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10-minute demonstration speech topics
100 + short 3-10 minute how to speech ideas
By: Susan Dugdale | Last modified: 02-17-2023
If you've been asked to put together a 10 minute, or less, demonstration speech for your speech class, look these 'how-to' ideas over. They're perfect for preparing short show and tell presentations to teach a new task succinctly and quickly.
Use the quick links below to get around the page easily. The topics are arranged in four batches. Begin with 'Why demonstrate something simple and ordinary?'. It could save you a lot of time!
What's on this page
- Why demonstrate something simple and ordinary?
- 25 10-minute demonstration speech topics
- 25 ideas for short how-to speeches
- 26 topics for show-and-tell speeches
- 32 demonstrative topics for 3 to 10-minute speeches
- How plan and prepare your demonstration speech
- Get an adaptable printable demonstrative speech outline
- Other topics for demonstration speeches
Why demonstrate something simple and ordinary?
Before you settle on a topic, please don't overlook demonstrating a skill or a process you regard as commonplace.
If we already know how to do something competently, we have an understandable tendency to dismiss whatever it is as far too simple, and too ordinary to turn it into a demonstration speech.
And yet, that assumption can be so wrong.
There are audiences who will want to know how to do some of the things we do so efficiently and easily, that we forget we had to learn how to do them in the first place! Many of those things are on this list.
For instance, a group of people who don’t spend a lot of time online, could find why and how to set up a safe password valuable knowledge to have. It might stop them from being hacked!
Likewise teaching people who intend to explore the great outdoors, and haven't had much prior experience, how to use a portable gas stove safely is extremely useful.
Or showing parents of children with long hair how to plait it. That will save a lot of time and tears when it comes to brushing.
And I'll always be grateful to the person who showed me how to give medicine to my beloved cat, without being scratched to bits!
Think about your audience. What would be useful for them to know? Sharing something of real benefit and value will help keep them actively interested. *
*For more on how to choose a great demonstration speech topic.
25 3 to 10-minute demonstration speech topics
Once you’ve got your topic be sure to collect a printable demonstration speech outline to help you prepare your speech. You’ll find the link for that at the foot of the page. The outline will help you efficiently plan, organize and deliver a well-structured speech.
Now here's the first batch of the 100, and more, topics.
- How to set up a safe password
- How to avoid ID theft
- How to use Google docs well
- How to set up Google analytics on a website quickly
- How to create a simple presentation using Microsoft Powerpoint or Apple Keynote
- How to back up your important files
- How to set up a wifi connection
- How to report online bullying
- How to fill out online forms well
- How to clear cookies off your computer
- How to identify and report spam
- How to set up a Spotify account
- How to use online banking
- How to use a credit card responsibly
- How to use online grocery shopping to save
- How to defend yourself against a random personal physical attack
- How to pack a travel bag efficiently
- How to help someone who is choking
- How to lift heavy objects without damaging yourself
- How to make a perfect cup of tea
- How to shop for groceries efficiently in a supermarket
- How to use a dryer to make your own dried fruit
- How to can vegetables safely
- How to freeze excess produce
- How to make perfect fruit jam
25 ideas for short how-to speeches
- How to chop vegetables safely and quickly
- How to carve a chicken, turkey...
- How to store raw chicken in the fridge safely
- How to prepare a simple healthy meal from basic ingredients
- How to plan an affordable weekly dinner menu
- How to iron a shirt
- How to tie a neck tie
- How to sort laundry, use a washing machine and dry your clothes
- How to hand wash delicate fabrics
- How to use a knife and fork correctly
- How to use a pair of chop sticks properly
- How to know what cutlery to use when you’re at a formal dinner party
- How to plait long hair
- How to brush a long-haired dog or cat well
- How to brush your teeth correctly
- How to do a press up correctly
- How to choose a haircut to suit your face shape
- How to a jacket to suit your body shape
- How to dress well on a limited budget
- How to make a simple healthy dessert
- How to ice a cake simply and effectively
- How to upcycle a tee shirt
- How to mend a fallen hem
- How to sew on a button
- How to make a bookcase from recycled materials
26 topics for show-and-tell speeches
- How make a simple personal budget
- How to grow kitchen herbs in a window box
- How to escape from a sinking car
- How to use a blanket to move heavy objects
- How to sharpen a knife
- How use a thermometer correctly
- How to use a compass
- How read a simple topographical map
- How to use a portable gas stove safely out of doors
- How to put out a stove top fire
- How to change a light bulb
- How to clear a blocked sink
- How to clean a bathroom well
- How to make a bed
- How to use the local public transport system
- How to hold a baby properly
- How to change a baby’s diaper
- How to dress a baby
- How to dress a wound
- How to make an emergency call
- How to administer first aid for burns
- How to treat hypothermia
- How to handle frostbite
- How to handle someone having a seizure
- How to use CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation)
- How to shine a pair of shoes
32 demonstrative topics for 10-minute speeches
- How to book a taxicab
- How to arrange flowers in a vase
- How to sow flower or vegetable seeds
- How to re-pot an indoor plant
- How to take a cutting from a plant
- How to prune a rose
- How to dry or press flowers
- How to forage for edible plants
- How to set a mouse trap
- How to make good lecture notes
- How to set a meeting agenda
- How to run a meeting efficiently
- How to read body language – what shows a person is unsure, shy, angry, confident...
- How to effectively and easily join a conversation between people you don’t know at a gathering
- How to make a personalized greeting card – birthday, wedding, anniversary, Christmas...
- How to make paper flowers
- How to make touchstones for children
- How to make a personalized birthday crown
- How to make colorful party bunting
- How to make a yarn ball
- How to make finger puppets
- How to felt wool balls for a garland
- How to decoupage a box, tray...
- How to make a pasta necklace
- How to make personalized pencil and pen holders from tin cans
- How to mend a tear in a favorite piece of clothing
- How to organize your wardrobe, kitchen counter, pantry...
- How to give medicine to a cat or a dog safely
- How to see a situation from another person’s point of view
- How to encourage and practice creative thinking
- How to make a friendship bracelet
- How to make a family pinboard
How plan and prepare your demonstration speech
To be really effective you'll want to plan and prepare your 'how-to' speech thoroughly - even if you know the subject inside out!
Demonstration speeches that haven't been thought through and practiced carefully have a nasty habit of suddenly sliding sideways super-fast. Then what you want to happen and what actually does are miles apart - two quite different things.
To avoid that read planning, preparation & delivery of your demonstration speech.
Get the printable demonstration speech outline
Click the link to access to printable demonstration speech outline. (It goes to the same page on planning and preparation linked to above. While you are there be sure to read the FAQs, especially the information about cue cards. If you haven't given a demonstration speech before you'll find it useful.)
Other topics for demonstration speeches
If you've not found the how-to speech idea you want here, here's the link to access three more pages of demonstration speech topics. Collectively, that's 100s of suggestions! They include soft skills: the skills we need to communicate well with each other.
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