education important

Are pitbulls a vicious breed

Germany is the best

Does Lightning McQueen have Life Insurance or Car Insurance ?

Correction: why cats make the purrfect pet.

thank you this is a very helpful and inspiring topics

These were good and helpful. This was exactly what I needed for my speech. Thanks to whoever came up with all of these.

Thank you so much. My speech on getting Belle Delphine banned got 69%

Thank you so much, this was inspiring and helpful.

ok, so I know im the only one that did this but its actually 414 speech topics so!!!!!11

This was v helpful- thank you! i did that Princess Diana was murdered and was very easy to be passionate about it – thx again!

very nice. help alot.me like moon landing one. thought was funny.

i love ThiS website SO MUCH it helped me with my speech endlessly and will be forever greatful xxx <3 <3

Why water causes cancer

Why Sped kids should have more special attention in schools?

-Tax the freaking pants off the 1%

-Only highly education education specialists should make laws regarding education

-Schools should implement standards that require more recess and P.E. and no homework

did a speach on koalas being nuclearly reactive thx sm

please tell kate to stop trying to help with my academics in writing thanks xx

Should kids be allowed to kick their parents out of the house when they get caught doing bad things

cheating isnt wrong if you do it well

i personally think that this website helped a lot i think you should add a kpop section just for who is interester ^0^ thank you 🙂

I made a speech explaining why toothbrushing should be mandatory and it got a 69

thanks so much i got a 69 on my speech about free robux

thanks bro i got a 69% on my speech about how i would eat henrique all night

Couldn’t find a topic but site was amazing! Henrique on the other hand

thanks got me a 100

Those were so helpful wish me luck on my test

henrique is kind of annoying but a good website

i’m thinking a speech on the flash sounds perfect.

Thank youuu so muchhh!!!!!! This was so helpful and rly helped me find new perspectives to look from. I wrote my speech on how men are animals, have no rights, and should be locked in mines and milked for their semen. I also found out im pregnant guys!!!! Time to find out if it’s a girl or an abortion!!!!!

I got the best speech topic.thank goodness.I only got an hour to finish.

why can’t we make toast in the bath

Why teens shouldn’t have sex before marriage.

I laughed so hard at “students should not have to do a persuasive speech in front of public audiences”

is this the real life, or is it just a fantasy?

this site was so good i found nothing! thank goodness i got a 0% my grades are rising

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40 Strong Persuasive Writing Examples (Essays, Speeches, Ads, and More)

Learn from the experts.

The more we read, the better writers we become. Teaching students to write strong persuasive essays should always start with reading some top-notch models. This round-up of persuasive writing examples includes famous speeches, influential ad campaigns, contemporary reviews of famous books, and more. Use them to inspire your students to write their own essays. (Need persuasive essay topics? Check out our list of interesting persuasive essay ideas here! )

• Persuasive Essays
• Persuasive Speeches
• Advertising Campaigns

Persuasive Essay Writing Examples

From the earliest days of print, authors have used persuasive essays to try to sway others to their own point of view. Check out these top persuasive essay writing examples.

Professions for Women by Virginia Woolf

Sample lines: “Outwardly, what is simpler than to write books? Outwardly, what obstacles are there for a woman rather than for a man? Inwardly, I think, the case is very different; she has still many ghosts to fight, many prejudices to overcome. Indeed it will be a long time still, I think, before a woman can sit down to write a book without finding a phantom to be slain, a rock to be dashed against. And if this is so in literature, the freest of all professions for women, how is it in the new professions which you are now for the first time entering?”

The Crisis by Thomas Paine

Sample lines: “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value.”

Politics and the English Language by George Orwell

Sample lines: “As I have tried to show, modern writing at its worst does not consist in picking out words for the sake of their meaning and inventing images in order to make the meaning clearer. It consists in gumming together long strips of words which have already been set in order by someone else, and making the results presentable by sheer humbug.”

Letter From a Birmingham Jail by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Sample lines: “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was ‘well timed’ in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word ‘Wait!’ It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This ‘Wait’ has almost always meant ‘Never.’ We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that ‘justice too long delayed is justice denied.'”

Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

Sample lines: “Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It is only expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail. A wise man will not leave the right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority. There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men.”

Go Gentle Into That Good Night by Roger Ebert

Sample lines: “‘Kindness’ covers all of my political beliefs. No need to spell them out. I believe that if, at the end of it all, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime.”

The Way to Wealth by Benjamin Franklin

Sample lines: “Methinks I hear some of you say, must a man afford himself no leisure? I will tell thee, my friend, what Poor Richard says, employ thy time well if thou meanest to gain leisure; and, since thou art not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour. Leisure is time for doing something useful; this leisure the diligent man will obtain, but the lazy man never; so that, as Poor Richard says, a life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things.”

The Crack-Up by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Sample lines: “Of course all life is a process of breaking down, but the blows that do the dramatic side of the work—the big sudden blows that come, or seem to come, from outside—the ones you remember and blame things on and, in moments of weakness, tell your friends about, don’t show their effect all at once.”

Open Letter to the Kansas School Board by Bobby Henderson

Sample lines: “I am writing you with much concern after having read of your hearing to decide whether the alternative theory of Intelligent Design should be taught along with the theory of Evolution. … Let us remember that there are multiple theories of Intelligent Design. I and many others around the world are of the strong belief that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster. … We feel strongly that the overwhelming scientific evidence pointing towards evolutionary processes is nothing but a coincidence, put in place by Him. It is for this reason that I’m writing you today, to formally request that this alternative theory be taught in your schools, along with the other two theories.”

Open Letter to the United Nations by Niels Bohr

Sample lines: “Humanity will, therefore, be confronted with dangers of unprecedented character unless, in due time, measures can be taken to forestall a disastrous competition in such formidable armaments and to establish an international control of the manufacture and use of the powerful materials.”

Persuasive Speech Writing Examples

Many persuasive speeches are political in nature, often addressing subjects like human rights. Here are some of history’s most well-known persuasive writing examples in the form of speeches.

I Have a Dream by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Sample lines: “And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

Woodrow Wilson’s War Message to Congress, 1917

Sample lines: “There are, it may be, many months of fiery trial and sacrifice ahead of us. It is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war, into the most terrible and disastrous of all wars, civilization itself seeming to be in the balance. But the right is more precious than peace, and we shall fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts—for democracy, for the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own governments, for the rights and liberties of small nations, for a universal dominion of right by such a concert of free peoples as shall bring peace and safety to all nations and make the world itself at last free.”

Chief Seattle’s 1854 Oration

Sample lines: “I here and now make this condition that we will not be denied the privilege without molestation of visiting at any time the tombs of our ancestors, friends, and children. Every part of this soil is sacred in the estimation of my people. Every hillside, every valley, every plain and grove, has been hallowed by some sad or happy event in days long vanished. Even the rocks, which seem to be dumb and dead as they swelter in the sun along the silent shore, thrill with memories of stirring events connected with the lives of my people, and the very dust upon which you now stand responds more lovingly to their footsteps than yours, because it is rich with the blood of our ancestors, and our bare feet are conscious of the sympathetic touch.”

Women’s Rights Are Human Rights, Hillary Rodham Clinton

Sample lines: “What we are learning around the world is that if women are healthy and educated, their families will flourish. If women are free from violence, their families will flourish. If women have a chance to work and earn as full and equal partners in society, their families will flourish. And when families flourish, communities and nations do as well. … If there is one message that echoes forth from this conference, let it be that human rights are women’s rights and women’s rights are human rights once and for all.”

I Am Prepared to Die, Nelson Mandela

Sample lines: “Above all, My Lord, we want equal political rights, because without them our disabilities will be permanent. I know this sounds revolutionary to the whites in this country, because the majority of voters will be Africans. This makes the white man fear democracy. But this fear cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the only solution which will guarantee racial harmony and freedom for all. It is not true that the enfranchisement of all will result in racial domination. Political division, based on color, is entirely artificial and, when it disappears, so will the domination of one color group by another. … This then is what the ANC is fighting. Our struggle is a truly national one. It is a struggle of the African people, inspired by our own suffering and our own experience. It is a struggle for the right to live.”

The Struggle for Human Rights by Eleanor Roosevelt

Sample lines: “It is my belief, and I am sure it is also yours, that the struggle for democracy and freedom is a critical struggle, for their preservation is essential to the great objective of the United Nations to maintain international peace and security. Among free men the end cannot justify the means. We know the patterns of totalitarianism—the single political party, the control of schools, press, radio, the arts, the sciences, and the church to support autocratic authority; these are the age-old patterns against which men have struggled for 3,000 years. These are the signs of reaction, retreat, and retrogression. The United Nations must hold fast to the heritage of freedom won by the struggle of its people; it must help us to pass it on to generations to come.”

Freedom From Fear by Aung San Suu Kyi

Sample lines: “Saints, it has been said, are the sinners who go on trying. So free men are the oppressed who go on trying and who in the process make themselves fit to bear the responsibilities and to uphold the disciplines which will maintain a free society. Among the basic freedoms to which men aspire that their lives might be full and uncramped, freedom from fear stands out as both a means and an end. A people who would build a nation in which strong, democratic institutions are firmly established as a guarantee against state-induced power must first learn to liberate their own minds from apathy and fear.”

Harvey Milk’s “The Hope” Speech

Sample lines: “Some people are satisfied. And some people are not. You see there is a major difference—and it remains a vital difference—between a friend and a gay person, a friend in office and a gay person in office. Gay people have been slandered nationwide. We’ve been tarred and we’ve been brushed with the picture of pornography. In Dade County, we were accused of child molestation. It is not enough anymore just to have friends represent us, no matter how good that friend may be.”

The Union and the Strike, Cesar Chavez

Sample lines: “We are showing our unity in our strike. Our strike is stopping the work in the fields; our strike is stopping ships that would carry grapes; our strike is stopping the trucks that would carry the grapes. Our strike will stop every way the grower makes money until we have a union contract that guarantees us a fair share of the money he makes from our work! We are a union and we are strong and we are striking to force the growers to respect our strength!”

Nobel Lecture by Malala Yousafzai

Sample lines: “The world can no longer accept that basic education is enough. Why do leaders accept that for children in developing countries, only basic literacy is sufficient, when their own children do homework in algebra, mathematics, science, and physics? Leaders must seize this opportunity to guarantee a free, quality, primary and secondary education for every child. Some will say this is impractical, or too expensive, or too hard. Or maybe even impossible. But it is time the world thinks bigger.”   

Persuasive Writing Examples in Advertising Campaigns

Ads are prime persuasive writing examples. You can flip open any magazine or watch TV for an hour or two to see sample after sample of persuasive language. Here are some of the most popular ad campaigns of all time, with links to articles explaining why they were so successful.

Nike: Just Do It

The iconic swoosh with the simple tagline has persuaded millions to buy their kicks from Nike and Nike alone. Teamed with pro sports-star endorsements, this campaign is one for the ages. Blinkist offers an opinion on what made it work.

Dove: Real Beauty

Beauty brand Dove changed the game by choosing “real” women to tell their stories instead of models. They used relatable images and language to make connections, and inspired other brands to try the same concept. Learn why Global Brands considers this one a true success story.

Wendy’s: Where’s the Beef?

Today’s kids are too young to remember the cranky old woman demanding to know where the beef was on her fast-food hamburger. But in the 1980s, it was a catchphrase that sold millions of Wendy’s burgers. Learn from Better Marketing how this ad campaign even found its way into the 1984 presidential debate.

De Beers: A Diamond Is Forever

A diamond engagement ring has become a standard these days, but the tradition isn’t as old as you might think. In fact, it was De Beers jewelry company’s 1948 campaign that created the modern engagement ring trend. The Drum has the whole story of this sparkling campaign.

Volkswagen: Think Small

Americans have always loved big cars. So in the 1960s, when Volkswagen wanted to introduce their small cars to a bigger market, they had a problem. The clever “Think Small” campaign gave buyers clever reasons to consider these models, like “If you run out of gas, it’s easy to push.” Learn how advertisers interested American buyers in little cars at Visual Rhetoric.

American Express: Don’t Leave Home Without It

AmEx was once better known for traveler’s checks than credit cards, and the original slogan was “Don’t leave home without them.” A simple word change convinced travelers that American Express was the credit card they needed when they headed out on adventures. Discover more about this persuasive campaign from Medium.

Skittles: Taste the Rainbow

These candy ads are weird and intriguing and probably not for everyone. But they definitely get you thinking, and that often leads to buying. Learn more about why these wacky ads are successful from The Drum.

Maybelline: Maybe She’s Born With It

Smart wordplay made this ad campaign slogan an instant hit. The ads teased, “Maybe she’s born with it. Maybe it’s Maybelline.” (So many literary devices all in one phrase!) Fashionista has more on this beauty campaign.

Coca-Cola: Share a Coke

Seeing their own name on a bottle made teens more likely to want to buy a Coke. What can that teach us about persuasive writing in general? It’s an interesting question to consider. Learn more about the “Share a Coke” campaign from Digital Vidya.

Always: #LikeaGirl

Talk about the power of words! This Always campaign turned the derogatory phrase “like a girl” on its head, and the world embraced it. Storytelling is an important part of persuasive writing, and these ads really do it well. Medium has more on this stereotype-bashing campaign.   

Editorial Persuasive Writing Examples

Newspaper editors or publishers use editorials to share their personal opinions. Noted politicians, experts, or pundits may also offer their opinions on behalf of the editors or publishers. Here are a couple of older well-known editorials, along with a selection from current newspapers.

Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus (1897)

Sample lines: “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias.”

What’s the Matter With Kansas? (1896)

Sample lines: “Oh, this IS a state to be proud of! We are a people who can hold up our heads! What we need is not more money, but less capital, fewer white shirts and brains, fewer men with business judgment, and more of those fellows who boast that they are ‘just ordinary clodhoppers, but they know more in a minute about finance than John Sherman,’ we need more men … who hate prosperity, and who think, because a man believes in national honor, he is a tool of Wall Street.”

America Can Have Democracy or Political Violence. Not Both. (The New York Times)

Sample lines: “The nation is not powerless to stop a slide toward deadly chaos. If institutions and individuals do more to make it unacceptable in American public life, organized violence in the service of political objectives can still be pushed to the fringes. When a faction of one of the country’s two main political parties embraces extremism, that makes thwarting it both more difficult and more necessary. A well-functioning democracy demands it.”

