Question

Which topic is too broad for a 10-minute speech?A. how to punt a football B. the history of California C. visiting the Louvre in Paris D. hiking the Kaibab Trail at the Grand Canyon

Answer 1

B. the history of California

For a speech, 10 minutes is really just enough time to pretty much cover the basics.  When we consider that the average time it takes to read/speak is approximately 250 words a minute, and with the understanding that one typed page is 250 words, this means that 10 minutes would cover only four pages of text.  With that in mind, the topic of “The History of California,” it can be safely assumed that only a superficial covering of the history would be covered because there is so much that could be covered, especially keeping in mind that California’s history could include everything from prehistoric times (or earlier) to the present day.  When deciding on a topic, one should always keep the required length in mind and decide whether the topic is suitable for the page/time length because for broad topics many pages and lots of time would be required in order to adequately cover everything of which it is comprised.   For low page/time requirements, a narrow topic is what would be needed.  

Answer 2

The correct answer is B. The history of California

Explanation:

Determining whether a topic is manageable which means the topic is appropriate and can be developed within the time provided mainly depends on the amount of information or details that are necessary to present for the audience to completely understand the topic. This usually means if there are just a few details the topic is too narrow and the speaker will not cover the time and excessive details mean the topic is too broad and the speaker will be unable to explain all the information in the time provide. Considering this, the topic that is too broad for a 10-minute speech is "The history of California" because for this topic to be appropriately explained to the audience it requires the speaker includes multiple details on the way the state was created and changed over time. This means the speaker will need to include a lot of information and cover multiple historical periods and therefore 10 minutes will not be enough to cover all the information which makes this topic too broad..