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180+ Presentation Topic Ideas [Plus Templates]

Written by: Orana Velarde

Coming up with a presentation topic idea that's meaningful, relevant and has a creative angle can be tough. If your teacher or professor just assigned you a presentation and also asked you to pick your own topic, you're in the right place.

In this article, we've put together a list of informative and powerful presentation topic ideas for various subjects. When you're ready, head over to our presentation software to create an engaging slideshow that blows away your audience.

Here's a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit presentation templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. Check more templates below:

List of Presentation Topic Ideas for Students

We know how difficult it is to come up with an interesting presentation topic idea on the fly.  That’s why we put together a list of more than 200 ideas to help you out.

We've organized these presentation topics for students by subject so you can easily browse through and find what you're looking for. Each section also comes with a bonus presentation template!

We've also included some tips on designing a presentation once you've chosen a topic. For example, a flowchart data widget can help with a historic timeline presentation .

But first, let's dive into these interesting topics for presentations.

Table of Contents

Current events presentation topic ideas, education presentation topic ideas, general culture presentation topic ideas, health presentation topic ideas, history presentation topic ideas, life skills presentation topic ideas, literature presentation topic ideas, media presentation topic ideas, science presentation topic ideas, work life presentation topic ideas.

• Why Do Teachers Assign Student-Selected Presentations?

How to Pick the Right Presentation Topic

Presentation tips for students.

• Teachers share presentation topic ideas with students so they can find a topic of interest, find a purpose and direction for their future lives and career plans, learn how to do research properly and improve their creative performance.
• Some of the best presentation topic ideas for students center around topics such as current events, education, general culture, health, life skills, literature, media and science.
• When picking presentation topics, consider these things: your hobbies, the books you read, the kind of TV shows you watch, what topics you’re good at and what you’d like to learn more about.
• Follow these tips to create and deliver excellent presentations: Don’t present on topics you don’t understand, use data visualizations and high-quality visuals, avoid boring layouts and large walls of text,
• Don’t read off your slides. Practice and rehearse your presentation or create index cards with speaking notes.
• Visme’s presentation software has everything you need to create captivating presentations. Start with professionally designed presentation templates , customize them to your taste and present with style.
• If you're racing against the clock, harness the power of Visme's AI presentation maker to whip up captivating presentations in seconds. Just explain what you want to create, select your preferred designs and watch the tool unleash its magic.

Below are Powerpoint presentation topics on current events.

• What is the Israeli/Palestinian conflict?
• What is happening in Kashmir?
• What is ethnic cleansing and is it still relevant in 2021?
• Who is Malala Yousafzai?
• What are the different stances on immigration in the US?
• Should the death penalty be outlawed?
• Should University be free for everyone?
• What is racism?
• How can non-minorities be allies to minorities?
• What is White Privilege?
• Can a border wall really fix the immigration crisis?
• What is Brexit?
• What is Pride?
• What is gentrification?
• What is the European Union?
• What is Sharia Law?
• Why is it more profitable to be a plumber than a doctor?
• What is happening in Syria?
• Who is Harvey Weinstein and what is he accused of?
• What is the #metoo movement?
• What is happening in North Korea?
• What is the problem with guns in America?

Customize this presentation template to make it your own! Edit and Download

Here are the education topics for presentations you can choose from.

• What are the pros and cons of online education?
• What is dyslexia?
• What is the Pythagorean theorem?
• Is a college education worth it?
• Is reading better on Kindles or paper books?
• What is worldschooling?
• What is unschooling?
• Why are teachers underpaid?
• What is sociology?
• What is anthropology?
• What is social archaeology?
• Why do schools need mentorship programs?
• What is an education in Finland like?
• What is Montessori Education?
• Who is Rudolf Steiner?
• What is the most difficult language to learn?
• What is an Ivy League school?
• What is the SAT?
• What is the TOEFL?
• What is the IB program?
• How to get into an international university
• What is a learning disability?
• What is a gap year?
• Why is it important to learn a second language?
• What is a TCK?
• What is the foreign exchange program?
• Why is it important to study Physics?
• What are Coding Bootcamps ?
• How does reading benefit the brain?
• How to make an infographic

• Is Graffiti considered art?
• Ancient Greek myths in modern media
• Why should students learn about different religions?
• What are crop circles?
• What is Area 51?
• What are the origins of Rock and Roll?
• What was the Woodstock Music Festival?
• 10 memorable things about any country
• What are the different styles of coffee?
• What does living “off the grid” mean?
• What is Crossfit?
• What is cultural appropriation?
• What is Feminism?
• What is the difference between White Hat and Black Hat Hacking?
• Who is the artist formerly known as Prince?
• Why is yoga so popular?
• What is Art Therapy?
• What is the difference between 80’s parenting and current parenting?
• What is a journalist?
• What is the 'generation gap'?
• Who is a polyglot?
• What is the difference between a religion and a cult?

• Everything you need to know about COVID-19
• How does the human immune system work?
• What is the respiratory system?
• How are diseases spread?
• How does the nervous system work?
• What is skin cancer?
• What are infectious diseases?
• When to call 911
• What is the placebo effect?
• How to read a nutrition label
• How to eat a balanced diet
• What is CPR?
• How to dress a wound
• What is Alzheimer’s Disease?
• What is dry drowning?
• What are allergens?
• Why are cigarettes bad for you?
• How are medicines approved for human consumption?
• Why should Marijuana be legalized?
• What is a neurosurgeon?
• What is an EMT?
• How does the digestive system work?
• What are the effects of antidepressants on the human brain?
• What is Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)?
• Is depression real?

• Prehistoric timeline of dinosaurs
• Your favorite president of the United States
• How has the role of women changed in society?
• Who was Alexander the Great?
• What is the Declaration of Independence?
• Who was Harriet Tubman?
• What is Pangea?
• What is Gobekli Tepe?
• Who is Nelson Mandela?
• What is the Berlin Wall?
• What is the Boxing Day Tsunami?
• Who were the Conquistadors?
• Who were the Incas?
• What is the story behind Thanksgiving?
• Who is Pocahontas?
• What is the origin of Language?
• How were Egyptian mummies conserved?
• What is the story of King Tut’s Curse?
• What made up the Ottoman Empire?
• What was the first civilization to ever emerge?
• What are the main Native American culture tribes?

Customize this presentation template to make it your own!

• Add your own text, images, colors and more
• Add interactive buttons and animations
• Customize anything to fit your design and content needs
• How to change a tire
• What are the basic cooking skills?
• How to do laundry
• How to budget monthly expenses
• What is a healthy morning routine?
• What are the essential tools for a household?
• How to furnish a house on the cheap
• How to drive a car
• How to save money
• How to take care of a baby
• How to take care of a plant
• How to change the AC filters
• How to minimize the use of plastic
• How to live trash-free
• How to fry an egg
• How to clean a house fast
• How to use the internet to find what you need
• Why is it important to teach our grandparents how to use the internet?
• How to get dressed for a funeral
• How to unclog a toilet or sink
• How to pack a first-aid kit at home
• What is emotional intelligence?