The Booster Isn’t Perfect, But Still Can Help Against COVID (The Washington Post)

Sample lines: “The booster shots are still free, readily available and work better than the previous boosters even as the virus evolves. Much still needs to be done to build better vaccines that protect longer and against more variants, including those that might emerge in the future. But it is worth grabbing the booster that exists today, the jab being a small price for any measure that can help keep COVID at bay.”

If We Want Wildlife To Thrive in L.A., We Have To Share Our Neighborhoods With Them (Los Angeles Times)

Sample lines: “If there are no corridors for wildlife movement and if excessive excavation of dirt to build bigger, taller houses erodes the slope of a hillside, then we are slowly destroying wildlife habitat. For those people fretting about what this will do to their property values—isn’t open space, trees, and wildlife an amenity in these communities?”   

Persuasive Review Writing Examples

Book or movie reviews are more great persuasive writing examples. Look for those written by professionals for the strongest arguments and writing styles. Here are reviews of some popular books and movies by well-known critics to use as samples.

The Great Gatsby (The Chicago Tribune, 1925)

Sample lines: “What ails it, fundamentally, is the plain fact that it is simply a story—that Fitzgerald seems to be far more interested in maintaining its suspense than in getting under the skins of its people. It is not that they are false: It is that they are taken too much for granted. Only Gatsby himself genuinely lives and breathes. The rest are mere marionettes—often astonishingly lifelike, but nevertheless not quite alive.”

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (The Washington Post, 1999)

Sample lines: “Obviously, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone should make any modern 11-year-old a very happy reader. The novel moves quickly, packs in everything from a boa constrictor that winks to a melancholy Zen-spouting centaur to an owl postal system, and ends with a scary surprise. Yet it is, essentially, a light-hearted thriller, interrupted by occasional seriousness (the implications of Harry’s miserable childhood, a moral about the power of love).”

Twilight (The Telegraph, 2009)

Sample lines: “No secret, of course, at whom this book is aimed, and no doubt, either, that it has hit its mark. The four Twilight novels are not so much enjoyed, as devoured, by legions of young female fans worldwide. That’s not to say boys can’t enjoy these books; it’s just that the pages of heart-searching dialogue between Edward and Bella may prove too long on chat and too short on action for the average male reader.”

To Kill a Mockingbird (Time, 1960)

Sample lines: “Author Lee, 34, an Alabaman, has written her first novel with all of the tactile brilliance and none of the preciosity generally supposed to be standard swamp-warfare issue for Southern writers. The novel is an account of an awakening to good and evil, and a faint catechistic flavor may have been inevitable. But it is faint indeed; novelist Lee’s prose has an edge that cuts through cant, and she teaches the reader an astonishing number of useful truths about little girls and about Southern life.”

The Diary of Anne Frank (The New York Times, 1952)

Sample lines: “And this quality brings it home to any family in the world today. Just as the Franks lived in momentary fear of the Gestapo’s knock on their hidden door, so every family today lives in fear of the knock of war. Anne’s diary is a great affirmative answer to the life-question of today, for she shows how ordinary people, within this ordeal, consistently hold to the greater human values.”   

What are your favorite persuasive writing examples to use with students? Come share your ideas in the WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook .

Plus, the big list of essay topics for high school (120+ ideas) ..

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112 Persuasive Speech Topics That Are Actually Engaging

What’s covered:, how to pick an awesome persuasive speech topic, 112 engaging persuasive speech topics, tips for preparing your persuasive speech.

Writing a stellar persuasive speech requires a carefully crafted argument that will resonate with your audience to sway them to your side. This feat can be challenging to accomplish, but an engaging, thought-provoking speech topic is an excellent place to start.

When it comes time to select a topic for your persuasive speech, you may feel overwhelmed by all the options to choose from—or your brain may be drawing a completely blank slate. If you’re having trouble thinking of the perfect topic, don’t worry. We’re here to help!

In this post, we’re sharing how to choose the perfect persuasive speech topic and tips to prepare for your speech. Plus, you’ll find 112 persuasive speech topics that you can take directly from us or use as creative inspiration for your own ideas!

Choose Something You’re Passionate About

It’s much easier to write, research, and deliver a speech about a cause you care about. Even if it’s challenging to find a topic that completely sparks your interest, try to choose a topic that aligns with your passions.

However, keep in mind that not everyone has the same interests as you. Try to choose a general topic to grab the attention of the majority of your audience, but one that’s specific enough to keep them engaged.

For example, suppose you’re giving a persuasive speech about book censorship. In that case, it’s probably too niche to talk about why “To Kill a Mockingbird” shouldn’t be censored (even if it’s your favorite book), and it’s too broad to talk about media censorship in general.

Steer Clear of Cliches

Have you already heard a persuasive speech topic presented dozens of times? If so, it’s probably not an excellent choice for your speech—even if it’s an issue you’re incredibly passionate about.

Although polarizing topics like abortion and climate control are important to discuss, they aren’t great persuasive speech topics. Most people have already formed an opinion on these topics, which will either cause them to tune out or have a negative impression of your speech.

Instead, choose topics that are fresh, unique, and new. If your audience has never heard your idea presented before, they will be more open to your argument and engaged in your speech.

Have a Clear Side of Opposition

For a persuasive speech to be engaging, there must be a clear side of opposition. To help determine the arguability of your topic, ask yourself: “If I presented my viewpoint on this topic to a group of peers, would someone disagree with me?” If the answer is yes, then you’ve chosen a great topic!

Now that we’ve laid the groundwork for what it takes to choose a great persuasive speech topic, here are over one hundred options for you to choose from.

• Should high school athletes get tested for steroids?
• Should schools be required to have physical education courses?
• Should sports grades in school depend on things like athletic ability?
• What sport should be added to or removed from the Olympics?
• Should college athletes be able to make money off of their merchandise?
• Should sports teams be able to recruit young athletes without a college degree?
• Should we consider video gamers as professional athletes?
• Is cheerleading considered a sport?
• Should parents allow their kids to play contact sports?
• Should professional female athletes be paid the same as professional male athletes?
• Should college be free at the undergraduate level?
• Is the traditional college experience obsolete?
• Should you choose a major based on your interests or your potential salary?
• Should high school students have to meet a required number of service hours before graduating?
• Should teachers earn more or less based on how their students perform on standardized tests?
• Are private high schools more effective than public high schools?
• Should there be a minimum number of attendance days required to graduate?
• Are GPAs harmful or helpful?
• Should schools be required to teach about standardized testing?
• Should Greek Life be banned in the United States?
• Should schools offer science classes explicitly about mental health?
• Should students be able to bring their cell phones to school?
• Should all public restrooms be all-gender?
• Should undocumented immigrants have the same employment and education opportunities as citizens?
• Should everyone be paid a living wage regardless of their employment status?
• Should supremacist groups be able to hold public events?
• Should guns be allowed in public places?
• Should the national drinking age be lowered?
• Should prisoners be allowed to vote?
• Should the government raise or lower the retirement age?
• Should the government be able to control the population?
• Is the death penalty ethical?

Environment

• Should stores charge customers for plastic bags?
• Should breeding animals (dogs, cats, etc.) be illegal?
• Is it okay to have exotic animals as pets?
• Should people be fined for not recycling?
• Should compost bins become mandatory for restaurants?
• Should electric vehicles have their own transportation infrastructure?
• Would heavier fining policies reduce corporations’ emissions?
• Should hunting be encouraged or illegal?
• Should reusable diapers replace disposable diapers?

Science & Technology

• Is paper media more reliable than digital news sources?
• Should automated/self-driving cars be legalized?
• Should schools be required to provide laptops to all students?
• Should software companies be able to have pre-downloaded programs and applications on devices?
• Should drones be allowed in military warfare?
• Should scientists invest more or less money into cancer research?
• Should cloning be illegal?
• Should societies colonize other planets?
• Should there be legal oversight over the development of technology?

Social Media

• Should there be an age limit on social media?
• Should cyberbullying have the same repercussions as in-person bullying?
• Are online relationships as valuable as in-person relationships?
• Does “cancel culture” have a positive or negative impact on societies?
• Are social media platforms reliable information or news sources?
• Should social media be censored?
• Does social media create an unrealistic standard of beauty?
• Is regular social media usage damaging to real-life interactions?
• Is social media distorting democracy?
• How many branches of government should there be?
• Who is the best/worst president of all time?
• How long should judges serve in the U.S. Supreme Court?
• Should a more significant portion of the U.S. budget be contributed towards education?
• Should the government invest in rapid transcontinental transportation infrastructure?
• Should airport screening be more or less stringent?
• Should the electoral college be dismantled?
• Should the U.S. have open borders?
• Should the government spend more or less money on space exploration?
• Should students sing Christmas carols, say the pledge of allegiance, or perform other tangentially religious activities?
• Should nuns and priests become genderless roles?
• Should schools and other public buildings have prayer rooms?
• Should animal sacrifice be legal if it occurs in a religious context?
• Should countries be allowed to impose a national religion on their citizens?
• Should the church be separated from the state?
• Does freedom of religion positively or negatively affect societies?

Parenting & Family

• Is it better to have children at a younger or older age?
• Is it better for children to go to daycare or stay home with their parents?
• Does birth order affect personality?
• Should parents or the school system teach their kids about sex?
• Are family traditions important?
• Should parents smoke or drink around young children?
• Should “spanking” children be illegal?
• Should parents use swear words in front of their children?
• Should parents allow their children to play violent video games?

Entertainment

• Should all actors be paid the same regardless of gender or ethnicity?
• Should all award shows be based on popular vote?
• Who should be responsible for paying taxes on prize money, the game show staff or the contestants?
• Should movies and television shows have ethnicity and gender quotas?
• Should newspapers and magazines move to a completely online format?
• Should streaming services like Netflix and Hulu be free for students?
• Is the movie rating system still effective?
• Should celebrities have more privacy rights?

Arts & Humanities

• Are libraries becoming obsolete?
• Should all schools have mandatory art or music courses in their curriculum?
• Should offensive language be censored from classic literary works?
• Is it ethical for museums to keep indigenous artifacts?
• Should digital designs be considered an art form? 
• Should abstract art be considered an art form?
• Is music therapy effective?
• Should tattoos be regarded as “professional dress” for work?
• Should schools place greater emphasis on the arts programs?
• Should euthanasia be allowed in hospitals and other clinical settings?
• Should the government support and implement universal healthcare?
• Would obesity rates lower if the government intervened to make healthy foods more affordable?
• Should teenagers be given access to birth control pills without parental consent?
• Should food allergies be considered a disease?
• Should health insurance cover homeopathic medicine?
• Is using painkillers healthy?
• Should genetically modified foods be banned?
• Should there be a tax on unhealthy foods?
• Should tobacco products be banned from the country?
• Should the birth control pill be free for everyone?

If you need more help brainstorming topics, especially those that are personalized to your interests, you can  use CollegeVine’s free AI tutor, Ivy . Ivy can help you come up with original persuasive speech ideas, and she can also help with the rest of your homework, from math to languages.

Do Your Research

A great persuasive speech is supported with plenty of well-researched facts and evidence. So before you begin the writing process, research both sides of the topic you’re presenting in-depth to gain a well-rounded perspective of the topic.

Understand Your Audience

It’s critical to understand your audience to deliver a great persuasive speech. After all, you are trying to convince them that your viewpoint is correct. Before writing your speech, consider the facts and information that your audience may already know, and think about the beliefs and concerns they may have about your topic. Then, address these concerns in your speech, and be mindful to include fresh, new information.

Have Someone Read Your Speech

Once you have finished writing your speech, have someone read it to check for areas of strength and improvement. You can use CollegeVine’s free essay review tool to get feedback on your speech from a peer!

Practice Makes Perfect

After completing your final draft, the key to success is to practice. Present your speech out loud in front of a mirror, your family, friends, and basically, anyone who will listen. Not only will the feedback of others help you to make your speech better, but you’ll become more confident in your presentation skills and may even be able to commit your speech to memory.

Hopefully, these ideas have inspired you to write a powerful, unique persuasive speech. With the perfect topic, plenty of practice, and a boost of self-confidence, we know you’ll impress your audience with a remarkable speech!

Related CollegeVine Blog Posts

125+ Persuasive Speech Topics To Amaze Your Audience

Reviewed by:

Former Admissions Committee Member, Columbia University

Reviewed: 4/26/24

This article provides a comprehensive list of persuasive speech topics and answers to some of your frequently asked questions about speech topics. 

Persuasive writing is hard, and it’s even harder to try to come up with an engaging topic that interests you and your audience. 

Not only do you have to convince your audience to take your side on subjects that are often pretty divisive, you also have to persuade them to take your side of the argument. The first step to making a successful persuasive speech that will amaze your audience is having a strong topic.  

Keep reading for 125+ persuasive speech topics. 

125+ Topics for a Persuasive Speech

Persuasive speech ideas are harder to come up with than you may think. There is a fine balance between interesting your audience, interesting to you, unique and fresh, all while being thought-provoking without being outright offensive. 

Here is a breakdown of various topics for persuasive speeches, organized by categories, to inspire you. 

1. Arts & Culture

Art and culture are always hot topics amongst individuals and groups. There are many interesting arguments and stances on both topics, and many people have strong opinions when it comes to the subject matter. 

See below for prompts for persuasive speeches about art and culture: 

• Is graffiti art? 
• Should art classes be mandatory for all students?
• Should we keep reading classic literature that is offensive? 
• Should there be a distinction between ‘high’ and ‘low’ literature?
• Are romcoms and erotica series like Fifty Shades of Grey empowering for women?
• Is reading actually more beneficial than watching TV or playing video games?
• Is there any benefit or relevance to teaching high school students Shakespeare?
• Should video games be considered a high form of entertainment?
• Are biographical movies of deceased musicians and artists ethical?
• Is modern music really worse than older music?
• Should paparazzi be banned and unable to sell their photos?

Topics in arts and culture are always fun to debate and discuss because you have the opportunity to talk about your favorite pieces of media!

2. Economics

Economics is a hotly debated topic. There is no shortage of compelling, engaging arguments involving economics. 

