Controversial Topics for Essays and Speeches

How to Find the Best Debate Topics?

You cannot make a sandwich without the necessary ingredients, right? The same goes for provocative essays and speeches: you need to have all the tools and enough confidence to make readers stroked with your piece of writing. But how do you find the best debate topics to spark that interest?

We could say that surfing the Internet space for this purpose is the best solution, but we won’t. Of course, you can pick a random topic from the first site, but the point here is not about the fastest way to find the right controversial topic, but about the quality of your search. Thus, the best way to pick topics for a debate is to understand the audience which you address in the first place and estimate their intellectual level. This is a necessary step that’ll help you know for sure if the target readers will even bear your ideas and statements. Otherwise, people might not understand you or refuse to read your controversial topic whatsoever. The same net effect goes for speeches: listeners will be simply reluctant to hear the words that are too offensive or too provocative for them.

You can also find multiple controversial topics easily by following a couple of easy steps:

• Brainstorm. Don’t search for essay or speech issues panically in a hope to get the best one in a matter of minutes. Think carefully of at least three topics you can potentially use for your debate and list them down.
• Focus on Relevant Issues. Exclude the matters and questions that might be too difficult to reveal or too wide or narrow. Moreover, the topic should by no means be boring – in this case, the interest will be lost as well.
• Make the Ultimate Choice. Once you’ve filtered controversial topics, concentrate on the most appropriate and acceptable one for the audience. Finally, start writing and enjoy the process.

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Funny Controversial Topics

Causing sincere laughter is one of the most significant points which your audience will certainly appreciate either on speech or in writing. Because ultimately, everybody enjoys a good laugh. However, you need to be ready to write or speak about those issues that are mildly humorous, not sarcastic or mocking. In two words, you’ll need to come up with something that’ll cheer up the crowd and give them positive energy. Luckily, you don’t have to search for endless lists of funny controversial topics because we’ve gathered them for you. Take a look at the examples below and use them as a guide to your topic selection.

1. Is it even okay to have coulrophobia?
2. Is reggae music the best genre in the world today?
3. How can you use the skills of playing video games to work in a great company?
4. When she laughs at your jokes, does it mean she likes you?
5. Is there any secret thing which women do that men don’t know about?
6. Best Star Wars character
7. Men gossip more than women
8. What pizza toppings are the best?
9. Is it weird if your boss is your best friend?
10. What is more real: a pirate or a ninja?
11. Who are more likely to achieve success in life: introverts or extroverts?
12. Why should homework be banned from the education system for good?
13. Does the practice of playing video games increase IQ levels?
14. Friends or How I Met Your Mother?
15. Why Coke is better than Pepsi
16. Should humans eat to live or live to eat?
17. Why fish make the ultimate pets
18. If Harry Potter magic was real, should it be made legal for all to practice?
19. Santa’s elves should be paid minimum wage
20. Why cute pets videos are ruining the Internet
21. Why the Kardashians family is more popular than the president
22. Should juveniles be treated as adults
23. Is there life with unicorns after death?
24. Is eating ice cream with fries actually a good idea?

List of Controversial Topics for Essays

If you or your professor decide to depart from humor and give readers some real food for thought, consider these argumentative essays topics

1. What is the correlation between food, fitness, and weight?
2. What are the side effects of different diets?
3. Is swimming the best type of sport?
4. The most appropriate age for people to vote
5. Are electric vehicles the best solution to global pollution?
6. Advantages and disadvantages of globalization
7. Is gun control an ultimate way to diminish crime levels?
8. Violent video games should be prohibited
9. Does technology make people feel alone?
10. Are people gradually transforming into technological zombies?
11. Will people even reach a time when there will be no more technological advancement?
12. The impact of communication on social networks for contemporary education
13. Is censorship of Internet necessary?
14. Parents should not control their children above 16 years old
15. What is the division of roles of partners in terms of relationship and family?
16. Is online dating effective and reasonable?
17. Will people reach the point of marrying their computers soon?
18. Is abstract art the most admirable and progressive in history?
19. Why is the majority of up-to-date movies deprived of a meaningful plot?
20. Should abortion be made illegal?
21. Should men get paternity leave from work?
22. Should animals be used for research?
23. Does boredom lead to trouble?
24. Are girls too mean to each other?
25. Is college admission too competitive?

Arguable Topics for Research Papers

1. Is obesity a problem of the American population?
2. Modern diets are not as effective as people expect them to be
3. Eight hours is the most optimal duration of sleep for every student
4. Sports with high-risk levels should be banned
5. Parents should by no means allow their children to watch films with cruel or adult scenes
6. Marijuana should be forbidden in the majority of countries
7. The US government should implement strict rules to fight with alcoholism
8. Energetic drinks consumption can be more dangerous than usual alcohol drinks intake
9. Documenting court cases shouldn’t be forbidden in any court
10. All people should be given the right to start voting at the age of 25
11. The usage of animals in research and for testing should be banned
12. Every individual who contributes to the development of environmental pollution should be punished
13. Local authorities need to work more on protection after tornadoes
14. Indians residing in America are not real representatives of their kind
15. Every financial crisis to come will bring worse consequences than previous
16. Acceptance rates in colleges and universities should be significantly higher than now
17. The official permission of gay marriages displays a high level of development in societies
18. What are the means of combating corruption more effectively?
19. The current political system is not the most effective ideology for today’s world
20. Interactive computer-mediated technologies are not as safe as they were told to be
21. The effects of contemporary teaching methods
22. How to stop wasting paper and save trees?
23. Can the overpopulation issue be managed?
24. How tv shows impose fake moral standards?
25. Do beauty contests set non-achievable beauty standards?

Current Controversial Issues 2023

1. What is your stance on abortion?
2. Should local authorities continue to support Planned Parenthood financially?
3. Should gay couples have equal adoption rights as those of straight couples?
4. Should marital rape be considered and punished as severely as non-marital rape?
5. Should “gender identity” complement the list of anti-discrimination laws?
6. Should an enterprise be in force for refusing to serve a customer if the request contradicts the owner’s religious beliefs?
7. Should the military give women a permission to participate in combat roles?
8. Should transgender athletes be given the right to participate in athletic competitions?
9. Do you support the death penalty?
10. Should businesses allow women to become members of their board of directors?
11. Should all states be permitted to show the Confederate flag on government property?
12. How should we stop massive shootings from occurring?
13. What are the sustainable development programs for the next four years?
14. How do we overcome inequality in society and defend human rights?
15. What should the relevant education funding in America be?
16. How do we rebuild the old energy infrastructure?
17. Should we redesign the immigration policy?
18. Benefits and negative consequences of developing genetically modified children
19. Using Photoshop in the media promotes an unhealthy body image
20. The positive effects of dealing with stress through music
21. Should Bottled Water Be Banned?
22. Is human activity a substantial cause of global climate change?
23. Should adults carry a concealed handgun and use it for self-protection?
24. What are the solutions to illegal immigration in America?
25. Is the implementation of standardized tests bettering the state of education in America?

The next time you’ll write an essay or think of a speech idea, take into account the list of our controversial topics suggestions. These examples can give you a helping hand during the selection of the most burning issue and provide some guidance for the creation of an excellent essay or speech. 

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