• Who is William Shakespeare?
• What is Haiku?
• What is The Catcher in The Rye about?
• Who is Dante Alighieri?
• What is a sonnet?
• What is magical realism?
• Who is Emily Bronte?
• How is the book 1984 relevant today?
• What is the difference between an autobiography and a memoir?
• What book should be made into a movie which hasn’t yet?
• Who is Oscar Wilde?
• Who is Orhan Pamuk?
• Who is Isaac Asimov?
• What is historical fiction?
• What is a Greek Tragedy?
• What is the hero’s journey?
• Who is Ulysses?
• What is the origin of science fiction literature?
• My top 10 favorite classic novels of all time
• Who were the Brothers Grimm?
• The colorful life of Ernest Hemingway
• How did the Industrial Revolution shape American literature?

Looking for engaging ppt presentation topics about media? Explore this list for ideas on the evolution of media, social media trends and influential figures in the media landscape.

• Evolution of the projector
• How can social media be dangerous for underage kids?
• The history of the internet
• What is the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
• Who is Steve Jobs?
• Who invented the television?
• Which came first, MTV or VH1?
• What is Virtual Reality?
• What is Augmented Reality?
• The evolution of film and cinema
• How are TV commercials made?
• What is the role of an art director?
• How are minorities represented in the media?
• How are women represented in the media?
• What is blogging?
• Who was Elvis Presley?
• The history of Jazz
• The history of Tango
• What is a social media manager ?
• What is content marketing?
• What is an influencer?
• How has binge-watching changed television?
• The impact of TikTok on advertising
• What is the agenda-setting theory?
• Mass communication in the digital age

Looking for science presentation ideas? Check these topics out.

• What is Artificial Intelligence (AI)?
• What are GMOs?
• What is organ donation and why is it important?
• How does the respiratory system work?
• Should human cloning be allowed?
• What is the greenhouse effect?
• Why do some people say climate change is a hoax ?
• What is the water cycle?
• What is Photosynthesis?
• What are the different states of matter?
• How is medicine made?
• What is alternative medicine?
• What is biochemistry?
• What is quantum physics?
• What is the Big Bang Theory?
• 50th anniversary of the moon landing
• What is the plant cycle?
• How are babies born?
• What is a particle accelerator?
• What is a light-year?
• Why do humans want to colonize Mars?
• Why is Pluto no longer a planet?
• What causes a wildfire?

• What is the pay gap?
• What is an entrepreneur?
• What is a franchise and how does it work?
• What are the best-paid careers?
• Why is it important to hire mothers back into the workforce?
• Should fathers have paternity leave?
• Are internships worth it?
• Why are more college-age students entering the labor force through skilled labor?
• Why is it important for high-schoolers to have summer jobs?
• What is the glass ceiling?
• How to live as a digital nomad
• How to stop discrimination in the workplace
• How to ask for sponsorship for an event
• Is volunteering hurting the neediest?
• What does “the 9 to 5” mean?
• What constitutes a good work-life balance?
• When should moms go back to work?
• How to dress for a work interview
• How to write a resume/CV
• How secure is a freelance career in 2021?
• The impact of COVID-19 on organizational culture?
• Do employers care about cover letters?

Why Do Teachers Assign Student-Selected Presentations? [Infographic]

By now, you must have already chosen a presentation topic idea . But you might still be wondering why your teacher assigned you this task in the first place.

No, your teacher is not out to get you by assigning a presentation you have to choose the topic for. There are a few reasons why teachers and professors assign presentations this way.

Choosing a presentation topic idea inspires you to look inside themselves to find a topic of interest. Knowing about your interests helps give direction to your future life and career plans.

Selecting topics to present about in school also helps you learn how to do research properly. You get more familiar with the practice of taking notes, creating an outline and prioritizing information.

Brainstorming various topic ideas is also great for improving your creative performance. And finally, getting up on stage and presenting prepares you for public speaking in front of an audience.

Here's a quick infographic to sum it all up.

Believe it or not, assigning a presentation is one of the best ways to teach a student how to learn on their own. It’s similar to asking a student to write an essay, but a lot more fun!

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If you're overwhelmed by all the school presentation ideas above and aren't sure which one is right for your presentation, don't worry. We have tips to help you pick the right topic in no time.

If after this process you still aren’t sure, just browse through the list above and find a specific presentation subject idea that sparks your interest most.

The first step to figuring out what your presentation should be about is to ask yourself these questions:

• What are your hobbies?
• What type of books do you read?
• When you play Trivial Pursuit, which topic are you good at?
• What kind of TV shows do you watch?
• What would you like to learn more about?

What Are Your Hobbies?

It’s easy to find a presentation topic by looking at your hobbies. The best part of this choice is that you’ll be passionate when presenting it to your peers.

For example, if you love woodworking, create a presentation about the history of woodworking or a step-by-step look at “How to make a wooden bowl by hand.”

What Type of Books Do You Read?

When looking for innovative topics for presentation, consider the style of books you’ve been reading lately. Have any of them made an impact on your life?

If you're having a difficult time coming up with a topic idea, you can create a presentation about a book that you found really special, or about an author you’ve read a few books by.

When You Play Trivial Pursuit, Which Topic Are You Good At?

If you've ever played Trivial Pursuit or attended a Trivia Night, you must have noticed that some topics are easier for you to answer. That is your topic of interest and a great place to look for some ideas.

For example, if you always know the answer to the questions about classical music, you can create a presentation about your favorite composer.

What Kind of TV Shows Do You Watch?

What have you been binge-watching lately? Regardless if its Orange is The New Black or a documentary about the Sudanese civil war, you can find an interesting topic to work with.

It can be about history or current events. You could even do some kind of comparative analysis on how a specific show has affected you or the people who watch it.

What Would You Like to Learn More About?

Another way to find the best topics for presentation is to think of things you want to learn more about. Take the opportunity to learn something new and then share it in your presentation.

Present the facts of what you learned or turn the presentation into a journal entry of your personal experience using the new information that you just learned.

Additionally, it’s important to remember that whatever topic you choose, it must also be appropriate.

“Depending on your audience and occasion purpose, you have to steer away from topics that might bore or offend your audience.”

Once you have chosen the perfect presentation topic idea, it’s time to create your presentation. Here are some tips for putting together a great presentation that will get you a good grade.

Presentation Mistakes to Avoid

First things first, let’s talk about some presentation no-nos. You want to avoid these mistakes in any presentation you give—from a presentation for a grade in your middle school class all the way up to a business presentation.