Here are some good persuasive speech ideas on the topic of economics: 

• Is capitalism a functional, ethical economic system? 
• Should everyone, despite their income, be taxed at the same rate?
• Can we introduce another economic system to our society? 
• Should each state, the federal government, or individual companies be responsible for setting a living wage?
• Should minimum wage be doubled?
• Should everyone adapt to the four-day work week?
• Should people who make under a certain amount per year not be taxed at all?
• Should governments encourage and reward people for shopping locally? 
• Should advertisements be banned during TV and media programming aimed at kids?
• Has modern consumerism gone too far?

Economics is a great topic for a persuasive speech because it affects our everyday lives in so many ways. There are tons of research and perspectives to help support your argument. 

3. Education

Many people feel strongly about education and there are many sides and perspectives that come into play: teachers, parents, students, student athletes, and more. 

Here is a list of some engaging topics to write a persuasive speech on:

• Should post-secondary education be free?
• Should taking a year off between high school and college be mandatory?
• Is it fair to take cell phones away from kids in middle/high school while they are in class?
• Should school uniforms be mandatory in all high schools?
• Should cursive writing still be taught in schools?
• Do frats and sororities actually serve their purpose? 
• Should programming and coding be introduced to young students?
• Should school lunches be free?
• Is college/university necessary anymore?
• Does the education system prepare students for adult life?
• Should gyms be mandatory for all students?
• Do schools need to do a better job at teaching students a second language?
• Should schools teach sign language?
• What age should students be taught sex ed?
• Should distant learning be encouraged, or avoided at all costs?

Education is another great topic to write a speech about because it intersects with economics, culture , and politics . These topics will guarantee an engaged audience. This is a popular topic for high school students who are learning about tuition and scholarships at their top colleges! 

4. Environment

Since the release of Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” and Greta Thunberg’s unapologetic activism, climate change has been at the forefront of many political, economic, and cultural conversations. 

If environmental issues spark your interest, consider writing on one of the topics below:

• Can we ever live in a truly ‘green’ and environmentally friendly society?
• Should water bottles be banned?
• Are businesses responsible for implementing environmentally friendly production and products?
• Should there be a carbon tax?
• Should electric cars be mandatory in the near future?
• Should we switch over to entirely renewable energy?
• Do low-income families have the same duties to be eco-conscious as high-income families do? Should plastic bags and single use plastic be completely banned?
• Should car racing be banned?
• Should fast fashion be banned?

The environment and climate change are becoming, if not already, some of the most pressing issues of our day. 

Ethics may be one of the most difficult topics to write a persuasive speech about because the topics tend to cover sensitive subject matter. However, ethics are also some of the most compelling and complex topics to explore. 

Here are some potential topics for a persuasive speech about ethics:

• Is animal testing ethical?
• Is drinking coffee unethical?
• Are animal shelters that allow euthanization ethical?
• Should more people try to adopt a vegetarian/vegan diet?
• Is the death penalty ethical? 
• Can racism ever truly be eliminated?
• Can the prison system genuinely contribute to the improvement and rehabilitation of individuals?
• Should justice systems and incarceration facilities focus on rehabilitation over punishment? 
• Should cosmetic plastic surgery be covered by insurance?
• Are morals objective or subjective?
• Should zoos and circuses be banned?
• Should fur coats be illegal?
• Are censorship laws ethical?
• Is it ethical to genetically modify an embryo? 
• How should we, and who is responsible, for addressing the homelessness crisis? 
• Should minors who commit violent crimes be charged and tried as adults?

Tackling a persuasive speech on ethics is a challenge, as many of these topics are complex and sensitive. It can also be difficult to wrap up a speech on such huge ethical debates. 

However, these topics also provide some of the most riveting and energizing debates - if you’re up to the challenge, you should definitely try to tackle one of these topics. 

From fitness to food prices to economic privilege, there are tons of debatable topics regarding health. Here are just some of the potential topics you can write a speech on:

• Are individuals solely responsible for their own health?
• Should prescription medications be free?
• Should sugary drinks like pop be taxed at higher rates?
• Should Starbucks be allowed to advertise their high-calories and high sugar drinks?
• Should the government regulate the prices of fruits and vegetables?
• Should fast food restaurants regulate and reduce their portions?
• Should gym memberships be free?
• Should the government change and restructure the work week to reduce stress?
• Should nurses be paid more?
• Should smoking be banned?
• Should insurance companies fully cover rehabilitation stays for health issues like eating disorders?

People have varying opinions and understanding of health, which makes these topics very engaging and interesting to write about.

7. Politics

It goes without saying that almost every political issue is debatable. 

• Do we actually live in a truly democratic society?
• Should there be a minimum wage or a living wage?
• Should the legal voting age be decreased?
• Does the pay gap exist?
• Are younger politicians more effective?
• Should there be stricter gun laws?
• Should Presidents be able to serve more than two terms?
• Should everyone get the day off work to go vote?
• Should political party funding be regulated?
• Should political smear campaigns be banned?
• Is there a political bias in mainstream media?
• Should you date someone with opposing political views? 
• Is the government spending too much on the military sector?

Politics are all about persuading people to take a side, which makes it a strategic topic for delivering a moving persuasive speech. 

Sports is another big topic that people care a lot about. There are sports related matters that are questioned everywhere: sports on TV, the Olympics, college sports and athletics, and athletic sponsorships . 

Below is a list of captivating sports topics for a persuasive speech: 

• Should the pay for professional teams be based on audience viewership? 
• Are professional sports getting too violent? 
• Are athletes overpaid?
• Is cheerleading empowering or exploitative? 
• Should children be allowed to compete in competitive sports?
• Should we continue spending millions of dollars on the Olympic Games?
• Do people put too much importance on high school and college football?
• Should alcohol and tobacco ads be banned during sports?
• Is betting on sports teams ethical?
• Should high school and college athletes be paid?

Sports is a topic that people don’t often think of as controversial. However, your audience is bound to be engaged and contemplating your argument as you present your speech. 

9. Technology

As the world increasingly moves to online spaces, and technology advances faster than ever before, technology is another hot topic that people have a lot of thoughts and opinions on. 

• Should all workplaces offer hybrid/remote work?
• Should we pursue Artificial Intelligence?
• Do we need to put resources into travelling to space?
• Should parents monitor their children’s online activity?
• Is it okay for phones to use facial recognition and fingerprint technology?
• Is technology actually addicting?
• Can we blame technology for increased stress and anxiety?
• Are security cameras and body cameras an invasion of privacy? 
• Should the internet be surveilled or managed?
• Should video game chats be surveilled or even banned?
• Are machines replacing human labor? 
• Should cloning be outlawed/banned?

As technology continues to advance and expand into our personal lives, it is a great topic to write a unique persuasive speech on. 

Having a unique and creative speech topic discussing one of your interests can make it stand out more! Think about extracurriculars you participate in, podcasts you enjoy, or fascinating facts you’ve learned. Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box. 

• What makes a hero?
• Are we headed towards World War 3?
• Did humans really land on the moon?
• Are serial killers born or made?
• Can good and evil be separated neatly?
• Is cancel culture a positive or negative thing?
• Can money buy happiness?
• How to become a millionaire
• How to become more confident
• How to live to be 100
• How to survive an apocalypse
• Do extraterrestrial beings exist?
• Why students should start investing at 16
• The true history of… (event of your choice, such as the Chernobyl disaster, the Black Plague, Salem Witch Trials, etc.)

Exploring these kinds of diverse and intriguing topics will not only capture your audience's attention but will also allow you to share your passions with your peers! 

What Makes a Good Persuasive Speech Topic?

The best persuasive speech topics are topics that are not overdone, and topics that the speaker is genuinely passionate and knowledgeable about. 

Persuasive speech topics should also be a bit controversial (this does not mean offensive) because the topic and speech itself should be thought-provoking. The more people are emotionally invested in the topic, the better. 

For example, while you can try to persuade your audience that strawberry ice cream is better than chocolate ice cream, it’s unlikely that many people have a strong emotional investment in that topic. Without an emotional investment, audiences will be sitting listening to your speech thinking: “so what?” 

On the other hand, a topic like “Should government’s set limits on how many children a family can have in overpopulated countries?” is emotionally charged and truly matters to people. 

FAQs: Persuasive Speech Topics

After reading through all the possible topics you can write a persuasive speech on, you may still have some questions before you get going. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about persuasive speech topics. 

1. What Are Some Easy Persuasive Topics?

Any persuasive topic can be easy to write about if you are passionate about your stance. The more passionate and knowledgeable you are about your topic, the easier it will be to research and write. 

There are also easy persuasive topics that are more lighthearted than controversial, which some people may find easier to debate and write about. Some easy persuasive topics include: 

• Should everyone have a three-day weekend?
• Should every public place have free Wi-Fi?
• Does social media do more harm than good?
• Should kids get paid for getting high grades?
• Do we need more holidays?

These topics are all fun to debate, which makes it easy to write a persuasive speech or essay. Whereas some persuasive topics can be complex and sensitive, the topics listed above are pretty straightforward, which makes them easier to discuss than more complex topics. 

2. What Is a Good Persuasive Speech Topic For School?

A good start to finding a good speech topic for school is looking for a topic that involves something related to school. For example, you can look into talking about school uniforms, class sizes, tuition and scholarships, and school sports, just to name a few. 

Having a speech topic related to school is a good idea for school because your audience (teachers and peers) are directly in that environment as well. This means they will likely be more engaged as the topic, whether they agree or disagree, is relevant to their everyday lives. 

3. What are Three Examples of a Persuasive Speech Topic?

Any of the above topics listed in this article are examples of persuasive speech topics. Three specific examples that have not been listed are:

• Is social media to blame for the rates of depression and anxiety amongst youth?
• Do young adult romance novels encourage harmful and toxic relationships to their target audience?
• Should children under 18 have total control over medical decisions made about their bodies?

These topics are examples of persuasive speech topics because you need to take a clear stance in order to answer the question. The point of a persuasive speech is to convince or persuade the audience that your side of the argument is valid and should be considered, so the topic needs the individual to take a specific stance. 

As briefly touched upon before, your topic needs to interest your audience for a successful persuasive speech. While you should make sure your topic isn’t overdone, you don’t want to go with something too ‘safe’ as that will most likely bore your audience. 

Final Thoughts

Coming up with a topic for a persuasive speech may be the most difficult part of the writing process. 

Read over our list of topics and pick out a few topics that genuinely interest you. From there, do some preliminary research on each topic and see which one has the strongest evidence to support your argument. Then, you’ll be good to start writing your persuasive speech that will amaze your audience!

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150 Good Persuasive Speech Topics for Students in 2024

April 1, 2024

Do you know that moment in your favorite film, when the soundtrack begins to swell and the main character stands up and delivers a speech so rousing, so impassioned, it has the entire room either weeping or cheering by the time it concludes? What distinguishes the effectiveness of such a speech is not only the protagonist’s stellar delivery but also the compelling nature of the subject matter at hand. Choosing an effective persuasive speech topic is essential for guaranteeing that your future speech or essay is as moving as these . If this sounds like a tall order, have no fear. Below you’ll find a list of some of the best and most interesting persuasive speech topics for high school students to tackle, from the playful (“Pets for President”) to the serious (“Should We Stop AI from Replacing Human Workers?”).

And if you’re craving more inspiration, feel free to check out this list of Great Debate Topics , which can be used to generate further ideas.

What is a Good Persuasive Speech?

Before we get to the list, we must address the question on everyone’s minds: what is a persuasive speech, and what the heck makes for a good persuasive speech topic? A persuasive speech is a speech that aims to convince its listeners of a particular point of view . At the heart of each persuasive speech is a central conflict . Note: The persuasive speech stands in contrast to a simple informative speech, which is intended purely to convey information. (I.e., an informative speech topic might read: “The History of Making One’s Bed,” while a persuasive speech topic would be: “Why Making One’s Bed is a Waste of Time”—understand?)

And lest you think that persuasive speeches are simply assigned by your teachers as a particularly cruel form of torture, remember that practicing your oratory skills will benefit you in all areas of life—from job interviews, to business negotiations, to your future college career in public policy or international relations . Knowing how to use your voice to enact meaningful change is a valuable skill that can empower you to make a difference in the world.

Components of a Great Persuasive Speech Topic

The ideal persuasive speech topic will inspire the audience to action via both logical arguments and emotional appeals. As such, we can summarize the question “what makes a good persuasive speech topic?” by saying that the topic must possess the following qualities:

• Timeliness and Relevance . Great persuasive speech topics grapple with a contemporary issue that is meaningful to the listener at hand. The topic might be a current news item, or it might be a long-standing social issue. In either case, the topic should be one with real-world implications.
• Complexity . A fruitful persuasive speech topic will have many facets. Topics that are controversial, with some gray area, lend themselves to a high degree of critical thinking. They also offer the speaker an opportunity to consider and refute all counterarguments before making a compelling case for his or her own position.
• Evidence . You want to be able to back up your argument with clear evidence from reputable sources (i.e., not your best friend or dog). The more evidence and data you can gather, the more sound your position will be. In addition, your audience will be more inclined to trust you.
• Personal Connection. Do you feel passionately about the topic you’ve chosen? If not, it may be time to go back to the drawing board. This does not mean you have to support the side you choose; sometimes, arguing for the opposing side of what you personally believe can be an effective exercise in building empathy and perspective. Either way, though, the key is to select a topic that you care deeply about. Your passion will be infectious to the audience.

150 Good Persuasive Speech Topics

• Should tech companies regulate the development of AI systems and automation to protect humans’ jobs?
• Should we limit screen time for children?
• Is it ethical for AI models like Dall-E to train themselves on artists’ work without the artists’ permission?
• Should the government regulate the use of personal drones?
• Is mass surveillance ethical? Does its threat to civil liberties outweigh its benefits?
• Are virtual reality experiences a valuable educational tool?
• Do the positive effects of powerful AI systems outweigh the risks?
• Do voice assistants like Siri and Alexa invade individuals’ privacy?
• Are cell phone bans in the classroom effective for improving student learning?
• Does the use of facial recognition technology in public violate individuals’ privacy?
• Should students be allowed to use ChatGPT and other AI tools for writing assignments?
• Should AI-generated art be allowed in art shows or contests?
• Who holds responsibility for accidents caused by self-driving cars: the driver or the car company?

