Login

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

August 22, 2025, 03:14:56 pm

Author Topic: Oral topics?  (Read 2896 times)  Share 

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

MM1

  • Victorian
  • Forum Obsessive
  • ***
  • Posts: 213
  • Respect: 0
Oral topics?
« on: December 04, 2013, 05:47:08 pm »
0
Can anyone suggest a really good, debatable oral topic?

Cheers!

Anchy

  • Victorian
  • Forum Obsessive
  • ***
  • Posts: 366
  • Respect: +5
  • School Grad Year: 2014
Re: Oral topics?
« Reply #1 on: December 04, 2013, 05:58:39 pm »
0
Can anyone suggest a really good, debatable oral topic?

Cheers!

From the top of my head.

- Should parents be prohibited from legally smacking their children?
- Should guns be prohibited in USA?
- Should Australia allow same sex marriage?
- Should euthanasia be legalized?


Bachelor of Arts/Laws @ Monash University

Stick

  • Victorian
  • ATAR Notes Legend
  • *******
  • Posts: 3774
  • Sticky. :P
  • Respect: +467
Re: Oral topics?
« Reply #2 on: December 04, 2013, 07:16:51 pm »
0
Perhaps think outside the box and allow your teacher and your audience to discover a new side of you through one of your strong passions. What sorts of things are you interested in?
2017-2020: Doctor of Medicine - The University of Melbourne
2014-2016: Bachelor of Biomedicine - The University of Melbourne

anna.xo

  • No exam discussion
  • Part of the furniture
  • *
  • Posts: 1152
  • Respect: +47
  • School Grad Year: 2014
Re: Oral topics?
« Reply #3 on: December 04, 2013, 07:41:54 pm »
0
If your school is going the same as mine, our issue that we choose has to have been debated in the media since September 1.
East-west link is proving popular in my class even though it is boring, but another interesting topic I think is the urban sprawl/planning & development.

On this same topic, for my own oral I have chosen to do the abortion laws, currently being debated in the media. Is this a good choice or would I be better off changing it ? Thanks(:
2014: VCE
2015: Bachelor of Nutrition Science @ Monash University

MM1

  • Victorian
  • Forum Obsessive
  • ***
  • Posts: 213
  • Respect: 0
Re: Oral topics?
« Reply #4 on: December 04, 2013, 08:24:32 pm »
0
From the top of my head.

- Should parents be prohibited from legally smacking their children?
- Should guns be prohibited in USA?
- Should Australia allow same sex marriage?
- Should euthanasia be legalized?

Thanks! Although we aren't allowed to do topics that don't directly relate to Australian media; e.g gun prohibition in USA.

MM1

  • Victorian
  • Forum Obsessive
  • ***
  • Posts: 213
  • Respect: 0
Re: Oral topics?
« Reply #5 on: December 04, 2013, 08:29:24 pm »
0
Perhaps think outside the box and allow your teacher and your audience to discover a new side of you through one of your strong passions. What sorts of things are you interested in?

Definitely. I find the asylum seekers issue interesting. But I'd like to talk about less 'overused/typical' issues such as the Edward Snowden data leak?



MM1

  • Victorian
  • Forum Obsessive
  • ***
  • Posts: 213
  • Respect: 0
Re: Oral topics?
« Reply #6 on: December 04, 2013, 08:35:38 pm »
0
If your school is going the same as mine, our issue that we choose has to have been debated in the media since September 1.
East-west link is proving popular in my class even though it is boring, but another interesting topic I think is the urban sprawl/planning & development.