Key presentation don’ts are:

• Don’t create slides full of text —your presentation is not a 30-page essay. Instead, create slides with just a few bullets and some type of visual to represent your content.
• Don’t just read off of your slides —you’ll bore your audience. Practice and rehearse your presentation or create index cards with speaking notes to make your presentation more engaging.
• Don’t use a new design, transition, animation, etc., on each slide —you’ll clutter up your design. Choose one single design, color scheme, font pairing, transition style, animation effect, etc., and use it throughout to create a cohesive presentation design.
• Don’t present on topics you don’t understand —you’ll sound like you don’t know what you’re talking about. Even if you’re choosing a “new to you” topic, you need to do enough research to have a firm grasp on the information you’re presenting.
• Don’t ramble and go over your allotted time —you’ll sound flustered and unorganized. Again, make sure you practice your presentation so that you can smoothly transition from slide to slide and cover all information in the time given.

Regardless of the topic you're presenting, creating drafts shouldn't be a challenge. Utilize Visme's AI writer to generate high-quality content in seconds. Feel free to deploy it as a proofreading tool or an outline creator. Just describe what you want to write about and get content ideas or Power Point presentation topics and the tool will work out the details.

Use Data Visualization in Your Presentation

Regardless of which type of topic you’ve chosen, there’s likely some sort of data or information that would be better presented via visuals rather than written out numbers or text.

Make sure you choose a presentation tool that makes it easy to visualize certain information. For example, Visme allows you to create a number of data visualizations that help make information pop on your slide.

Some examples of data visualizations you can use within your presentation include:

• Timelines for historical information
• Charts and graphs for numerical data sets
• Tables for organizing text
• Maps for sharing geographic information
• Flowcharts and diagrams for organizing information
• Data widgets for visualizing standalone numbers

Avoid Using Boring Layouts

Don’t let your presentation look like a PowerPoint from the nineties with a blank white background and two columns of boring bullet points. Instead, take advantage of engaging presentation templates and spice up your slides.

First, start with a template that’s going to make your information stand out. You can browse a few options that Visme offers below. Use Visme’s Brand Wizard to automatically add your brand’s assets to your presentation.

Look for a unique way of presenting the information, use interesting backgrounds, apply shaped frames to the images, embed videos and use colorful shapes to create separations.

But for some specific ideas, consider pulling these design tactics into your presentation.

Slide Background Ideas:

• Set photos as your slide background
• Use color overlays to make sure your content is still visible on top of the photo background
• Create a gradient background
• Use a stock video as your background to create motion
• Choose a color other than white as your background
• Set a pattern as your background
• Use an animated background

Visual Element Ideas:

• Place photos strategically on your slide to drive your point home
• Use colorful shapes and animated graphics
• Try 3D graphics to make your content pop
• Apply shaped frames to images within your slides
• Use icons to visualize your text

Interactive Ideas:

There are so many ways to make sure your slides are engaging so you keep your audience interested throughout your entire presentation. Visme offers tons of features to make your presentation interactive .

• Incorporate hover-overs or pop-ups that hide additional information
• Link your slides to create a non-linear presentation
• Embed videos that provide even more information
• Create audio clips that activate when you click on an element

RELATED: 20 Ways to Create an Interactive Presentation That Stands Out

Prepare for Your Presentation

We already touched on how important it is to practice and rehearse your presentation. You want to appear confident and well-versed in your topic. Presenting and public speaking are also skills that you can carry into adulthood in your future career.

Although nerve-wracking, you’ll have a turn to deliver your presentation in front of the class. You’ll give your speech while simultaneously showcasing your slides.

Utilize these tips when preparing for your presentation:

• Practice speaking while moving through your slides at least three times
• Memorize the order of your slides and what information is on each slide
• Create a flashcard for each slide so you have basic talking points in front of you
• Use memorization techniques so you don’t have to fully rely on your flashcards
• Focus on the end goal: delivering your presentation may be stressful but it will also make you feel great when you’re finished

Keep Your Audience Engaged During Your Presentation

Our last tip is to keep your audience engaged throughout your presentation. This will help your fellow classmates to better retain the information you’re sharing in your slides and can even help you feel more confident as you present.

A few tips for engaging your audience include:

• Avoid using a monotonous tone; instead, tell stories, speak conversationally, and hold your audience’s attention
• Try not to say things like, “um,” “er,” “like” and similar terms
• Focus on keeping good posture throughout
• Avoid chewing gum, fidgeting or doing other things that will detract from your speech
• Make eye contact with your audience rather than staring at your notes or your slides

Create Beautiful Presentations with Visme

Here at Visme, we love helping students create better presentations. We’ve covered presentations on different topics you can choose from.

We have resources on how to use presentation templates, how to design slides from scratch, how to maintain consistency between slides, how to present data visually and how to successfully present to an audience.

Here are some articles to help you design and deliver your presentation:

• Presentation Success Formula: How to Start Strong and End Powerfully
• 100+ Creative Presentation Ideas That Will Delight Your Audience
• 7 Ways to Structure Your Presentation to Keep Your Audience Wanting More

Once you’re ready to start designing, just open up the Visme dashboard and select one of the many presentation templates. You can also create a presentation from scratch; there are lots of tools to help you out along the way. Once done, you can easily share and publish your presentation without leaving the Visme editor.

We hope you were able to find the perfect presentation topic idea for your presentation on this list! Let us know how you did and link to your presentation in the comments.

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About the Author

Orana is a multi-faceted creative. She is a content writer, artist, and designer. She travels the world with her family and is currently in Istanbul. Find out more about her work at oranavelarde.com

ESL Speaking

Games + Activities to Try Out Today!

in Activities for Adults

Presentation Projects for Students | ESL Presentation Ideas

If you do presentation with your language classes , then you’ll need to check out some of these presentation project ideas. Get beyond the boring old PowerPoint presentation and use some of these creative ideas to bring a bit of excitement and life back into your classes.

Presentation Projects and Ideas for ESL students

Your students will love it, and it’ll also keep things fresh for you if you’ve seen the same old projects year after year.

Presentation Projects for ESL/EFL Students

Over the years teaching in a Korean university , I’ve had students do plenty of presentation projects, with varying degrees of success . I hope that you can learn from my mistakes and make your ESL speaking classes as awesome as possible.

Presentation projects, if set up well are an excellent way to add a bit of variety to the ESL classroom. After all, students get tired of hearing the teacher talk all the time! And you probably get tired of talking. I know that I always did! Plus, it’s fun to hear what students have to say.

Here are my top presentation projects for ESL/EFL students.

• Basic speech (not recommended!)
• Presentation, then discussion time
• Poster presentation
• Making a movie
• PowerPoint presentation
• Impromptu presentation
• Teaching the class how to do something

If you teach business English, then the sky is kind of the limit in terms of what topics you choose. You could focus on just about anything that students may expect to present on when they start working in a company.

#1: A Basic Speech

Each student has to choose from a variety of topics such as family , food, dreams or hobby. They have to speak for between 1.5 and 2 minutes. I did this only once, with low-level students and it was ridiculously boring such that I never did it again.

The main problem is all the presentations are basically the same and go a little something like this: “I have a mom. She is 49 years old. She has brown hair and black eyes. I have a dad. He is 57 years old. My dad has brown hair and black eyes. He is short.” Word for word, almost the same!