Business and Economy

• Should we do away with the minimum wage? Why or why not?
• Is it ethical for companies to use unpaid internships as a source of labor?
• Does the gig economy benefit or harm workers?
• Is capitalism the best economic system?
• Is it ethical for companies to use sweatshops in developing countries?
• Should the government provide free healthcare for all citizens?
• Should the government regulate prices on pharmaceutical drugs?
• Should the government enact a universal base income?
• Should customers be required to tip a minimum amount in order to ensure food service workers make a living wage?
• Should someone’s tattoos or personal appearance factor into the hiring process?
• Should US workers have more vacation time?
• Is big game hunting beneficial for local communities?
• Should we legalize euthanasia?
• Is it ethical to use animals for medical research?
• Is it ethical to allow access to experimental treatments for terminally ill patients?
• Should we allow genetic engineering in humans?
• Is the death penalty obsolete?
• Should we allow the cloning of humans?
• Is it ethical to allow performance-enhancing drugs in sports?
• Should embryonic stem cell collection be allowed?
• Do frozen IVF embryos have rights?
• Should state and federal investigators be allowed to use DNA from genealogy databases?
• Should the government limit how many children a couple can have?
• Is spanking children an acceptable form of discipline?
• Should we allow parents to choose their children’s physical attributes through genetic engineering?
• Should we require parents to vaccinate their children?
• Should we require companies to give mandatory paternal and maternal leave?
• Should children be allowed to watch violent movies and video games?
• Should parents allow their teenagers to drink before they turn 21?
• Should the government provide childcare?
• Should telling your children about Santa Claus be considered lying?
• Should one parent stay home?
• Should parental consent be required for minors to receive birth control?
• Is it an invasion of privacy for parents to post photographs of their children on social media?

Social Media

• Should social media platforms ban political ads?
• Do the benefits of social media outweigh the downsides?
• Should the government hold social media companies responsible for hate speech on their platforms?
• Is social media making us more or less social?
• Do platforms like TikTok exacerbate mental health issues in teens?
• Should the government regulate social media to protect citizens’ privacy?
• Is it right for parents to monitor their children’s social media accounts?
• Should social media companies enact a minimum user age restriction?
• Should we require social media companies to protect user data?
• Should we hold social media companies responsible for cyberbullying?
• Should schools ban the use of social media from their networks?
• Should we be allowed to record others without their consent?
• Do online crime sleuths help or hurt criminal investigations?

Education – Persuasive Speech Topics 

• Would trade schools and other forms of vocational training benefit a greater number of students than traditional institutions of higher education?
• Should colleges use standardized testing in their admissions processes?
• Is forcing students to say the Pledge a violation of their right to freedom of speech?
• Should school districts offer bilingual education programs for non-native speakers?
• Should schools do away with their physical education requirements?
• Should schools incorporate a remote learning option into their curriculum?
• Should we allow school libraries to ban certain books?
• Should we remove historical figures who owned slaves from school textbooks and other educational materials?
• Should we have mixed-level classrooms or divide students according to ability?
• Should grading on a curve be allowed?
• Should graphic novels be considered literature?
• Should all students have to take financial literacy classes before graduating?
• Should colleges pay student athletes?
• Should we ban violent contact sports like boxing and MMA?
• Should sports leagues require professional athletes to stand during the national anthem?
• Should sports teams ban players like Kyrie Irving when they spread misinformation or hate speech?
• Should high schools require their athletes to maintain a certain GPA?
• Should the Olympic committee allow transgender athletes to compete?
• Should high schools ban football due to its safety risks to players?
• Should all high school students be required to play a team sport?
• Should sports teams be mixed instead of single-gender?
• Should there be different athletic standards for men and women?
• In which renewable energy option would the US do best to invest?
• Should the US prioritize space exploration over domestic initiatives?
• Should companies with a high carbon footprint be punished?
• Should the FDA ban GMOs?
• Would the world be a safer place without nuclear weapons?
• Does AI pose a greater threat to humanity than it does the potential for advancement?
• Who holds the most responsibility for mitigating climate change: individuals or corporations?
• Should we be allowed to resurrect extinct species?
• Are cancer screening programs ethical?

Social Issues – Persuasive Speech Topics

• College education: should the government make it free for all?
• Should we provide free healthcare for undocumented immigrants?
• Is physician-assisted suicide morally justifiable?
• Does social media have a negative impact on democracy?
• Does cancel culture impede free speech?
• Does affirmative action help or hinder minority groups in the workplace?
• Should we hold public figures and celebrities to a higher standard of morality?
• Should abortion be an issue that is decided at the federal or state level?
• Should the sex offender registry be available to the public?
• Should undocumented immigrants have a path to amnesty?
• Do syringe services programs reduce or increase harmful behaviors?
• Should there be a statute of limitations?
• Should those who are convicted of a crime be required to report their criminal history on job and housing applications?

Politics and Government

• Is the Electoral College still an effective way to elect the President of the US?
• Should we allow judges to serve on the Supreme Court indefinitely?
• Should the US establish a national gun registry?
• Countries like Israel and China require all citizens to serve in the military. Is this a good or bad policy?
• Should the police force require all its officers to wear body cameras while on duty?
• Should the US invest in the development of clean meat as a sustainable protein source?
• Should the US adopt ranked-choice voting?
• Should institutions that profited from slavery provide reparations?
• Should the government return land to Native American tribes?
• Should there be term limits for representatives and senators?
• Should there be an age limit for presidential candidates?
• Should women be allowed in special forces units?

Easy Persuasive Speech Topics

• Should schools have uniforms?
• Can video games improve problem-solving skills?
• Are online classes as effective as in-person classes?
• Should companies implement a four-day work week?
• Co-ed learning versus single-sex: which is more effective?
• Should the school day start later?
• Is homework an effective teaching tool?
• Are electric cars really better for the environment?
• Should schools require all students to study a foreign language?
• Do professional athletes get paid too much money?

Fun Persuasive Speech Topics

• Should we allow pets to run for public office?
• Does pineapple belong on pizza?
• Would students benefit from schools swapping out desks with more comfortable seating arrangements (i.e., bean bag chairs and couches)?
• Is procrastination the key to success?
• Should Americans adopt British accents to sound more intelligent?
• The age-old dilemma: cats or dogs?
• Should meme creators receive royalties when their memes go viral?
• Should there be a minimum drinking age for coffee?
• Are people who make their beds every day more successful than those who don’t?

Interesting Persuasive Speech Topics

• Is the movie ranking system an effective way to evaluate the appropriateness of films?
• Should the government place a “health tax” on junk food?
• Is it ethical to create artificial life forms that are capable of complex emotions?
• Should parents let children choose their own names?
• Creating clones of ourselves to serve as organ donors: ethical or not?
• Is it ethical to engineer humans to be better and more optimized than nature intended?
• Should we adopt a universal language to communicate with people from all countries?
• Should there be a penalty for people who don’t vote?
• Should calories be printed on menus?
• Does tourism positively or negatively impact local communities?
• When used by non-Natives, are dreamcatchers cultural appropriation?
• Should companies require their employees to specify pronouns in their signature line?
• Should commercial fishing be banned?
• Are cemeteries sustainable?
• Is it okay to change the race, culture, and/or gender of historical figures in movies or TV shows?

I’ve Chosen My Topic, Now What?

Once you’ve selected your topic, it’s time to get to work crafting your argument. Preparation for a persuasive speech or essay involves some key steps, which we’ve outlined for you below.

How to Create a Successful Persuasive Speech, Step by Step

• Research your topic. Read widely and smartly. Stick to credible sources, such as peer-reviewed articles, published books, government reports, textbooks, and news articles. The right sources and data will be necessary to help you establish your authority. As you go, take notes on the details and nuances of your topic as well as potential counterarguments. Research the counterarguments, too.
• Choose an angle. For example, if you chose the topic “Should we limit screen time for children?” your speech should come down firmly on one side of that debate. If your topic is frequently debated, such as abortion, capital punishment, gun control, social media, etc. try to find a niche angle or new research. For example, instead of “Should abortion be legal?” you might consider “Should you be able to order abortion pills online?” Another example: “Should the death penalty be banned?” might become “How long is it ethical for someone to stay on death row?” If you do some digging, even the most cliche topics have incredibly interesting and relatively unexplored sub-topics.
• Create an outline. Your outline should include an introduction with a thesis statement, a body that uses evidence to elaborate and support your position while refuting any counterarguments, and a conclusion. The conclusion will both summarize the points made earlier and serve as your final chance to persuade your audience.
• Write your speech. Use your outline to help you as well as the data you’ve collected. Remember: this is not dry writing; this writing has a point of view, and that point of view is yours . Accordingly, use anecdotes and examples to back up your argument. The essential components of this speech are logos (logic), ethos (credibility), and pathos (emotion) . The ideal speech will use all three of these functions to engage the audience.

How to Practice and Deliver a Persuasive Speech

• Talk to yourself in the mirror, record yourself, and/or hold a practice speech for family or friends. If you’ll be using visual cues, a slide deck, or notecards, practice incorporating them seamlessly into your speech. You should practice until your speech feels very familiar, at least 5-10 times.
• Practice body language. Are you making eye contact with your audience, or looking at the ground? Crossing your arms over your chest or walking back and forth across the room? Playing with your hair, cracking your knuckles, or picking at your clothes? Practicing what to do with your body, face, and hands will help you feel more confident on speech day.
• Take it slow. It’s common to talk quickly while delivering a speech—most of us want to get it over with! However, your audience will be able to connect with you much more effectively if you speak at a moderate pace, breathe, and pause when appropriate.
• Give yourself grace. How you recover from a mistake is much more important than the mistake itself. Typically, the best approach is to good-naturedly shrug off a blip and move on. 99% of the time, your audience won’t even notice!

Good Persuasive Speech Topics—Final Thoughts

The art of persuasive speaking is a tricky one, but the tips and tricks laid out here will help you craft a compelling argument that will sway even the most dubious audience to your side. Mastering this art takes both time and practice, so don’t fret if it doesn’t come to you right away. Remember to draw upon your sources, speak with authority, and have fun. Once you have the skill of persuasive speaking down, go out there and use your voice to impact change!

Looking for some hot-button topics in college admissions? You might consider checking out the following:

• Do Colleges Look at Social Media?
• Should I Apply Test-Optional to College?
• Should I Waive My Right to See Letters of Recommendation?
• Should I Use the Common App Additional Information Section?
• High School Success

Lauren Green

With a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing from Columbia University and an MFA in Fiction from the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas at Austin, Lauren has been a professional writer for over a decade. She is the author of the chapbook  A Great Dark House  (Poetry Society of America, 2023) and a forthcoming novel (Viking/Penguin).

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Secretary Mayorkas Delivers Remarks at 34th Annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner

Secretary Mayorkas delivered the following remarks in his keynote address at the 34th Annual National Fire and Emergency Services Dinner in Washington, DC. The below remarks are presented as prepared for delivery.

At some point or another, every child dreams of being you when they grow up.

To them, a firefighter is nothing so much as a real-life superhero. Your big, bright red trucks lead the local Fourth of July or Thanksgiving Day parade down Main Street. You look larger than life the first time you visit their elementary school, fully clad in your turnout gear. When you switch on your siren and hit your horn, the sound is louder than anything they have ever heard in their lives. All the cars on the road immediately pull over to let you pass, recognizing that, wherever they are going, it is not as important as wherever you are going.

Kids grow up; we stop believing in superheroes. But no one ever loses their respect for, and faith in, the firefighter.

Fire or flood, car accident or plane crash, lightning strike, sinkhole, chemical spill, gas leak, shooting, overdose, or bridge collapse – in any and every emergency situation, no matter how frightening and no matter how unforeseeable, communities everywhere trust that brave first responders will show up; that they will know what to do; and that, if necessary, they will put their lives on the line to do it.

That respect and faith are shared by all of us at the Department of Homeland Security. In this modern threat landscape, where any town, anywhere, can know tragedy or disaster at any moment, we know better than anyone that it is you who are the first to be called, and the last to leave, when the need arises.

It is an honor to be here tonight to thank you and your crews, on behalf of our Department and on behalf of our country, for shouldering that immense responsibility, and for doing so with courage, selflessness, and grace. I am grateful to the Congressional Fire Services Institute and President Jim Estepp for the invitation.

I also extend our deepest gratitude to your families and loved ones. No one serves alone. When a firefighter answers the call to action, so, too, do their loved ones.

DHS, and our U.S. Fire Administration and FEMA teams, know the debt we owe: to be there for all of you, as you have been there for all of us. We are working to make sure every first responder has the support and resources they need to do their critical job, especially as the nature of that job continuously and dramatically evolves.

We developed the National Fire Service Strategy, as Dr. Moore-Merrell noted, to respond directly to that challenge and the needs of firefighters nationwide – and we are delivering on that promise. To share just a few examples:

As wildfires become more frequent and more destructive in more places, the USFA’s National Fire Academy and the IAFF partnered to launch “Responding to the Interface,” a free toolkit to provide structure firefighters with wildfire conflagration training.

We worked with the FDNY, the Fire Safety Research Institute, and our federal partners to launch the Take CHARGE of Battery Safety public education campaign, to help reduce the explosive fire risk posed by lithium-ion batteries found in cell phones, laptops, cars, bikes, and scooters.

We used last October’s USFA Summit to bring together a new working group to better aid the growing number of firefighters who are diagnosed with, and need treatment for, job-related cancers. As we speak, they are developing a comprehensive firefighter cancer strategy that invests in research, provides access to cancer screening, and reduces and eliminates exposure to PFAS chemicals.

For safer response operations, our Office of Science and Technology has harnessed emerging technology to develop innovative new tools like C-THRU, a prototype artificial intelligence-driven, heads-up, real-time indoor visualization display that makes it possible for firefighters to find their way through dark, dense smoke.

All this, and much more.

Instrumental to each of these efforts has been the leadership of our extraordinary U.S. Fire Administrator, Dr. Lori Moore-Merrell; her predecessors, including Ernie Mitchell, Keith Bryant, and Greg Cade, who are here tonight; and, for 50 years, the dedication and determination of the men and women of the U.S. Fire Administration.