On this same topic, for my own oral I have chosen to do the abortion laws, currently being debated in the media. Is this a good choice or would I be better off changing it ? Thanks(:

Our school also has to choose a controversial topic that has been in the media since September.
I think the topic of abortion laws is a really good choice! It's definitely not as boring as the East-west link issue and it's rather emotive so that helps with the appeal to the audience. Go for it :)

Stick

  • Victorian
  • ATAR Notes Legend
  • *******
  • Posts: 3774
  • Sticky. :P
  • Respect: +467
Re: Oral topics?
« Reply #7 on: December 04, 2013, 08:55:58 pm »
0
As long as the issue isn't too complex (i.e. you don't need to spend more than a minute to properly explain it) then it should be fine.
2017-2020: Doctor of Medicine - The University of Melbourne
2014-2016: Bachelor of Biomedicine - The University of Melbourne

el tigrč chinő

  • Victorian
  • Adventurer
  • *
  • Posts: 19
  • Respect: 0
Re: Oral topics?
« Reply #8 on: December 04, 2013, 09:12:30 pm »
+1
Do not, I repeat do not, do abortion laws if you are male.

It's not worth the potential minefield you might step into.

mad_maxine

  • Victorian
  • Trendsetter
  • **
  • Posts: 121
  • Respect: +5
  • School: A random school
  • School Grad Year: 2014
Re: Oral topics?
« Reply #9 on: December 04, 2013, 09:14:32 pm »
0
Do not, I repeat do not, do abortion laws if you are male.

It's not worth the potential minefield you might step into.

Yeh, my friend had a baaaaaad experience with that this year... He really regretted it  ::)

silverpixeli

  • ATAR Notes Lecturer
  • Victorian
  • Forum Leader
  • ****
  • Posts: 855
  • Respect: +110
Re: Oral topics?
« Reply #10 on: December 04, 2013, 09:21:02 pm »
0
I really wanted to talk about junk food advertising, which was recent in the media and was something I was interested in, not too political, not a common choice. All good things to look for in a topic. I ended up going for the Australian flag, an issue that is re-ignited every Australia day (should the flag be changed to something not colonial/more representative of Australia rather than Britain etc) and got to take on the persona of Julia Gillard (I'm a guy, actually made the class laugh when I introduced myself with a straight face, which was helpful). Wouldn't want to pretend to be Tony Abbott, but as an idea for an issue I don't think its too bad. Hope either of those ideas capture your interest.
ATAR 99.80 :: Methods [50] | Physics [50+Premier's] | Specialist [47] | Software [48] | English [42] | Legal [39 '12]
+ Australian Student Prize

ATAR Notes Specialist/Methods/Physics Lecturer
ATAR Notes Specialist Maths Webinar Presenter

Limista

  • Victorian
  • Forum Leader
  • ****
  • Posts: 944
  • Respect: +63
  • School Grad Year: 2013
Re: Oral topics?
« Reply #11 on: December 04, 2013, 09:23:17 pm »
+2
Perhaps think outside the box and allow your teacher and your audience to discover a new side of you through one of your strong passions. What sorts of things are you interested in?

couldn't agree more.

It doesn't matter what you do (as long as it fits within the criteria of course), as long as you really want to do it.

Also, try not to go over time. It's quality, not quantity.

And since it's a speech (and NOT an essay), dramatise it a bit. So, pause in the appropriate places, take breathers, alter your voice intonations, and speak S..L..O..W..L..Y. Make sure you write your speech so that you've made time for all this stuff. Studies show that the way you present your speech is actually more important than the speech itself. Naturally, this doesn't mean that the content of your speech should be codswallop. Make sure your speech consists of 2-3 big ideas, which you explain briefly in simple English. Additionally, don't bother with a prop - you don't need it. The teacher is focusing on you; he is marking you. He is not marking how well you know how to use powerpoint/ draw a poster/ hold a visual. People might say that props enhance what you're saying - naaah. You don't need a prop. Why spend time on something you don't need? It's yr 12, you'd want to spend that time studying for another subject. 

^ babbled on a bit there, but hopefully some parts are useful.

hmm I'm probably going to face some controversy regarding the prop argument.
Bachelor of Biomedicine @ The University of Melbourne (II) 2014-2016
Follow me on my blog

pi

  • Honorary Moderator
  • Great Wonder of ATAR Notes
  • *******
  • Posts: 14348
  • Doctor.
  • Respect: +2376
Re: Oral topics?
« Reply #12 on: December 04, 2013, 10:02:59 pm »
0
I heard there was a change in Govt recently, look at any of the issues the're facing (read the newspaper for a couple of days and you'll be able to construct a good list)