Trust me, they were some of the most tedious and excruciating hours of my entire life. It was from this point on that I vowed to never set up a presentation like this again. I got a lot more creative and made students talk about things that were more varied and interesting.

Of course, the bad results from this experiment were totally my fault. I should have chosen more interesting topics for the students, or given them better guidelines. Seriously, better ESL presentations topics would have made a big difference here and I really have nobody to blame but myself!

Maybe Not Terrible if…

This style of presentation could have been far less bad if I had done a better job setting it up. I should have set the topic to something like, “Current events.” That way, students would have been forced to choose something in the news and the presentation topics would have been quite varied.

Or, I could have required some visual aids to make it a bit more interesting for the students.

#2: Presentation, and then Discussion Time

Each group has to give a presentation about a topic of their choosing and think of at least 5 interesting questions/surveys/activities that groups could discuss or do for about 20 minutes after their presentation. This often works best if the presentation is based on 2-3 articles that the students have to send you in advance.

This presentation project ideas had varying results, since some groups chose a topic that led to a lot of “yes/no” answers and discussions that lasted about 5 minutes, at most.

However, this could have been avoided by personally approving the topics in advance and requiring groups to submit their assignment for feedback a week or two before the actual presentation. I blame nobody but myself for the failure on this one!

This ideas for presentation projects isn’t a bad one, if you set it up well. It can work well for English majors or advanced level students who want a class filled with conversation and discussion.

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#3: Poster Presentation

A poster is one of my favourite presentation projects. Each group has to choose a current controversial issue (like environmental pollution, suicide, North Korea) and make a poster that had English writing and some interesting pictures on it. Set a (low) max number of words or your posters will be terrible and filled with wordy death!

Then, the students have to do a presentation based on the poster where each group member speaks for 1-2 minutes, without a paper.

For this one, it’s very important that you require no paper script, or you’ll just have students reading off their notes. Also, don’t allow students to put too many words on the poster, or you’ll have students reading off of this.

If I ever did this again, I would do something where the audience was more involved, such as peer grading. Or, I would require each group watching the presentation to think of at least 1 question to ask and they’d get a point for doing so. Basically, it’d give the rest of the students in the class a reason to listen.

It’s potentially an excellent group presentation project!

ESL presentation ideas

#4 Presentation Projects: Making a Movie

Another ESL presentation idea is to have students make a movie. It’s easier than ever these days because almost everybody has a smartphone, and it’s free to upload the video to YouTube. This works particularly well if you teach film, art or fashion students and you’ll get some amazing results. It’s actually one of my favourite ESL projects these days.

You can have a fun “viewing day” in class and encourage everyone to bring a snack! It’s a nice change from the regular old textbook thing.

Here’s how I’ve done movie projects.

• I put students into groups of 4-5. One person can “film” the project and then you can have 2-3 actors. Finally, one person might be designated the write the script or edit. However, I leave it up to the group how they want to divide the roles and not everyone has to appear on camera.
• I set a minimum and maximum time for the movie (usually 3-5 minutes), as well as a certain number of English sentences that must be spoken during that time. It must be a story of some kind that makes sense.
• I’ll usually give a topic or theme of some kind, but may leave it open.

I evaluate it based on the following things:

• Quality of English
• Interesting story
• Quality of production (I don’t expect a lot, but just basic stuff like making sure it’s bright enough, we can hear the people talking, etc.)

The quality of English usually gets around 10 marks, while the other two categorie s are each worth five.

#5: PowerPoint Presentation

This has the potential to be very interesting, or PPT death. It all depends on how you set the presentation project up.

If you do go with this method, you should set a maximum number of slides and also a maximum numbers of words per slide (5-10?). Emphasize to students that you want to see pictures, charts, etc. and not a wall of text.

I generally allow each group to have 1 intro and 1 conclusion slide, and then 1 slide per group member. So if there are 6 students in the group, it’ll be 8 slides. I usually say that each student has to talk about their slide for 30 seconds to 2 minutes, depending on the level.

Teach students how to make good PowerPoints and then penalize heavily for not following your recommendations. You should also coach students on how to stand to the side and keep their body pointed towards the audience. Eye contact is key!

This is an excellent idea for presentation projects, if some key expectations are set out in advance. Eye contact/don’t look at screen, pictures instead of words on the PowerPoint, etc.

#6: Just a Minute Impromptu Presentation

If you want to give your students some practice with making impromptu, or off the cuff style of speeches, then Just a Minute may be exactly what you need. It’s a toastmasters style activity and makes the perfect warm-up activity for intermediate or advanced level students.

You can also turn this into a listening activity, instead of just an ESL presentation by requiring the other students in the group to ask follow-up questions. Try this one with your classes and I think your students will really enjoy the challenge.

Find out more about it here:

Just a Minute ESL Speaking Activity

Impromptu presentation skills are never a bad thing for students (or anyone) to practice!

#7: Teaching Others How to Do Something

One of the best presentation ideas for students is to get them to teach the class how to do something. I’ve done this a few times now and they are some of my most memorable classes.

The way it works is that students choose something they know how to do well. Students in the past having chosen things like:

• How to fry an egg
• Heading a soccer ball
• Playing the guitar
• Getting dates
• Making sure their parents give them enough spending money
• Eating out cheaply around the university
• Getting the best class schedule

I allow students to bring in props, material or make a simple powerpoint presentation with pictures (no text) to explain.

#8: What are you Cooking?

If you want to have your students do some fun presentations in a more informal kind of way, then consider trying out “What are you Cooking?” Students have to plan a 3-course meal based on ingredients from their classmates and then make a presentation to the class who votes on the best menu.

Sounds interesting? I think you’ll love it so give it a try today. More information here: What are you Cooking?

#9: An Informative Speech

Esl presentations faqs.

There are a number of common questions that people have about making presentation in English. Here are the answers to some of the most popular ones.

Why are Presentations Important for Students?

Having students give presentations is important for delivering a positive learning environment. They can also help teach communication skills and assist with students feeling comfortable talking in front of a group of people. Finally, they are an engaging way to share ideas and help students build confidence.

What Makes a Great Presentation?

A great presentation is very memorable. This can be done in various ways, but graphics, images, relevant facts, story telling and humour play an important role. Finally, a memorable presentation motivates the audience to action.

What are the Advantages of a Presentation?

Businesses and people in general use presentations for various reasons. The advantage of them is that they can educate, motivate, and persuade in a more interesting way than the written word alone can.

Should Students Memorize Speeches?

Should you make students memorize their presentation, or not? It’s an interesting question and I certainly see points for both sides. However, I generally lead towards the memorization thing because…

• It results in presentations that are far more interesting for the audience
• I only require 30 seconds-2 minutes of speaking. It’s not a big task to memorize this amount
• It helps students remember vocabulary and key phrases

That said, I do know that students get nervous and that this can be a big ask. It’s for this reason that I tell students to bring their notes up to the front with this, but to leave them in their pocket.

If they have an emergency (forget what to say!), they can take it out and use it. But, only once if they don’t want to get a penalty. After that, put it aside and continue on.