The resources we have provided, however, and the progress we have made will be for naught if the recruitment and retention crisis facing the first responder community is not quelled.

For all the awe in which we hold local firefighters – for all the dreams children harbor of one day joining their ranks – right now, too few ultimately view this noble work as viable long-term.

The demands of the job are extraordinary, as you well know. The pay is low, or, for the 70 percent of our nation’s firefighters who serve in a volunteer capacity, nonexistent. The physical and mental health toll on first responders is steep, as it is on their loved ones.

We need you now more than ever: emergency call volume nationwide has tripled since 1980. Yet the number of first responders ready to answer such a call has fallen: today, there are over 200,000 fewer volunteer firefighters than there were in 1980, and career fire departments are seeing far fewer applicants than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic.

DHS has provided nearly $700 million over the past two years in SAFER grant funding directly to fire departments to hire, maintain, equip, and train their frontline personnel – and we need Congress to allocate more funds.

But no less meaningful and impactful to the work of recruitment and retention is the example that each of you set by serving every day. Firefighting and emergency service is a calling. Children do not dream of doing your job because the money is good.

So I close my remarks tonight with an ask of you and your crews.

In the days and months ahead: give voice to that calling. At gatherings like this, and in the halls of Congress; on college campuses; in Rotary Clubs; and at elementary school demonstration days: share your story of service.

Share the story of the time you found a child huddled in the corner of a burning room and pulled them to safety. The time you jumped into an icy river and smashed a window to rescue a family from their submerged car. The limb you saved with a timely tourniquet; the beloved pet you went back in for.

Tell the story of the toddler’s birthday party you drove the engine to, because they wanted to meet their heroes. Or the time you carried a grandmother down 30 flights of stairs when the elevator was out in her apartment building. Talk about the trench you dug that helped save a national park, or your first time cooking dinner for the station, or about the pride you felt when you jumped out of bed in the middle of the night or sprinted out of a baseball game because you got the call, and your crew, your neighbors, and your friends were counting on you.

When you share your stories, you call more people, of every background, to serve. You inspire your fellow first responders, your community, and your country. You show us what the best of America looks like, and you refill, I hope, your own sense of pride in your work.

I have been privileged throughout my time at the Department of Homeland Security to hear and see many of these stories. So long as I have this platform, you have my commitment to help you share them, as we work together to ensure the continued safety and security of our country.

Symposia such as this, and conveners like the CFSI, are essential. Thank you all very much for being here, and for your commitment to this important work. Thank you for the honor of speaking with you tonight. And thank you for all that you do, every day.

• Secretary of Homeland Security
• Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

V. I. Lenin

Speech at the first all-russia congress of, workers in education and socialist culture, july 31, 1919 [1].

Delivered: 30 July,1919 First Published: Pravda No. 170, August 5. 1919; Published according to the Pravda text Source: Lenin’s Collected Works , 4th English Edition, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1972 Volume 29, pages 532-539 Translated: George Hanna Transcription/HTML Markup: David Walters & Robert Cymbala Copyleft: V. I. Lenin Internet Archive (www.marx.org) 2002. Permission is granted to copy and/or distribute this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License

Comrades, it gives me great pleasure to greet your Congress in the name of the Council of People’s Commissars.

In the sphere of education we have long had to struggle against the same difficulties that Soviet power encounters in all spheres of work and in all spheres of organisation. We saw that organisations regarded as the only mass organisations were from the very outset headed by people who, for a lengthy period, were under the influence of bourgeois prejudices. In the first days of Soviet power, in October 1917, we even saw how the army swamped us in Petrograd with declarations to the effect that it did not recognise Soviet power, threatened to go against Petrograd and expressed solidarity with bourgeois governments. As long ago as that we were sure that these declarations came from the top people in these organisations, from the army committees of that time, who represented the past in the development of the moods, convictions and views of our army. The situation has since then repeated itself in all mass organisations—in respect of the railway proletariat, and again in respect of the post and telegraph employees. We have always noted that at first the past maintains its power and influence over mass organisations. We were, therefore, riot.at all surprised at the lengthy and stubborn struggle that went on among the school-teachers, the majority of whom, if not all, from the very beginning took a stand hostile to Soviet power. We saw how we gradually had to overcome bourgeois prejudices and how the school-teachers, who were closely connected with the workers and labouring peasantry, had to struggle against the former bourgeois system to win for themselves rights and to break a road to a genuine rapprochement with the working masses, to a genuine understanding of the nature of the socialist revolution that was under way. Until now you have had more than anybody else to deal with the old prejudices of the bourgeois intelligentsia, with their usual methods and arguments, with their defence of bourgeois or capitalist society, with their struggle, not usually direct but carried on under cover of some outwardly pleasant slogans which are advanced to defend capitalism in one way or another.

Comrades, you may remember how Marx describes the way the worker got to the modern capitalist factory, how he analysed the enslavement of the worker in a disciplined, cultured and "free" capitalist society, studied the causes of the oppression of labour by capital, how he approached the fundamentals of the production process, how he described the worker’s entry into a capitalist factory where the robbery of surplus-value takes place and the foundation of capitalist exploitation is laid down, where capitalist society is built, the society that gives riches to the few and holds the many in a state of oppression. When Marx reached this most significant, most fundamental place in his book—the analysis of capitalist exploitation—he accompanied his introduction to this analysis with the ironical remark that the place he was taking the reader to, the place where profit was extracted by the capitalists, was the place where liberty, equality and Bentham ruled. [2] By this Marx stressed the ideology up-held by the bourgeoisie in capitalist society and which they justify because from their point of view, from the point of view of the bourgeoisie who had won the fight against the feudals, "Liberty, Equality and Bentham" ruled in capitalist society which was based on the rule of money, the rule of capital and the exploitation of the working people. What they call liberty is liberty to make profit, liberty for the few to become rich, the liberty of the trade turnover; what they call equality is equality between capitalist, and worker; and the rule of Bentham is the rule of the petty-bourgeois prejudice about liberty and equality.

If we look around us, if we take a look at those arguments that were used in the struggle against us yesterday and which are being used today by members of the old teachers’ union and which we still meet with among our ideological opponents who call themselves socialists (the Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks), those arguments that we meet with in a not very conscious form in our day-to-day talks with the peasant masses who have not yet understood the significance of socialism—if you take a look at and give some thought to the ideological meaning of these arguments you will find the very same bourgeois motif that Marx stressed in Capital. All these people reiterate the catch-phrase that Liberty, Equality and Bentham rule in capitalist society. And when objections to us are raised from this point of view and it is said that we, the Bolsheviks and Soviet power, are contravening freedom and equality, we refer those who say so to the elements of political economy, to the basic doctrines of Marx. We maintain that the freedom you accuse the Bolsheviks of contravening is the freedom of capital, the freedom of an owner to sell grain on the open market, i.e., the freedom for the few to make profit, for those who have grain surpluses. That freedom of the press that the Bolsheviks have constantly been accused of having violated—what is this freedom of the press in a capitalist society? Everybody could see what the press was in our "free" Russia. This was seen to a still greater extent by people who were familiar with, have been able to observe closely or had had dealings with press affairs in the advanced capitalist countries. Freedom of the press in capitalist society means freedom to trade in publications and in their influence on the masses. Freedom of the press means that the press, a powerful medium for influencing the masses, is maintained at the expense of the capitalists. Such is the freedom of the press that the Bolsheviks violated and they are proud of having produced—the first press free of the capitalists, that in a gigantic country they have for the first time set up a press that does not depend on a handful of rich men and millionaires—a press that is devoted entirely to the struggle against capital, the struggle to which we must subordinate everything. Only the factory proletariat that is capable of leading the peasant masses that are not class-conscious can be the leader, the vanguard, of the working people in this struggle.

When we are reproached with having established a dictatorship of one party and, as you have heard, a united socialist front is proposed, we say, "Yes, it is a dictatorship of one party! This is what we stand for and we shall not shift from that position because it is the party that has won, in the course of decades, the position of vanguard of the entire factory and industrial proletariat. This party had won that position even before the revolution of 1905. It is the party that was at the head of the workers in 1905 and which since then—even at the time of the reaction after 1905 when the working-class movement was rehabilitated with such difficulty under the Stolypin Duma—merged with the working class and it alone could lead that class to a profound, fundamental change in the old society." When a united socialist front is proposed to us we say that it is the Socialist-Revolutionary and Menshevik parties that propose it, and that they have wavered in favour of the bourgeoisie throughout the revolution. We have had a double experience—the Kerensky period when the Socialist-Revolutionaries formed a coalition government that was helped by the Entente, that is, by the world bourgeoisie, the imperialists of France, America and Britain. What did that result in? Was there that gradual transition to socialism they had promised? No, there was collapse, the absolute rule of the imperialists, the rule of the bourgeoisie and the complete bankruptcy of all sorts of illusions about class conciliation.

If that experience is not enough, take Siberia. There we saw the same thing happen again. In Siberia the government was against the Bolsheviks. At the beginning the entire bourgeoisie who had fled from Soviet power came to the help of the Czechoslovak uprising and the uprising of time Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks. They were helped by the entire bourgeoisie and the capitalists of the most powerful countries of Europe and America; their aid was not merely ideological but financial and military aid as well. And what was the result? What came of this rule that was allegedly the rule of the Constituent Assembly, that allegedly democratic government of Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks? It led to the Kolchak gamble. Why did it lead to the collapse that we have witnessed? Because here we saw the effect of the basic truth, which the so-called socialists from the camp of our opponents do not want to understand, that there can be only one of two possible powers in capitalist society, either the power of the capitalists or the power of the proletariat, no matter whether that society is developing, is firmly on its feet, or is declining. Every middle-of-the-road power is a dream, and every attempt to set up something in between leads only to people, even if they are absolutely sincere, shifting to one side or the other. Only the power of the proletariat, only the rule of the workers can ally to itself the majority of those who work, because the peasant masses, although they constitute a mass of working people, are nevertheless to a certain extent the owners of their small properties, of their own grain. And that is the struggle that has unfolded before our eyes, the struggle which shows how the proletariat, in the course of lengthy political trials, during the changes in governments that we see in various places on the outskirts of Russia, is sweeping away everything that serves exploitation; it shows how the proletariat is breaking its own road and is becoming more and more the genuine, absolute leader of the masses of working people in suppressing and eliminating the resistance of capital.

Those who say that the Bolsheviks violate freedom and who propose the formation of a united socialist front, that is, an alliance with those who vacillated, and twice in the history of the Russian revolution went over to the side of the bourgeoisie—these people are very fond of accusing us of resorting to terror. They say that the Bolsheviks have introduced a system of terror in administration, and if Russia is to be saved, the Bolsheviks must renounce it. This reminds me of a witty French bourgeois who, in his bourgeois manner, said with reference to the abolition of the death penalty, "Let the murderers be the first to abolish the death penalty." I recall this when people say, "Let the Bolsheviks renounce the terror." Let the Russian capitalists and their allies, America, France and Britain, that is, those who first imposed terror on Soviet Russia, let them renounce it! They are the imperialists who attacked us and are still attacking its with all their military might, which is a thousand times greater than ours. Is it not terror for all the Entente countries, all the imperialists of Britain, France and America, to keep in their capitals servitors of international capital—whether their names are Sazonov or Maklakov—who have organised tens and hundreds of thousands of the dissatisfied, ruined, hum’iliated and indignant representatives of capital and the bourgeoisie? You must have heard about the plots among the military, you must have read about the latest plot in Krasnaya Gorka, which nearly led to the loss of Petrograd; what was this but a manifestation of terror on the part of the bourgeoisie of the whole world, which will commit any violence, crime and atrocity in order to reinstate the exploiters in Russia and stamp out the flames of the socialist revolution, which is now threatening even their own countries? There is the source of terror, that is where the responsibility lies! That is why we are sure that those who preach renunciation of terror in Russia are nothing but conscious, or unwitting, tools and agents of the imperialist terrorists, who are trying to crush Russia with their blockades and aid to Denikin and Kolchak. But their cause is a hopeless one.

Russia is the country assigned by history the role of trail-blazer of the socialist revolution, and that is just why so much struggle and suffering has fallen to our lot. The capitalists and imperialists of other countries realise that Russia is up in arms, and that the future not only of Russian but of international capital is being decided in Russia. That is why in all their press—in all the bourgeois world press which they have bribed with their many millions—they spread the most incredible slanders about the Bolsheviks.

They are attacking Russia in the name of the selfsame principles of "Liberty, Equality and Bentham". If you come across someone in this country who thinks that when he speaks of freedom and equality and of their violation by the Bolsheviks, he is championing something that is quite independent, the principles of democracy in general, ask him to have a look at the capitalist press of Europe. What is the screen being used by Denikin and Kolchak, what is the screen being used by European capitalists and the bourgeoisie in their efforts to crush Russia? Liberty and equality—that is all they talk about! When the Americans, British and French seized Archangel, when they sent their troops to the South, they did so in defence of liberty and equality. That is the kind of slogan they use as camouflage, and that is why the proletariat of Russia has risen against world capital in this fierce struggle. Such is the purpose of these slogans of freedom and equality which all agents of the bourgeoisie use to deceive the people, and which intellectuals who really side with the workers and peasants have to expose.

We see that as the attempts of the Entente imperialists become more desperate and vicious they meet with ever greater resistance on the part of the proletariat of their own countries. The first attempt at an international strike by workers in Britain, France and Italy against their governments that was made on July 21 had as its slogan, "Hands off Russia, and an honest peace with the Republic". This strike failed. Separate strikes broke out in Britain, France and Italy. In America and Canada, everything that looks like Bolshevism is fiercely persecuted. In the last few years, we have gone through two great revolutions. We know how hard it was for the vanguard of the Russian working people in 1905 to rise in the struggle against tsarism. We know that after the first bloody lesson of January 9, 1905, the strike, movement developed slowly and laboriously until October 1905, when the mass strike scored its first success in Russia. We know how hard the going was. This was proved by the experience of two revolutions, although the situation in Russia was more revolutionary than in other countries. We know with what difficulty the forces for the struggle against capitalism are mobilised in a series of strikes. That is why we are not surprised by the failure of this first international strike of July 21. We know that there is much greater resistance and opposition to the revolution in the European countries than over here. We know that in fixing July 21 as the date for an international strike, the workers of Britain, France and Italy had to overcome incredible difficulties. It was an experiment unparalleled in history. It is not surprising that it failed. But we also know that the working people of the leading and most civilised countries are on our side despite the European bourgeoisie’s rabid hatred of us, that they understand our cause, and whatever the hardships of the revolution and the trials ahead, whatever the atmosphere of lies and deception in the name of the "freedom and equality" of capital, equality of the starved and the overfed, whatever the atmosphere, we know that our cause is the cause of the workers of all countries, and that is why this cause will inevitably defeat international capital.

