Health is the ideal topic for any public speaker. After all it is a subject that affects everyone in an audience in some way. They, or a family member, may suffer from allergies, have Alzheimer’s, Hay Fever or Asthma. Diabetes and Obesity are ever growing problems. So by choosing a health topic you should have a captive audience straight away. Make sure your speech is not too technical for the layperson. Give examples of how the illness actually affects people. Speak of the treatments and always stress the fact that research for treatment and cures is ongoing. Look at the age profile of your audience too. If you are speaking to a young audience you might choose to speak of teenage acne or bulimia for instance. If you are speaking to management you might choose stress as your subject. Whatever the topic let your listeners understand that ill health won’t go away if we don’t discuss it. It is far better to be informed and to deal with it and that is exactly where your speech comes in.

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“Hark the herald angels sing” is a carol we are hearing lately. After all it’s nearly Christmas. What, though, are angels or what do we think they are? It’s a comforting thought to think that each one of us has a guardian angel whose job it is to keep us from harm. Some, though, might believe that guardian angel is just the name for our own conscience which should also keep us from harm or at least from doing harm to anyone else. Angel stores are springing up all over the place which seems to indicate some sort of spiritual need in us, despite the materialistic world we inhabit. No matter what our religion is, or even if we have none, angels are a fascinating topic of conversation. Whether we believe they have wings or not their history is worth studying. If nothing else you will have an absorbing conversation piece at your next dinner party.

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Children’s Day is not the only day to think of slavery. Certainly many of the children in the world or sold or used as slaves. It is impossible to imagine the hardship they undergo at a very tender age. They are not, though, the only ones. Women are definitely exploited and trafficked as sex objects and police have great difficulty in tracing those responsible. More often they are used as slave labour in the homes of the wealthy. These are people without a voice. The children are too young to speak the women too afraid. It is up to the rest of us to be aware of the fact, to know that slavery exists and to put pressure on our politicians to put an end to these evil practices. It often seems as though they are not interested in making changes but if they realised there were votes in it they would be more active in demanding an end to these horrible practises. If you saw slaves in chains on your city streets you would be vocal about it. The fact that you cannot see them doesn’t mean they don’t exist. They do and will until we put a stop to it.

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It’s probably one of the most heart-warming photos of the year. It’s that two week old baby rescued from the rubble of the earthquake of Turkey after two days of being buried alive. It demonstrates the courage of the rescuers who keep searching despite the devastation around them. It shows the compassion of the doctor holding the baby. It also begs another question. What can be done about earthquakes beyond ensuring that buildings are built to withstand them? Obviously governments in countries affected would need to ensure such building standards are enforced. Would it not be possible though, not to build in the areas at all? Would it not be better to study earthquakes and share that knowledge worldwide so that warnings are given and emergency strategies put into place? In Turkey, for instance, they did not have enough tents available and people had to suffer the cold and the misery until foreign aid arrived. We will probably never be able to prevent earthquakes but we should give far more attention to how to prevent them burying people alive.

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Let’s talk about the weather and our environment. After all they are safe subjects when strangers meet. Of course in climates of everlasting sunshine there is not much to say except to express the wish for a little rain. In Britain, though, rain is definitely a possibility most days. In Spain we are told that it is mainly on the plain. Speak about hurricanes though and the devastation they cause. Now that’s a topic on which most people will have something to say. Mention tsunamis and again there will be lots of conversation about them. The same applies to earthquakes. People will ask about the possibility of better forecasting, and safer buildings. They will query planning laws that allow houses to be built in unsafe areas. They will talk about the work of agencies who deal with the aftermath of these horrors and praise the volunteers who go to devastated areas.. They will speak about prevention and how much we contribute to environmental disasters. There’s plenty to say to strangers and it it much safer than politics or religion.

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Most of us don’t stop to think about friendship and what it means in our lives. We should because those lives would be sadder and less fulfilled without our friends. When people are talking about friendship they usually say that their friends stick by them when they are in trouble. That’s fine. It’s good to know that we can rely on them when something goes wrong in our lives. What we don’t seem to mention though is how wonderful it is to have someone who is happy when we have good news. It’s great to have someone to share the good times too and that’s what real friends do. So on Friendship Day on the 7th August tell your friends just what they mean to you. In fact share the day with them. Let them know how important they are to you. There is a saying that strangers are just friends we haven’t yet met. So when it comes to friends make them and keep them. You’ll be glad you did.

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Most of us spend about a third of our lives in bed. Unless we have an interesting dream or a frightening nightmare we hardly ever speak about our sleeping habits. Yet, because everyone has to sleep, it is an ideal topic for any speaker. After all everyone in the audience can relate to the subject. Then too there are different aspects to the subject. You might speak about the various kinds of beds used throughout history or about dreams and what they mean. Alternatively you might speak about lack of sleep and how it affects the body. Insomnia is, after all, a very serious health problem not, though, to be confused with the odd sleepless night. So talk about beds and bunks and how hot weather makes it difficult to drop off at night. If you tackle the subject well your audience will be fascinated and won’t drop off.

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Beer as well as burgers is the latest offering from some fast food outlets. That’s one sure way to add to the already fast growing number of people with obesity. Junk food is already a killer. Drink is a death warrant. Selling it alongside the everyday food of choice for thousands is one sure way to add to the hospital population. The fast food outlets are being hit by the recession and this is their way of fighting back. They may make more money but at what cost to people’s lives and to the medical system? Customers may have to produce their i.d. cards to prove they are of drinking age. If they cannot resist fries they are almost certainly not adult enough to be able to refuse beer with their burgers.

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The Irish Government doesn’t like smokers. They have just finished a survey which shows that one in two deaths in the country is caused by smoking. Those deaths often follow long and costly illnesses such as lung cancer. Obviously then smokers are costing the taxpayers a lot of money and diverting funds from other illnesses that are not self -inflicted. They now intend tackling the problem with more clinics and more advertising about the risks and consequences. This has been tried before of course and obviously it has not been successful. Smokers are very well aware that their habit is a unhealthy one. Maybe the Government should announce that smokers will not be treated at public expense. Perhaps it’s time they were put to the end of the queue for hospitals appointments. Perhaps they could be encouraged to save the money they spend on cigarettes in a fund that would generate a high return. Public places have become a lot sweeter smelling since the ban on smoking in public. Now it’ time to tackle smoking in the home. It’s a personal habit that has a huge public cost.

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Next year, the FDA have announced, consumers will be able to check their sun cream to see if it offers broad spectrum protection against both UVA and UVB. That’s good news for those who want to avoid skin cancer. It doesn’t mean, however, that people should ignore the other precautions they should take against being burnt by the sun. Those who live in rainy countries love the thought of getting out in the sun. Those who live in sunny countries tend to lead an outdoor lifestyle. The numbers of people who develop skin cancer do so because many people in both groups forget to take simple measures to avoid the damage that that lovely sun can do. It’s no co-incidence that in Continental Europe they have a siesta at lunchtime thus ensuring that people stay in during the hottest time of the day. Experience has taught them to avoid the sun at its hottest. The rules for safety in hot weather remain the same, sip water, slap on the cream and stay shaded.

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