I’m usually kind and if a student has to do this twice, I don’t mind. My main point is that I don’t want students reading exclusively off of a paper.

What are some Things to Consider for Presentations in English?

If you’re going to have your students do an ESL presentation, there are a number of factors that you’ll want to consider.

• How to explain the task in a simple way that students can understand what they need to do. How will you evaluate it?
• When will students prepare (outside, or inside of class. A combination of both often works well).
• What kind of equipment can students use (Projector, or not).
• How students will deliver the presentation. Will you expect things like gestures and eye contact?
• What kind of language will the students use? Will you teach them about the introduction (I would like to start by…) and conclusion (In conclusion, you can see that…), as well as transition sentences (Moving on to…). The style of the speech (persuasive, informative, etc.) is important for this.
• What will the rest of the class be doing while the presentations are happening? Is there a listening task you can assign to make this activity even more valuable?

The biggest tip I can give you is to be clear about the terms of the assignment. And, also how you will evaluate it. If expectations are clear, results will be far better and your life will be easier as well because you won’t have to answer the same questions over and over again.

What are the Top 20 ESL Presentation Topics?

Here are some of the most common topics that you may consider assigning to your students:

• Family (can be sensitive for some though)
• Current events
• If I had a million dollars…
• Vacation (past or future dream)
• Ideal first date
• TV and movies
• Favourite book
• Time, and how do you spend it
• An ideal first date
• Jobs and work
• Some future goals
• A favourite restaurant
• Money (saver or spender)
• Future plans
• Controversial topics
• Teaching someone how to do something
• If you were the president…

These interesting topics means that you presentation projects will be better than ever! No more boring, okay? Okay.

Do you Like these Ideas for Presentation Projects?

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• 148 Pages - 03/09/2016 (Publication Date)

Then you’re going to love this book, 101 ESL Activities: For Teenagers and Adults . It’s an extremely practical, well-organized teaching guide that will help you plan your lessons in no time. The best part about it is that your students will be having fun, while learning English.

The book is available in both digital and print formats. The (cheaper!) digital one can be read on any device-Kindle, Mac, Pc, Smartphone, or tablet by downloading the free Kindle reading app from Amazon. It’s super-easy to have some top-quality ESL activities and games at your fingertips at all times.

Keep a copy on the bookshelf in your office and use it as a handy reference guide. Or, bring a copy with your on your phone or tablet to your favourite coffee shop for lesson planning on the go. It really is that easy to make your English classes even better.

Check out the book on Amazon by clicking the link below:

Have your Say about ESL Presentation Ideas

What’s your top ESL presentation project ideas? Leave a comment below and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from you.

Also be sure to give this a share on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. It’ll help other teachers, like yourself find this useful teaching resource.

Last update on 2024-08-04 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 20 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 100 books for English teachers and English learners, including 101 ESL Activities for Teenagers and Adults , Great Debates for ESL/EFL , and 1001 English Expressions and Phrases . She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at: YouTube Facebook Pinterest Instagram

Great ideas! Thank you so much for such inspiring ideas for presentations.

I’ve been looking for some presentation ideas for my students here in South Korea and ran across your list. Thank you! Lots of good ones but I think I’m going to give the current events one a try. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Great info! Thanks for sharing your ideas for presentations. I love to do them but it was getting a bit stale for me so appreciate the new ideas.

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10 English Speaking Topics For Intermediate Students

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For every ESL student, speaking with native English speakers is like a dream come true. To get to a decent conversational level to be able to talk to native speakers, you have many things to learn and many words and phrases to remember.

And while we are talking about words and phrases, have you been thinking about some English-speaking topics?

There are plenty of entertaining topics you can chit-chat about. The following topics are suitable for intermediate students, so keep reading and see which ones you find most entertaining or which ones are your favorites.

15 Different English Speaking Topics For ESL Intermediate Students

You don’t know what to talk about with native English speakers?

Don’t worry because, in the following lines, you can find 15 different discussion topics ideal for English intermediate students.

Everyone likes to travel. Visiting other places, learning about other cultures, and meeting new people is always fun. Besides, it is one more experience and opportunity to practice the language.

What country would you like to visit?

Which country you would never visit again?

Which country did you visit more than once?

What do you like to visit in a foreign country?

Do you like traveling in summer or winter?

Food And Cooking

Food is also one of the favorites topics because everyone likes talking about food and delicious dishes.

It is mainly one of the topics suitable for beginners because of the related vocabulary, but you can expand and ask for more details for a more advanced level.

What is your favorite food? And why?

Which country, according to your opinion, has the best dishes?

What is the worst thing you’ve ever tasted?

Do you like to cook?

What do you like to cook?

How often do you cook?

What are the advantages or disadvantages of cooking?

Where do you get ingredients for cooking?

What do you think about organic food?

Do you eat only organic food?

Hobbies are something we enjoy doing in our spare time, so, naturally, everyone loves talking about their hobbies.

Do you have any hobbies?

How often do you do your hobbies?

How did you start these hobbies?

What do you think about (not) having hobbies?

What hobbies did you used to have and which ones you would like to do?

Work is a very important part of our lives. Most of us have jobs and work, so we always have to say something about that. Talking about work is one of the topics that can get people together.

Here are some suggestions when talking about work.

What work do you do?

Do you like your job?

Is your job demanding?

What is your opinion about work in general?

What is your dream job and why?

Environment

Topics about the environment are always inspiring and can lead to many other, even different, topics.

So, it is good to talk about the environment, as long as the conversation remains polite and without arguing.

What are serious environmental problems?

How can people help the environment? 

What is your opinion about climate change?

What do you think about pollution?

What should the government do to help the environment?

Television And Social Networks

Talking about television and social networks is entertaining and it gathers people together.

There are plenty of things you can chit-chat about television and media and here are some of them.

What is your opinion about television?

Do you watch television?

How often do you watch television?

Which tv programs do you watch?

Is watching television good for kids and if not, why?

Why are social networks so popular?

What do you think about social networks?

Do you use social networks?

Do people use social networks for bad purposes?

Which social networks do you use?

Don’t think that only men like talking about sports. You would be surprised to hear that many women actually like talking about this topic. Therefore, don’t divide people by gender. If you like talking about sports, ask your speaker about the opinion, no matter if it is a woman.

Do you like sports?

What is your favorite sport?

Do you watch sports?

Did you play any sport while you were in school?

Do you play sports now?

How often do you play sports?

Animals And Pets

These living beings that are part of our lives and our best friends are the topic everyone would gladly talk about. That’s why in the following lines, you can find some questions about animals and pets.

Do you like animals?

Do you have any pets?

Which is better to have as a pet, a dog or a cat?

What is your favorite animal?

What do you think about using animals for various types of testing?

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What do you think about killing animals for food?

Are people responsible for the extinction of some of the animals?

Do you help animal shelters in your town?

What is your opinion about the zoos and animals there?

Do animals suffer in zoos?