[1] This Congress, held in Moscow from July 28 to August 1, 1919, was attended by 230 delegates from 32 gubernias. The Congress heard reports on the education programme, the current tasks in the field of cultural development, trade union movement, the youth movement in Russia and the West, and other questions. The Congress founded the All-Russia Trade Union of Workers in Education and Socialist Culture; it elected the Central Committee of the Union.

[2] See Karl Marx, Capital, Moscow, 1959, Vol. I, p. 176.

Collected Works Volume 29 Collected Works Table of Contents Lenin Works Archive

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Press Briefing by Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and National Security Communications Advisor John   Kirby

James S. Brady Press Briefing Room

2:28 P.M. EDT

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Good afternoon, everyone.

Q    Good afternoon.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, you just heard from my colleague over at the State Department who has confirmed that Hamas sent a response.  I’m going to turn things over very quickly to my colleague, Admiral John Kirby, who will share more updates in the region.

MR. KIRBY:  Thanks, Karine.

Good afternoon, everybody.

MR. KIRBY:  As Karine noted, there has been a response from Hamas to the hostage deal.  We’re currently reviewing that response, and we’re discussing it with our partners in the region.

Director Burns, as you know, is there, and he’s working this in real time on the ground.  I won’t be able to comment any further on this until we know where things stand.  I hope you can understand that.  I know everybody is curious about what’s in this response, what the Israeli reaction to it is.  I’m just not going to get ahead of the process.

We want to get these hostages out.  We want to get a ceasefire in place for six weeks.  We want to increase humanitarian assistance.  And the last thing that I want to do is say anything at this podium that’s going to put that process at risk.

Regardless, as we’ve said before, we still believe that reaching an agreement is the absolute best outcome not only for the hostages but for the Palestinian people.  And we’re not going to stop working to that outcome.

Now, as you know, the President talked with Prime Minister Netanyahu this morning.  The call lasted about 30 minutes and was constructive. 

The President reaffirmed his message on Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.  The two leaders discussed the shared commitment of Israel and the United States to remember the 6 million Jews who were systematically targeted and slaughtered in the Holocaust, one of the darkest chapters in human history, and to forcefully act against antisemitism and all forms of hate-fueled violence.

Now, of course, the two leaders spoke about our efforts to secure the hostage deal, including through these ongoing talks today.

During the call, at the President’s urging, Prime Minister Netanyahu agreed to ensure that the Kerem Shalom crossing is back open for humanitarian assistance for those in need.

And I also want to take a moment to address the latest reports now out of Rafah, which was also a topic of discussion on the — on the call. 

I’ll reiterate again that we cannot and we will not speak for IDF operations.  But we’ve made clear our views about operations in Rafah that could potentially put more than a million innocent people at greater risk.  During his call with Prime Minister Netanyahu, the President again made this clear.

He also made clear that we continue to believe that the hostage deal is the best way to avoid that sort of an outcome while securing the release of those hostages.  And as I said, those conversations continue.

Just one more thing: President Biden hosted His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan for lunch at the White House.  That probably wrapped up here just recently.  They discussed the strong partnership between the United States and Jordan.  They also spoke about the situation in Gaza, of course, including efforts to secure the hostage deal and to get more humanitarian assistance into the civilians of Gaza.

Now, we’re going to have a more detailed readout of that conversation here very, very soon.  Just don’t have it right now.  But you’ll be seeing it shortly.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Steve. 

Q    As far as you can tell, which proposal did Hamas accept?

MR. KIRBY:  I’m not going to get into that, Steve.

Q    And is the issue over how long a ceasefire would last?

MR. KIRBY:  Again, you’re asking me for the parameters around the response and the deal itself, and I’m just not going to do that.

Q    Lastly, Israel has called on people in — in Rafah to evacuate.  Is — does that presage a full-scale assault?  What — what are we seeing?

MR. KIRBY:  As I said in my opening statement, I’m not going to speak for IDF operations or their military intentions and plans.  They should be the ones to answer those kinds of questions. 

What I can only reiterate is that we’ve been consistent and the President was consistent again this morning that we don’t support ground operations in Rafah that would put the majority or even any of the — the civilians there at any greater risk.  We want to see their safety and security allowed for and factored in.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Seung Min.

Q    Noting your caveats at the top, are you able to say whether Hamas was agreeing to something that had been discussed over the last several days?

MR. KIRBY:  Again, without getting into the details of it — and Director Burns is still talking to partners about this — there have been ongoing negotiations and talks here for weeks.  And the Director traveled recently to see if we can’t bring this thing home.

And, again, without speaking about the details of the response by Hamas, I think it’s safe to conclude that that response came as a result or at the end of these continued discussions that Director Burns was part of.

Q    And when do you think you’ll have a better sense of what is happening?  When will you get a readout from Director Burns?  Later today?  Early tomorrow?

MR. KIRBY:  I don’t know.  The President has been briefed on — on the response.  He’s aware of where the situation and where the process is.  What you’re asking me is like when are we going to get, like, a final — you know —

Q    Like, what is the answer?  Yeah.  (Laughter.)

MR. KIRBY:  Yeah — a final, you know, table slap here.  There is a — there’s a process that has — that — that has been worked in the past and will be worked this time.  You get a response by Hamas.  We’re going to have to evaluate that.  We’re going to see what’s in it.  Certainly, the Israelis get it — must have a chance to look at this and to evaluate it.

And Director Burns, as — as we speak — literally, as you and I are talking — are having these conversations with partners in the region.  You know, it would be great — I’m sure we’d all like to have an answer as soon as possible.  But I just don’t want to get ahead of that process.

Q    And a quick follow-up on the readout.  When do you expect the Kerem — Kerem Shalom crossing to reopen?  Or is it already reopened?

MR. KIRBY:  It should be open very, very soon.  Prime Minister Netanyahu committed to opening it on the call this morning.  So, at 2:30, is it open?  I don’t know.  But he assured the President that it would be reopened.  It had been closed for several days.

Q    Okay.  And one more.  Cindy McCain, the executive director of the World Food Programme, said over the weekend that Northern Gaza is in a, quote, “full-fledged famine.”  Is that the assessment of the U.S. government as well?

MR. KIRBY:  The U.N. has not declared a famine in Gaza writ large.  But I don’t want to understate the degree of need here and the — the dire situation that so many people in Gaza are in, particularly with respect to food and water.  So, it is not a great situation, clearly.  And that’s why, again, we’re working so hard to get this deal in place, so we can keep that humanitarian assistance up at a higher level.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Mary.

Q    Thank you.

Q    I understand you don’t want to get into the specifics here.  But is it your understanding that this is Hamas’s final offer?  I mean, is there still room to negotiate here?

MR. KIRBY:  I think it’s going to depend on our evaluation and the Israelis’ evaluation of the response and where we go from here.

Q    And as Steve mentioned, the Israelis are already warning people to evacuate Gaza.  If they do go through with this operation, is the U.S. willing to consider putting limits or conditions on aid to Israel?

MR. KIRBY:  I won’t get ahead of where we are right now, Mary, in the process here, and I’m certainly not going to speak to hypothetical operations that haven’t happened yet.  I think we just have to see what transpires. 

The President was very direct — and consistently so — this morning that we don’t want to see major ground operations in Rafah that put these people at greater risk.

Q    But, you know, a month ago, the administration did make clear that the U.S. would change its approach — right? — if Israel didn’t take significant steps to address the humanitarian crisis.

MR. KIRBY:  That’s right.

Q    Does that still hold?  Is it possible that the U.S. could change course —

MR. KIRBY:  Of course.

Q    — if the humanitarian process isn’t improved?

MR. KIRBY:  Of course.  We always —

Q    And presumably, a Raf- — 

MR. KIRBY:  No, no.  We always have the right to adjust our policies as appropriate, and that has not changed, no.

Q    And presumably, an operation in Rafah would jeopardize steps to address the humanitarian crisis?

MR. KIRBY:  All I can say is we’ve been very direct and very consistent in our views of concerns about operations in Rafah.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, M.J.

Q    Does the U.S. currently have any sense of whether Israel is inclined or not inclined to accept this deal?  (Laughter.)

MR. KIRBY:  I — I won’t speak for the Israelis.

Q    The — when the President and the Prime Minister spoke earlier today, was this specific framework discussed?  And did the President encourage, put pressure on the Prime Minister to accept this framework?

MR. KIRBY:  You’re talking about the — what the — what Hamas says they responded to?

Q    Yes.

MR. KIRBY:  So, just — and just so you have the tick-tock here, by the — when they were talking this morning, we did not have news that Hamas had responded.  So, that news broke after their call. 

That said, as I mentioned in my opening statement, of course they talked about the hostage deal and the importance of getting it secured.

Q    So, you’re saying when the two leaders spoke, Hamas had not yet accepted —

MR. KIRBY:  It would be wrong —

Q    — this framework —

MR. KIRBY:  Yeah.

Q    — so the President would not have specifically asked the Prime Minister to —

MR. KIRBY:  Correct. 

Q    — potentially accept this framework?

MR. KIRBY:  It would be wrong for you to conclude that — that the call this morning was about having the Israelis accept the Hamas response.  The Hamas response hadn’t happened yet.

Q    Did he broadly encourage the Prime Minister to get, yes, to some sort of deal?

MR. KIRBY:  He, as he has consistently with Prime Minister Netanyahu, urged that we get this deal secured.  But it wasn’t a — it wasn’t a pressure call.  It wasn’t about twisting his arm towards a certain set of parameters.

Director Burns is in the region having these conversations with the Israelis, the Qataris, the Egyptians, as — again, as we speak.  And — and that’s the forum for working out the parameters of it.  But the President clearly talked to the Prime Minister about the importance of getting a deal done, yeah.

Q    And, John, what is the President’s position on a limited operation into Rafah?

MR. KIRBY:  I think I — I don’t think I can answer it any differently than I did with Mary.  We’ve been very clear that we don’t support a major ground operation in Rafah, operations in general that put at greater risk the more than a million people that are sheltering there.  And the question right now is a hypothetical.  I mean, we’re aware that they’ve dropped leaflets.  We’re aware that they’re — that they’re warning people to evacuate.  I’ll let them speak to their operations and to their intents — intentions. Nothing has changed about where we are with respect to operations in Rafah that could put those people at greater risk. Q    Right.  But you know that they are asking people in the area to evacuate and the possibility of a limited Rafah operation is on the table.  So, I’m asking: Does the President believe that Israel can execute a limited operation into Rafah while adequately protecting the lives of civilians there? MR. KIRBY:  The President doesn’t want to see operations in Rafah that put at greater risk the more than a million people that are seeking refu- — refuge there. Q    So, he wouldn’t support a limited operation into Rafah? MR. KIRBY:  I think I’ve answered the question. MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Francesca. 

Q    In the back.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Francesca, go ahead. Q    Picking up on the timeline.  So, prior to Hamas saying that they accepted this proposal, what, as you understood them to be, were the sticking points for either Hamas or the Israelis in the — the deal that had been on the table? MR. KIRBY:  I’m not going to get into that. Q    Okay.  Did it involve Rafah in any way? MR. KIRBY:  I’m not going to talk about the parameters of the proposal that was worked before this Hamas response, and I’m certainly not going to talk about the response right now. I mean, I do understand the curiosity.  And you guys are all asking exactly the right questions — all very fair.  But I really do hope you understand that the last thing I would ever want to do from this podium is say something that could put this very sensitive process at greater risk. We are at a critical stage right now.  We got a response from Hamas.  Now Director Burns is working through that, trying to assess it, working with the Israelis. I mean, my goodness, folks, I don’t know that it gets any more sensitive than right now.  And the worst thing that we can do is start speculating about what’s in it. Q    And one more thing on Rafah.  What was your understanding why the Israelis were only evacuating part of Rafah at this time? MR. KIRBY:  You’d have to talk to the Israelis.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Danny. Q    Thanks, Karine.  Thanks, Admiral.  You’ve previously said several times that the ball is in the court of Hamas at previous stages of negotiations.  Would it be fair to say now that the ball is in Israel’s court? MR. KIRBY:  It’s going to depend on what the response actually says and the conversations that we have with the Israelis about what — where we go from here. Q    And just one other thing.  If I can ask, I mean, is — do you have any sense that Israel is currently using this threat or the start of an operation in Rafah as a means of putting pressure on Hamas at this stage of the negotiations? MR. KIRBY:  Again, you’d have to talk to the Israelis about their intentions. MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Franco. Q    You said that they — that — that you did not know the news during the call.  But were you surprised by — was the White House surprised by Hamas saying that they’ve reached a deal or agreeing to the agreement? MR. KIRBY:  It wasn’t like we had a heads up about it.  We — we knew that, as I said publicly, they had a proposal in front of them, and as was just remi- — I was just reminded of the fact that I said many times it was — the ball was in Hamas’s court.  So, we certainly knew that they had it before them, and we were waiting on word. We had hoped that there would be word very, very soon.  We certainly hope that there could be word today.  But did we know the exact moment that Al Jazeera was able to break the news that Hamas had a response?  No, we didn’t predict that particular moment. Q    Are you encouraged that that — that there — that you are at this sensitive point?  You’ve been talking about it’s a very sensitive point, it’s important — MR. KIRBY:  We’ll be encouraged when we get a deal in place and we can start seeing hostages get back with their families.  That’ll be encouraging. Q    And if I can, what role, if any, do you feel like the leaflets and the pressure of an evacuation or the evacu- — the announcement of evacuating, do you think that had any role in — in triggering Hamas to do —

MR. KIRBY:  I don’t think we know that. MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead. Q    John, can you talk a little bit about the timeline, as the administration understands it, of those evacuations?  How much time do people have to leave?  Do you — did you guys put any demands on the Israelis in terms of how those evacuations are to take place under the parameters that you guys have talked

about previously? MR. KIRBY:  We’re asking questions of the Israelis about what their intentions are here and what the — what the larger purpose of this evacuation is and sort of where they’re wan- — wanting to go. I think to answer your question, though, you’d really have to go to the Israelis and to — to speak to their military operations and plans.  I’m not going to get ahead of that. 

But are we curious about the timing and the intent and where they’re going?  Yes, absolutely.  And the President expressed our curiosity about that on the call today. Q    But more than curiosity, are you expressing what you want to see happen in terms of those evacuations, how they take place, whether Israel is prepared for people moving around within Rafah? MR. KIRBY:  I would just say — again, without — without — I don’t want to get ahead of operations that haven’t happened.  I don’t want to speak for the Israeli military.  I can just say that we don’t want to see operations in and around Rafah that make it harder for the people that are seeking refuge there and shelter to be safe and secure.  And we have made that case privately to the Israelis.  The President did it again today with the Prime Minister directly.  We certainly made it publicly.  We’ve been very, very consistent about that.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Jacqui. Q    Thank you, Karine.  John, noting everything that you’ve said about the concerns expressed by the U.S. about the risk to Palestinians in Gaza with a full-scale operation, is the U.S. still aligned with Israel in its intention to eliminate the terrorist threat posed by Hamas? MR. KIRBY:  Of course. Q    And is there any feeling that Hamas may be trying to trick the public in some way?  You heard Israeli officials commenting on this latest proposal as — as a trick, and — MR. KIRBY:  Oh — Q    — there’s been a lot of pressure to — go ahead. MR. KIRBY:  Yeah, no, I’m just — go ahead.  Sorry.  I’m listening. Q    Well, there’s — there’s been, you know, pressure on the administration to make sure that the needs of Palestinians are — are being served and that the U.S. support for Israel isn’t, you know, overhanded.  And you had the — the report come out earlier today or maybe yesterday that the U.S. was potentially weighing withholding an arms shipment to Israel.  Is there any concern that Hamas was trying to capitalize on that public pressure and, you know, “play a trick,” as Israeli officials put it? MR. KIRBY:  I mean, I don’t think there’s any possible way I can answer that question unless I got between the ears of Mr. Sinwar, and that’s a place I really don’t want to be.  I think that is a great question for him. You know, it’s interesting.  I stand up here and answer questions, Karine does, Matt Miller at the State Department, Pentagon colleagues, the President does, Prime Minister Netanyahu does, and the IDF military spokesman does.  You know who hasn’t answered a single question about his intentions and what games he might be playing or where he intends to take this?  Mr. Sinwar, the head of Hamas.  And I think it’s — I think it’s high time that he answers some of these questions and he come clean about what his intentions are.  I don’t know. All I know is we got a response.  Bill Burns is looking at that response.  He’s talking to the Israelis about it.  And we’ll see where this goes.  Hopefully — hopefully — whatever is in this thing, hopefully it can lead to those hostages getting out real, real soon with their families where they need to be.  And as each new — as each day passes, their lives get further at risk.  So, time is really of the essence here. Q    Well, noting your answer, is it still a good idea to try to negotiate with terrorists, then? MR. KIRBY:  It’s — it’s not — it’s not like — it’s not like we sit down pie in the sky and say, “Hey, today’s a good day.  Let’s negotiate with terrorists.”  You — you got to negotiate with who you got to negotiate to get people back with their family. So, frankly, if — if there’s a better idea to get those hostages home with their families, I think we’d love to hear them.  I just don’t think there’s another way to do it.  There’s no other way to do it, quite frankly. You got to negotiate through Qatar with Hamas to get those folks back with their families.  And it — does — you know, that’s the hard work of diplomacy, qu- — you know, sometimes it means you got to sit across the table from some really bad folks that you’d rather not have to talk to.  But they got those hostages, and we want them back. Q    But the U.S. backs Israel’s intention to eliminate Hamas? MR. KIRBY:  We, of course, back their right and responsibility to go after the Hamas threat, to eliminate that threat. Now, look, Jacqui, I’ve said many times here, you’re not going to eliminate an ideology through military operations.  But does Israel have a right and responsibility to eliminate a threat that they suffered on the 7th of October?  A hundred percent.  Absolutely, they do.  And we’ve been nothing but — but very steadfast on that. MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Gabe. Q    Thanks, Karine.  Thanks, John.  Speaking about a tick-tock, what prompted this morning’s call? MR. KIRBY:  I think you’ve heard me say many times now, they talk as appropriate.  And given where we were in the hostage deal negotiations, given where we were with humanitarian assistance and Kerom — Kerem Shalom being shut down for several days, certainly given where we were with expectations in Rafah, this made all the sense in the world for today to be the day that the President and Prime Minister Netanyahu speak. Q    But when exactly was the call set up?  Was it this morning?  Was it yesterday after the rocket attack that killed the three Israelis?  Or what — what specifically prompted it? MR. KIRBY:  I would tell you the initial planning for the call took place late in the weekend, is about what I’d say. Q    And one more on a different topic.  Why did the U.S. halt an ammunition shipment to Israel last week? MR. KIRBY:  Yeah, look, I’ve seen the press reporting on this.  All I can tell you is that — to Jacqui’s question — our support for Israel’s security remains ironclad.  And I’m not going to get into the specifics of — of one shipment over another. Q    It’s our — NBC is reporting that it included 2,000-pound bombs that may have been used in Rafah.  Did concerns over Rafah and what the Israelis could use this ammunition for — did that play any role in halting that shipment?

MR. KIRBY:  I don’t have a better answer for you other than the one I just gave you.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead.

Q    I just want to go at that question one more time.  Did the United States put a pause on an arms shipment to Israel?  Is that — is that reporting correct?

MR. KIRBY:  I’m not going to confirm that report.

Q    Okay.  Just another on another topic.  Well, same topic, different question.  Over the weekend, the Queen of Jordan said in an interview that the United States is giving the world mixed messages, offering both expressions of concern and support for Gaza in addition to providing arms to Israel.  Can you — can you comment at all on this — on her criticism or her critique of the United States’ position?

MR. KIRBY:  I’m — I’m not going to — I don’t think it’d be appropriate to get into a back-and-forth here from the podium on this. 

We have said that two things can be true at once, and they are.  Israel has a right and a responsibility to defend itself, and we’re going to continue to provide for their security and help them with that.  And at the same time, they have a right and obligation to be careful about civilian casualties and getting more humanitarian assistance in. 

And that’s why we’re working so hard on this hostage deal.  And that’s why the American — the President and the United States continue to lead the world in terms of actually making a difference in that outcome, making life better for the Palestinian people.  No other country is doing more than the United States to try to increase that — that assistance and get this — get this ceasefire in place.

Q    And just really quickly, the Israelis stopped a broadcast of Al Jazeera over the weekend.  Can you comment on whether that’s an appropriate action for a United States ally?

MR. KIRBY:  We don’t support that action.  As we said very clearly on World Press Freedom Day on Friday — I know Karine talked about this — the work of independent journalism around the world is absolutely vital.  It’s important to an informed citizenry and public, but it’s also important to — to help inform the policymaking process. 

So, we don’t support that at all.

Q    And did the President bring it up at all in his call with —

MR. KIRBY:  The focus of the call was on the hostage deal and on Rafah.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  I’m going to give it to Al Jazeera.

MR. KIRBY:  You saw my — sorry.  You saw, I —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Sorry.

MR. KIRBY:  — I think I put a statement out this morning on that.  So, we have officially reacted to it.  Sorry.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Al Jazeera.

Q    Thank you so much, Karine.  Thank you, John.  Is the administration planning on discussing the banning of Al Jazeera in Israel with the Israeli government? 

We just celebrated the freedom of the press here in the United States and across the globe.  And then this decision came, and it was really a big shock.

MR. KIRBY:  As I just said, we don’t —

Q    Would the administration raise this issue with the government of Israel?

MR. KIRBY:  We have raised this issue, and I made a public statement about it.

Q    And on — on the — on Rafah.  Has Israel presented or provided the administration with a comprehensive plan for the (inaudible)? 

MR. KIRBY:  No.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Ed.

Q    I want to take you back to this report on whether shipments were paused.

MR. KIRBY:  Okay.

Q    Are the reports wrong?

MR. KIRBY:  I’m not going to confirm the press reporting, Ed.  What I’ve said is our security commitments to Israel are ironclad.  The President pushed very hard to get that supplemental funding so that we could continue to help Israel with its security needs and —

Q    You can appreciate the ambiguity makes it sound like it’s true.

MR. KIRBY:  I can’t —

Q    That we held it up.

MR. KIRBY:  I can’t speak for what you appreciate in my answer.  (Laughter.)  All I can do is tell you that my answer is not going to change.

Q    All right.  What is the definition of a assault or attack on Rafah, in the view of the White House, that would be seen as impermissible?

MR. KIRBY:  There hasn’t been an assault or an attack —

Q    Well, there’s reports tonight that there are —

MR. KIRBY:  — in terms of a ground operation at this time.

Q    Okay.

MR. KIRBY:  So, let’s not get ahead of where we are.  The President did express, again, our concerns about operations in Rafah that would put at risk these — these people finding or trying to find shelter there. 

I think it would be a futile e- — exercise for me to get up here and — and give you a laundry list of what would or would not compose some kind of ground operation in Rafah.  We have to — well, let me put it another way — the IDF has to speak to what their intentions and their plans are.

Q    But it’s still ground operation versus missiles that may be landing over Rafah tonight, which is what we’re hearing.

MR. KIRBY:  Well, it doesn’t matter whether it’s missiles or rockets.  Things that kill innocent people — that’s not okay.  And, again, the President made it clear that we don’t want to see operations in Rafah that put at risk —

Q    And how does —

MR. KIRBY:  — those million and a half people that are there.

Q    How does the President assess Bill Burns’s ongoing attempts to make sure this deal comes together?

MR. KIRBY:  It’s a nice side way of getting at sort of talking to the parameters of the deal.  I appreciate that.  He’s very grateful for —

Q    Oh, no, I was — I was more genuinely interested in what he thinks —

MR. KIRBY:  Oh, really?

Q    — of the CIA Director’s work on this, yes.  (Laughter.) 

MR. KIRBY:  Excellent.  I’m sorry.  I impugned your question.  (Laughter.)

The — look, I think he’s very grateful for the — the work that Director Burns and the whole team has been doing to try to get us to this point.  But it only really matters if we can get the deal in place — and I’m sure Director Burns would agree me — would agree with me on that — and those hostages can get home.

But he’s — he’s done terrific work thus far, and I know that he wants to see th- — get this across the finish line, as this — just as much as we do.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Jonathan.

Q    Thank you, Karine.  Admiral, on a different topic.  Reports breaking just the last few minutes that a U.S. soldier has been detained in Russia.  This apparently happened in the last few days.  The reporting is he had been stationed in Korea, traveled to Russia on his own.  He’s being accused of some sort of theft.  Are — is the administration aware of this report?

MR. KIRBY:  Yes.

Q    What can you tell us about what happened?

MR. KIRBY:  I can’t really say much about it right now, Jonathan.  I hope you can understand that.  And, certainly, it’s a better question put to our DOD colleagues.  But we are aware of this case.

Q    And other matter just related to Russia.  There has been threats from Moscow in the last couple days about striting — striking British military facilities because of the — and also simulating nuclear drills, as it sharply rises tensions because of weapons manufactured in the UK being used in the conflict.  This says it could potentially apply to other ally countries as well — theoretically, the United States.

Do you have a response to that?

MR. KIRBY:  Well, what I’d say, number one, is it’s just reckless and irresponsible for the leader of a major nuclear-armed power to be saber-rattling the way that he is with respect to potential use for — for nuclear weapons. 

We’re — obviously, we monitor this and have continued to monitor this very closely.  I can tell you we’ve seen nothing, even despite the reckless rhetoric, that would cause us to change our strategic deterrent posture. 

And, look, lastly, if — if Mr. Putin and Russian officials are worried about their troops in Ukraine getting hit with weapons from other countries, then the easiest thing to do is just take your troops and leave. 

Q    Thank you. 

Q    There are reports of AFP right now that Israel is committing airstrikes on Rafah — intense airstrikes on Rafah right now.  What would that timing mean to the relationship between the President and the Prime Minister?

MR. KIRBY:  Well, (inaudible), you — you know something I don’t know.  I haven’t seen those reports.  I can’t confirm it.  I’ll just go back to what I’ve said, I don’t know, half a dozen, if not more, times today: We don’t support operations in Rafah that put people at greater risk. 

Q    Thank you.  Thank you, Karine, and thank you, John.  I just wanted to make it clear that regarding the limit on the refined petroleum provided by Russia to North Korea, the annual refined petroleum limit under U.N. sanctions against North Korea is 500,000 barrels.  But last week, you say that the limit was exceeding that 6- — 165,000 barrels in March alone.  So, how many barrels were supplied in January and February?

MR. KIRBY:  I will have to take that question and get back to you.  I didn’t bring the barrel data with me today. 

Q    And one one more quick question again.    State — yes, State Department Spokesperson Miller said that the sanctions against this will be imposed through these months, and a North Korea oil tanker sanctioned by the U.N. is currently staying in Chinese water.  So, is China included in the sanctions this time?  Or U.N. sanctions against Russia and sanctions against China are together?

MR. KIRBY:  I — I will admit that I will owe you now yet another answer.  I’ll get back to you with something more detailed. 

I will only just say, to exit myself from this question gracefully, that — (laughter) — that — that we want everybody to enforce the sanctions that are against North Korea appropriately and consistently.  And not everybody does.  And North Korea has benefited from sanctions evasions by countries in the region and beyond the region.  I’ll leave it at that.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.  I’m going to — we’re going to have to start wrapping it up.

Q    Thank you very much, Karine.  Thank you very much, John.  I have a question on Russia and growing ties between China and Russia.  Putin is reportedly visiting China this month, and right before this visit, just last week, we learned that Russian police raided the homes of Falun Gong practitioners in Russia — this is a group persecuted in China — and detained several of them. 