Making Plans And Goals

Making plans and goals has always been one of the favorite topics people like to discuss. Why then it wouldn’t be one of the English-speaking topics you can talk about with native English speakers?

What are your plans for…?

What are your plans for learning English?

What are your goals in life in general?

How do you plan to reach your goals?

How do you feel when you reach your goals?

Books And Reading

With so many amazing books, this topic is always the right one to discuss with others.

This is an especially favorite topic about book lovers. They could talk about books for days.

Here are some of the questions about reading and books in general.

Do you like reading? If not, why?

What type of books do you usually read?

Do you have a favorite book?

Do you have a favorite writer?

Have you read something currently?

What was the last book you’ve read?

What do you think of e-books?

Do you read books online?

What are (dis)advantages of reading books online?

Do you usually buy or borrow books?

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75 Unique School Presentation Ideas and Topics Plus Templates

Are you tired of seeing the same PowerPoints repeating overused and unoriginal school presentation ideas covering repeated topics in your classes?

You know what I’m talking about; we’ve all been there, and sat through yawn-worthy demonstrations, slides, or presentation videos covering everything from the solar system, someone’s favorite pet, past presidents of a country, to why E=mC squared.

From grade school to university, first graders to college students, we are obligated to create, perform, and observe academic presentations across a plethora of curriculums and classes, and not all of these public speaking opportunities fall into the category of an ‘interesting topic’.

Yet, have no fear! Here at Piktochart, we are here to help you and your classmates. From giving examples of creative and even interactive presentation ideas, providing presentation videos , and suggesting interactive activities to give your five minutes of fame the ‘wow’ factor that it deserves, this article is your guide!

Our massive collection of unique school and college presentation ideas and templates applies if you’re:

• A teacher looking to make your class more engaging and fun with student presentations.
• A student who wants to impress your teacher and the rest of the class with a thought-provoking, interesting topic.

A Curated List of Interesting Topics for School Presentations

Did you know that when it comes to presentations , the more students involved improves retention? The more you know! Yet sometimes, you need a little help to get the wheels moving in your head for your next school presentation .

The great thing about these ideas and topics is you can present them either in face-to-face classes or virtual learning sessions.

Each school presentation idea or topic below also comes with a template that you can use. Create a free Piktochart account to try our presentation maker and get access to the high-quality version of the templates. You can also check out our Piktochart for Education plan .

Want to watch this blog post in video format? The video below is for you!

The templates are further divided into the following categories covering the most popular and best presentation topics. Click the links below to skip to a specific section.

• Unique science presentation topics to cultivate curiosity in class
• Engaging culture and history presentation ideas to draw inspiration from
• Health class presentation topics to help students make healthy lifestyle decisions
• Data visualization ideas to help students present an overwhelming amount of data and information into clear, engaging visuals
• First day of school activity ideas to foster classroom camaraderie
• Communication and media topics to teach students the importance of effective communication
• Topics to help students prepare for life after school

We hope this list will inspire you and help you nail your next school presentation activity.

Unique Science Presentation Topics to Cultivate Curiosity in Class

Science is a broad field and it’s easy to feel overwhelmed with too many topics to choose for your next presentation.

Cultivate curiosity in the science classroom with the following unique and creative presentation ideas and topics:

1. Can life survive in space?

2. Do plants scream when they’re in pain?

3. What are the traits of successful inventors?

4. How vaccines work

5. Massive destruction of the Koala’s habitat in Australia

6. Left brain versus right brain

7. What are great sources of calcium?

8. Recycling facts you need to know

9. Do you have what it takes to be a NASA astronaut?

10. The rise of robots and AI: Should we be afraid of them?

11. How far down does the sea go?

12. The stages of sleep

13. Will Mars be our home in 2028?

14. A quick look at laboratory safety rules

15. The first person in history to break the sound barrier

Engaging Culture and History Presentation Ideas to Draw Inspiration From

History is filled with equally inspiring and terrifying stories, and there are lessons that students can learn from the events of the past. Meanwhile, interactive presentations about culture help students learn and embrace diversity. 

16. Women in history: A conversation through time

17. The sweet story of chocolate 

18. A history lesson with a twist 

19. The history of basketball 

20. The origin of the Halloween celebration 

21. AI History 

22. What you need to know about New Zealand 

23. 1883 volcanic eruption of Krakatoa 

24. Roman structures: 2000 years of strength

25. The most famous art heists in history 

26. Elmo: The story behind a child icon 

27. 10 things you should know before you visit South Korea 

28. 8 things you didn’t know about these 8 countries 

Health Class Presentation Topics to Help Students Make Healthy Lifestyle Decisions

Want to learn how to engage students with healthcare topic ideas? Then consider using these templates for your next interactive presentation.

According to the CDC , school-based health education contributes to the development of functional health knowledge among students. It also helps them adapt and maintain health-promoting behaviors throughout their lives. 

Not only will your presentation help with keeping students engaged, but you’ll also increase class involvement with the right slides.

The following examples of health and wellness interactive presentations include fun ideas and topics that are a good start. 

29. How to look after your mental health?

30. The eradication of Polio

31. How to have a healthy lifestyle 

32. 10 handwashing facts 

33. Myths and facts about depression

34. Hacks for making fresh food last longer 

35. Ways to avoid spreading the coronavirus

36. Mask protection in 5 simple steps 

37. Everything you need to know about the flu

38. All about stress: Prevention, tips, and how to cope 

39. The importance of sleep 

40. Is milk tea bad for you?

41. How to boost happiness in 10 minutes

42. How dirty are debit and credit cards 

43. Why do you need sunscreen protection

Data Visualization Ideas to Help Students Present Overwhelming Amounts of Data in Creative Ways

Data visualization is all about using visuals to make sense of data. Students need to pull the main points from their extensive research, and present them by story telling while being mindful of their classmates’ collective attention span.

As far as student assignments go, storytelling with data is a daunting task for students and teachers alike. To keep your audience interested, consider using a non linear presentation that presents key concepts in creative ways.

Inspire your class to be master data storytellers with the following data visualization ideas:

44. Are we slowly losing the Borneo rainforest?

45. Skateboard deck design over the years

46. Food waste during the Super Bowl

47. The weight of the tallest building in the world

48. Infographic about data and statistics

49. Stats about cyberbullying

50. How whales combat climate change

First Day of School Interactive Activity Ideas to Foster Whole-class-Camaraderie

Calling all teachers! Welcome your new students and start the school year with the following back-to-school creative presentation ideas and relevant templates for first-day-of-school activities.

These interactive presentations grab the attention of your students and are remarkably easy to execute (which is the main educator’s goal after all)!

51. Meet the teacher

52. Example: all about me

53. Self-introduction

54. Tips on how to focus on schoolwork

55. Course plan and schedule

Give our class schedule maker a try to access more templates for free. You can also access our presentation-maker , poster-maker , timeline-maker , and more by simply signing up .