Does — does the White House have any reaction to this?  And then I have a follow-up one.

MR. KIRBY:  I haven’t seen the reports about the detention of these individuals.  If the — if they’re true, certainly, that would be concerning to us.  But I’d probably refer you to the State Department to speak a little bit more about that than — than I can. 

Just, again, writ — writ large, we have seen China and Russia try to go — grow closer together.  We believe a big reason for that is, frankly, the United States and — and putting themselves in positions to — to either oppose our foreign policy objectives or to try to be an obstacle to them in many, many different ways. 

So, it’s — it’s concerning to us. 

The most specific concern that we have right now is the fact that some Chinese companies are providing microelectronics and components so that Mr. Putin can continue his defense industrial base improvements and developments and put weapons in the field that just kill innocent Ukrainians.

And, again, we’ve been — we’ve made those concerns clear directly to our Chinese counterparts and at the U.N.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  All right.  Jared.  Ja- — oh, yeah —

Q    Oh —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  You have the last question.

Q    Yeah, I did want to ask just a clarification, first, on the King’s visit.  Is he meeting with any other senior administra- — Defense Department, anybody?

MR. KIRBY:  I — I — not that I’m aware of.

Q    So, this wasn’t, like, a broader bilateral, kind of —

MR. KIRBY:  No.  No, the President hosted him for lunch.  They’ve done this before in the past.

Q    And, secondly, can you give us a —

MR. KIRBY:  I — I can’t — but, look, I — I can’t speak to his whole schedule while he’s in town.  So, I’m not aware of any other meetings, but that doesn’t mean that he’s got something —

Q    But it wasn’t, like, a broader bilateral here at the White House?

Q    And on the pier, the temporary pier, if you could give us an update on that and whether or not, like, a ceasefire would need to be in place for that to be fully implemented and operational.

MR. KIRBY:  A ceasefire doesn’t have to be in place for the pier to operate.  Now, obviously, somewhat — it’s a whole heck of a lot easier if there’s no fighting going on.  But it doesn’t have to be. 

In fact, one of the big issues that we are still working out is what the force protection laydown would look like and how the — not — not just the people operating the pier but the material itself can be safe from any — any attack. 

As far as I know — and, again, you should go to the Pentagon for more detail — the — essentially, the pier itself has been constructed.  It is not in place because, last week, they had some weather issues in the Eastern Med, so they weren’t able to put it in place.  You should go to the Pentagon for, like, where it is right now.  As I understand it, it’s still not being put into place.

Then you’ve got to anchor it, and you’ve got to make sure you build a causeway so you can get to and from it.  And so, there’s still a lot of work that has to be done to get it operational, and that would include the force protection laydown.

But no, the short answer to your question is you don’t have to have a ceasefire in place to use the temporary pier.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Thank you, Admiral.  Appreciate it.

MR. KIRBY:  Thank you, Karine.  Appreciate your — appreciate your patience. MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No, you’re all good.  Thank you.

Q    Thank you, John.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Thanks. 

All right.  I do have a couple of things at the top.  I wanted to get to the — to the Admiral at the beginning.  So — so, tomorrow, the President will deliver remarks during the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual Days of Remembrance ceremony.  You can expect the President to make clear that during these sacred days of remembrance, we honor the memory of the 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust and we recommit to heeding the lessons of this dark chapter: Never again. 

He will speak to the horrors of October 7th, when Hamas unleashed the deadliest day for Jewish people since the Holocaust. 

And he will speak to how, since October 7th, we’ve seen an alarming rise in antisemitism in the U.S. — in our cities, our communities, and our — and on our campuses.  The President will touch on how his National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism is putting the full force of the federal government behind protecting the Jewish community and that all Americans must stand united against antisemitism. 

He will reaffirm that we respect and protect the fundamental right to free speech, but there is no place on any campus or anywhere for antisemitism.  There is no place for hate speech or threats of violence against — against the Jewish people. 

Next, today, as part of the Economic Opportunity Tour, Vice President Harris is traveling to Michigan to announce $100 million in funding and resources for small- and medium-size auto manufacturers and auto workers. 

The Vice President will also announce actions to expand workforce training and improve job quality in the EV supply chain. 

For decades, trickle-down econ- — e- — economics drove manufacturers overseas.  Thanks to the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda, companies are making historic investments in EV battery supply manufacturing.  More than 20 auto and battery plants have been announced, after no net new plants opened under the previous administration. 

Historic contracts secured the — by the UAW and the Big Three automakers in Detroit, as well as recent organizing victories, like Volkswagen in Chattanooga, Tennessee, ensure that these jobs of the future will provide comp- — comparable wages, retirement security, and respect at work.

These actions build on the Biden-Harris administration’s ongoing work to ensure that the workers and businesses that built the auto industry remain community anchors for generations to come. 

And, finally, I want to acknowledge some important news.  While the previous administration s oversaw the largest one-year increase in murders ever recorded, under the President’s — this President’s leadership, President Biden, violent crime is at a nearly 50-year low. 

Thanks to the extraordinary efforts of law enforcement and community leaders, Americas are safe — Americans are safer from violent crime today than they were a year ago.  Violent crime declined across every category in the first quarter of 2024, and murders are down 17 percent. 

Let me be clear here: This reduction in crime is no accident.  President Biden and his administration are taking historic action to make our communities safer and give our law enforcement officers the tools they need to protect and serve.

We are stopping the flow of illegal guns and making the largest-ever federal investment in fighting and preventing crime through the American Rescue Plan, which every Republican in Congress voted against.  But we can’t stop now. 

Through the Safe [Safer] America — America Plan, the President is calling on Congress to invest $37 billion to support law enforcement and crime prevention.  Every family deserves to live in a safe community.

With that, Seung Min.

Q    Thanks.  You had another school, Columbia University, announce this morning that they’re canceling commencement ceremonies.  I’m wondering if the White House is concerned that the situation on college campuses is not calming down, despite what the President said last week.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I want to quote what the President said from last week, as you laid that out for me.  And here’s the quote: “Peaceful protest in America — violent protest is not protected; peaceful protest is.  It’s against the law when violence occurs.  Destroying property is not a peaceful protest.  It’s against the law.  Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations — none of this is a peaceful protest.”

And it is unfortunate that a small group — a small group of people went too far and cost their classmates this important event.  We’ve talked about it many times from here.  When it’s — when it comes to commencement day and when it comes to speaking at commencement events, this is something that the President has done for some time now.  And he understands that this is a moment of joy, a moment of celebration.  And — and we feel for them.  We feel for each of the graduates. 

And — and we’re going to continue to reiterate the President’s comments and statements and what we’ve said from this podium to call for protest peacefully.  And that’s what we’re going to continue to do. 

But we do feel for them.  These are graduates who are going to miss out on an incredibly important day of commencement.

Q    Quick follow-up.  Does the White House anticipate any issues — or how are you preparing for any potential issues when he delivers the remarks at Morehouse later this month?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, look, I’m not going to get into — I’m not going to speculate on what might happen, might not happen.  Obviously, when it comes to any type of — when it comes to events and security, that’s something that Secret Service obviously is going to — going to deal with and — and figure that out on their end.  But I’m not going to get into specu- — to speculate from here. 

I’m just going to reiterate what I just said about how the President truly enjoys doing commencement speeches.  He understands how important — not just for the graduate but the families and the loved ones that are there to celebrate a really, truly important day.  And so, that’s what we’re looking forward to. 

As you know, the President is also going to go to West Point and honor — honor those who serve to protect our country.  And — and so — and we’ll continue to do that, obviously.  And so, that’s what he’s going to look forward to: really being there for the graduates and lifting them up in this moment.

Q    Thank you, Karine.  Congressman Ro Khanna said that the President should and will be out visiting these campus among the protests — amid the protests.  Is there any plan for him to get out there and talk to students —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  No.

Q    — right now?  Okay.  And then, separately, GW’s president has called for Metro Police in D.C. to intervene to dismantle what they’ve deemed an illegal encampment.  And D.C. police have so far refused to respond to that call.  It’s happening in the President’s backyard.  Is there any reaction from the White House on what should happen?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, that is something that I’m going to leave to the local law enforcement and universities.  That’s for them to figure out, for them to work it through.  They know what is happening on the ground.  And we’ve always been very clear about that.  And we’ll continue to be clear about that.

We’re going to continue to call for peaceful protest.  And, you know, dissent cannot lead to disorder.  And so, going to continue to be very, very clear, as the President has been, as I have been, as so many of us here on — in this administration has been.

Q    Any idea why D.C. police would not respond — MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I would — Q    — to this call?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I would refer you to the D.C. police.  That’s something for them to speak to.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Okay.

Q    And then, j- — lastly, on these reported plans for the U.S. to bring over Palestinian refugees, potentially.  Is there anything you can tell us about where we are in the works with that?  And what — I know it would have to depend on coordination with Egypt, which so far has been resistant to cooperate on this.  What — what can you tell us about this plan?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I don’t have anything further to announce.  I know I was asked this question a couple of times last week.  I just don’t have anything else to share.

Go ahead, Steve.

Q    Karine, the — the speech tomorrow, is it a broad-brush speech or will he get into some of the specifics of the Gaza conflict?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I’m not going to get ahead of the President too much.  Obviously, it is a day of remembrance.  You know the term.  We — as I just stated at the top: Never forget — or never again. 

And so, certainly the President will — will talk about that day and how horrific it was for the Jewish — Jewish Americans, Jewish community. 

I just don’t want to get too far ahead.  But obviously, it’s an important day for — for not just Jewish Americans but Americans more broadly.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead, Karen.

Q    Thanks, Karine.  Given the key role that Jordan has played over the last several months in the Middle East — especially on humanitarian aid — and the day’s development, there was obviously a lot of news value to the King’s visit today. 

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yeah.

Q    Why didn’t we see the President and the King together for a photo op?  Why was that closed press?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, look, we try to do everything that we can, obviously, to give you all as much access, give the press as much access.  It is sometimes the — the visitor — the visiting country have — you know, they have their own requests, and we try to certainly accommodate their request as well.

And so, look, we will try all — every — at every turn, at every of these events to make sure that there is press — there is press access.

In this particular instance, it’s a — it was a private lunch.  And we tried to also accommodate the visitors that come here as well.

Q    So, the King did not want to do anything on camera today?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I — I would leave it up to — to the King and his team to speak to that.  But, again, we try to also accommodate the visiting country as well.

Q    And if there’s any news from the Israeli side on this — the — where things stand, should we expect to hear from the President today or this evening on this?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I don’t have anything to — of note or any changes to the President’s schedule at this time.  Obviously, if there i- — are any changes, we — you all will be one of the first, if not the first, to know.  I just don’t have anything at this time. 

The President was going to speak tomorrow.  So, stay tuned.

AIDE:  Karine.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Go ahead.  Go ahead.

Q    Thank you.  I just wanted to go again at the speech the President is —

Q    — is exp- — is giving tomorrow.  I mean, just given the context in which he’s giving it, where there’s — you know, 34,000 people have died in Gaza.  He’s going to be talking about “never again” and a genocide.  And he’s protested almost everywhere he goes, you know, with that moniker of — of “Genocide Joe.” 

And it’s a — I’m just wondering: How is he going to sort of thread the needle of — of address- — of addressing a genocide that happened quite a while ago while there are some people who are saying that there is one happening right now that he bears some responsibility for? 

I mean, I understand that that’s not the view of the administration, but it’s still a very tricky line to — to walk.  And I’m just wondering if you can share any sort of thought as to whether he may be trying to send us a subtle message with the speech at all or if there’s any sort of nod to the broader context in which the speech is being given.

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  So, I’m going to let the President speak for himself.  I gave a broad stroke of the day —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  — and how important it’s going to be for the President to speak on this Day of Remembrance, the ceremony.  So, just going to be really mindful there. 

On your broader question, look, the President understands that this is an incredibly painful time.  And we have said that over and over again, and we understand that.  And he also respects the right of all Americans to peacefully protest and also with the understanding and — and the knowledge of having those conversations, those sometimes really tough conversations with community leaders. 

And we have done that on the White — White House — you’ve heard from senior White House officials — or you’ve heard us talk about senior White House officials going across the country, having those conversations with Muslim leaders, Arab leaders, Palestinian leaders in talking through this painful moment. 

And I would also — also say that this is why this hostage deal is so important.  This is why we continue to work around the clock.  This is why Director Burns is there meeting — and obviously meeting — continuing to meet with partners in the region to try to get to this deal so we can get that all-important humanitarian aid, get that ceasefire that is much needed, and also make sure that we get the hostages home, which also — American hostages are part of those hostages, and we need to get them home to their loved ones. 

So, that’s what we’re going to continue to do.  The President will speak for himself tomorrow.  So, I would say: Tune in.  Listen to what he has to say.  But we understand how painful this is for many, many communities across this country. 

Q    Has he had an input from any of those communities that you mentioned?  Like, as he’s been sort of wrestling with his speech and working on it, have any of those communities had any input into what he should say or what (inaudible) —

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  I can’t speak — I can’t to — to that — that question about input from communities.  But the President understands how important this moment is.  And I would say this is a president that tends to meet the moment when it comes to speeches and remarks like these.  He understands what’s going on, has the finger — his finger is on the pulse as far as what people are feeling. 

And so, I’m just not going to get beyond that.  And I would say: Tune in.

Go ahead, Gabe.

Q    Karine, just really quickly.

Q    What’s your response to Kristi Noem’s comments implying that Commander should be put down?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Look, you know, when we learned last week, obviously, like all of you, in her book that she killed her puppy, you heard me say that was very, very sad. 

We find her comments from yesterday disturbing.  We find them absurd.  And — and here, this is a country that loves dogs.  And you have a leader talking about putting dogs down, killing them.  And that’s a disturbing statement to say.

I would say to — I would say to her — is she should — probably should stop digging herself in a hole. 

Thanks, everybody.

Q    Where — where is Commander now?

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:   Who?  Oh.  So, Commander — we said this back in the fall.  Commander is living with family members. 

Q    Where?

Q    In Delaware?

(Cross-talk.)

MS. JEAN-PIERRE:  Yes.  We said this before. 

All right.  Thanks, everybody. 

3:14 P.M. EDT

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