56. Interpreting a student’s report card (for parents)

57. Introduction of classroom rules

58. Assignment schedule

59. Daily planner

60. Course syllabus presentation

61. How to write a class presentation

Topics to Teach Students the Importance of Effective Communication

Visual media  helps students retain more of the concepts  taught in the classroom. The following media topics and infographic templates can help you showcase complex concepts in a short amount of time. 

In addition, interactive presentation activities using these templates also encourage the development of a holistic learning process in the classroom because they help focus on the  three domains of learning:  cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. 

62. Interactive presentation do’s and don’ts 

63. How to create an infographic 

Recommended reading : How to Make an Infographic in 30 Minutes

64. How to improve your internet security and privacy

65. What is design thinking?

66. What are your favorite software tools to use in the classroom? 

Presentation Topic Ideas to Help Students Prepare for Life After School

One of the things that makes teaching a rewarding career is seeing your students take the learning and knowledge you’ve instilled in them, and become successful, productive adults.

From pitching a business idea to starting your podcast, the following topics are good starting points to prepare students for the challenges after graduation (aka adulting 101):

67. How to make a resume

68. How to start a startup

69. Credit card vs. debit card

70. Pros and cons of cryptocurrency

71. How to save on travel

72. How to do a SWOT analysis

73. How to pitch a business idea

74. Habits of successful people

75. Starting your own podcast: A checklist

Find out how a high school teacher like Jamie Barkin uses Piktochart to improve learning in the classroom for her students.

Pro tip: make your presentation as interactive as possible. Students have an attention span of two to three minutes per year of age. To keep minds from wandering off, include some interactive games or activities in the lesson. For example, if you conducted a lesson on the respiratory system, you could ask them to practice breathing techniques.

Maintain eye contact with your students, and you’ll get instant feedback on how interested they are in the interactive presentation.

Make School Presentation Visuals Without the Hassle of Making Them From Scratch

School presentations, when done right, can help teachers engage their classes and improve students’ education effectively by presenting information using the right presentation topic. 

If you’re pressed for time and resources to make your school presentation visuals , choose a template from Piktochart’s template gallery . Aside from the easy customization options, you can also print and download these templates to your preferred format. 

Piktochart also professional templates to create infographics , posters , brochures , reports , and more.

Creating school-focused, engaging, and interactive presentations can be tedious at first, but with a little bit of research and Piktochart’s handy templates, you’re going to do a great job!

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When you choose ESL presentation topics your students are passionate about, you set them up for success. They'll be more engaged in learning and more likely to retain the information you're teaching. So, how do you choose the proper ESL presentation topics for your students?

Choose topics you know will spark their curiosity and inspire their interest in learning. At the end of this article, you'll learn an easy-to-use presentation maker to help with your virtual lessons. Keep reading if you want to learn more about ESL topics and ideas.

In this article

• What Types of ESL Presentation Topics Are You in Search Of?
• How To Prepare Your ESL Presentation?
• 5 Best ESL Presentation Topics for All Students
• Best Tool for Your ESL Presentation – Wondershare Presentory

Part 1. What Types of ESL Presentation Topics Are You in Search Of?

What's the secret to giving an ESL presentation that will keep your audience hooked? Flexibility. Also, tailor your topics to the student's proficiency level, interests, and learning objectives. Spark your students' curiosity with these engaging ESL presentation topics .

This category covers everyday activities, routines, and personal experiences. Daily life topics are often a good choice for beginners, as they tend to be familiar and easy to relate to.

Travel and Culture

Explore different countries, customs, and traditions. Students can present their dream destinations, cultural celebrations, or travel experiences. ESL presentation topics like this promote geography, tourism, and cross-cultural understanding.

Discuss the ever-evolving world of technology, from smartphones to social media trends. Students can discuss gadgets, apps, or the impact of technology on society, fostering language skills in a modern context.

Environmental Issues

Raise awareness about environmental concerns like climate change, pollution, and conservation. Students can propose solutions or discuss the importance of sustainable practices.

Current Events

Encourage students to share their views on global happenings. Ask open-ended questions to provoke students' critical thinking about the news. Avoid asking your students subjects that have a simple yes or no answer.

Literature and Arts

Explore the world of literature, art, and entertainment. Students can discuss their favorite books, movies, or artistic movements.

History and Politics

Delve into historical events, political systems, and influential figures. These ESL presentation topics encourage critical thinking and cultural awareness.

Food and Cuisine

Food is a universal language. It brings people from all walks of life to share experiences and create memories. And what better way to learn about others' culture than through their cuisines? Students can share their passion for food and cooking and express their unique cultural identity.

Part 2. How To Prepare Your ESL Presentation?

If you have chosen presentation topics for ESL students , it is time to start preparing. Here's a simple, three-step guide to help you deliver effective ESL presentations:

Use Data and Infographics for Less Content

Short attention-spanned students and visual learners often struggle with processing lengthy textual information. Using data and infographics becomes even more crucial in such cases. You can include charts, graphs, diagrams, and other visual elements that help to illustrate key points. Then, choose relevant statistics or facts that support your topic. Visual aids can capture attention and maintain their engagement throughout the presentation.

Make an Outline for Your ESL Presentation

Creating a clear outline is essential for maintaining the flow. Start with an engaging opening to attract your students' attention. Then, organize your content logically into sections or points. Use bullet points or numbered lists to keep information organized and easy to follow.

Practice Before Presentation

Rehearse your presentation multiple times, focusing on your pacing, pronunciation, and overall delivery. If possible, present in front of a friend or colleague for feedback. It will boost your confidence and help you address any areas that need improvement. Remember, the more you practice, the more comfortable you'll be when delivering ESL presentation topics to your students.

Part 3. 5 Best ESL Presentation Topics for All Students

Finding ESL presentation topics that work for all levels can be a challenge, but it's also a rewarding one. Here is a summary of ideas that work well for all proficiency levels, with specific ideas for each category:

These ESL presentation topics offer a range of complexity. It allows your students to engage in meaningful discussions while building language proficiency. Below is a brief explanation for each topic:

ESL presentation topics are a great way to learn English, build confidence, and learn about different cultures. They can be fun and rewarding for students of all levels. Beginners can start by sharing their daily routines and interests. It is a good way to practice using basic vocabulary and grammar in a fun way. Advanced students can delve deeper into cultural comparisons and environmental awareness.

Travel is another topic for ESL presentations for students of all levels. Beginners can explore their travel dreams, which is a fun way to improve their vocabulary and descriptive skills. Presentation topics for advanced ESL students can focus on the cultural and economic aspects of travel destinations. It can help them develop their descriptive and storytelling abilities.

Talking about your favorite apps is a great way to improve your English skills. For beginners, it's a fun way to practice using vocabulary related to technology and apps. And for advanced students, it can be a springboard for discussing more complex topics like tech ethics and innovation. Plus, giving a presentation about apps is a great way to collaborate with your students and have a tech-related debate.

Talking about plastic pollution is a good way for ESL students of all levels to learn English and the environment. Beginners can start by discussing their own experiences with plastic pollution. What do they know about the causes and effects of plastic pollution?

It is a good way for beginners to practice using simple language in a meaningful context. Presentation topics for advanced ESL students can be more on analysis and solutions for global issues.

Recommending a book is one of the best presentation topics for ESL students . For beginners, recommending a book can be a simple way to practice using basic vocabulary and grammar structures. Advanced students can hone their analytical skills by dissecting literary and artistic masterpieces. It promotes thoughtful interpretation and expression.

Imagine students' eyes glazing over as you drone on about a topic they're not interested in or that's too difficult for their level. But now imagine their faces lighting up as you talk about something they're passionate about and that they can easily understand. That's the power of choosing the right topic.

Once you've chosen the right ESL presentation topics , you need the right tools to create an engaging and informative presentation. That's where Presentory comes in. If you're interested in how it can help you create ESL presentations that will capture your students' attention and help them learn, keep reading.

Part 4. Best Tool for Your ESL Presentation – Wondershare Presentory

Effective classroom communication and engagement are vital. Presentory, an innovative and user-friendly video presentation maker, empowers ESL instructors and education influencers. Want to create and present engaging virtual lessons? That's easy. With Presentory, you can smartly capture your students' attention.

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Key Features

Here are some of the features that make Presentory the best tool for your ESL presentation:

• Import Source Material

Import more materials for your presentations. Add images, videos, and even existing PowerPoint presentations. No need to switch between apps – everything you need is at your fingertips.

• Various Types of Font Resources

Choose from a wide selection of fonts to add a touch of creativity and professionalism to your presentations. Select the perfect font that matches your style and content effortlessly.

• Beautification Effects

It automatically recognizes portraits and adjusts your image for a polished look. Say goodbye to distracting background clutter and hello to a clean, professional appearance.

• AI Keying for Seamless Video Appearance

Removes the background image in the camera, leaving only the presenter's image. It also supports color picking, allowing you to fine-tune your video appearance effortlessly.

• Support for Popular Conferences and Live Broadcasts

Stream your ESL presentation topics with popular conferencing platforms like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Google Meet. Deliver your content to a global audience with ease.

• DIY Teleprompter

Adjust the window size, font color, size, and transparency to suit your preferences. Ensure a smooth and confident delivery every time.

• Noise Reduction

Eliminate distractions and ensure crystal-clear audio with Presentory's noise reduction feature. Your audience will appreciate the clarity of your message.

• Filter Effects

Add a touch of creativity to your ESL presentations with filter effects. Enhance the visual appeal of your content and keep your audience engaged.

The Bottom Line

No matter what ESL presentation topics you choose, make sure that they are something you are passionate about and can present in an engaging and informative way. With planning, you can create ESL presentations that are both educational and enjoyable for your students.

You can also add Presentory into your teaching toolkit and watch your presentations come to life with impact and engagement. With its intuitive interface and powerful features, Presentory is a good choice for ESL teachers and education influencers looking to show their expertise effectively. Try it today and watch as your students become more engaged and inspired.

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Like what you're reading?

Need a good presentation topic? Here are hundreds of them.

Get your team on prezi – watch this on demand video.

Anete Ezera November 04, 2022

If you’re looking for good topics for presentations, you’ve landed on the right page. In this article, you’ll find plenty of good presentation topics, tips on choosing the most suitable presentation topic for you, and essential design elements to make your presentation a success. 

Many factors go into an excellent presentation. You need to have confident body language and engage your audience to hold their attention. You also need eye-catching visual aids like images, data visualizations, GIFs, and others (all of which you can find in Prezi ), not to mention a great opening to grab attention and a strong closing line to stay memorable. However, the most essential aspect of your presentation is the topic. It’s the core of your presentation, so it has to be strong, insightful, attention-grabbing, and appealing to yourself and your audience in order to evolve into a successful presentation everyone will love. 

How to choose a good presentation topic

There are millions of topics you could create a presentation on, but what defines a good presentation topic? If you’re struggling to either come up with a good topic for a presentation or you can’t decide between multiple ones, here are a few questions you should ask yourself before choosing a topic. 

What’s the goal of your presentation? 

When you’re choosing a presentation topic, consider the meaning behind it. Ask yourself what the purpose of talking about this topic is, and what you want to say about it. Whatever topic you choose to present, the conclusion needs to provide a takeaway or lesson you want to communicate to your audience. A meaningful goal will make your presentation more memorable.  

Are you interested in the topic?

If you’re not interested in the presentation topic, others won’t be curious either. Interest, enthusiasm, and passion enrich your presentation and are noticeable when presenting. Interest shines through and inspires others to find the topic as fascinating as you do. Think about the last time you saw someone sharing something they were passionate about – their excitement drew people in to pay closer attention to what they were saying. 

When choosing a topic, you need to find it or a particular angle of it interesting for yourself. For example, perhaps you’re not a pop music enthusiast, but you’re passionate about studying cultural phenomena. In this case, you can talk about pop music’s influence on early 2000s youth culture. 

Will your audience find this topic relatable? 

While you have to find the topic you’re presenting interesting, you also have to think about your audience. When choosing a subject, consider your audience’s background in terms of demographics, interests, culture, and knowledge level about the topic. Think about what others will find fascinating and relevant, so they’re not bored or confused during your presentation.

Do you have prior experience or knowledge about this topic?

Personal experiences are always great to share in a presentation, providing your unique perspective for anyone listening. While you can easily prepare your presentation based on a quick Google search, it won’t make the same lasting impact on your audience. Choose a presentation topic you have some prior knowledge about, or have an interesting opinion you can share with others. It’ll make your presentation more engaging and memorable.

Ideas for good presentation topics

It’s not easy to come up with a good presentation topic from scratch. It’s much easier to get inspired from other good presentation topics to build your topic on. Whether you’re looking for presentation ideas for work, about me presentation ideas, unique or easy presentation topics, you’ll find them all here.

Without further ado, here are some good presentation topics to choose from or get inspired by.

Presentation topics about social media

• The role of social media in portraying gender stereotypes
• How social media impacts our body image
• How social media shaped Gen Z 
• The most significant differences between the Facebook and TikTok generations
• The negative effects of social media
• The positive impacts of social media 
• The effects of social media on behavior 
• How social media impacts our physical (or mental) health
• How social media has shaped our understanding of mass media
• Should we teach about social media in schools?
• The rise of social media influencers
• How AR Instagram filters impact our self-image
• How to go viral on social media?
• The origins of social media echo chambers
• Social media as a news outlet

Author: Ish Verduzco

Presentation topics about movies

• How movies influence our understanding of good and evil
• Beauty standards represented in movies
• How female characters are depicted in Hollywood movies
• How horror movies and global fears have developed through time
• The adverse effects of romance movies
• How movies have changed our understanding of the Western culture
• Charlie Chaplin and the silent movie era
• The globalization of culture: Hollywood vs. Bollywood
• The psychology behind the music in films
• The ethics of using animals in movies
• Social media’s influence on the film industry
• The history of filmmaking
• The role of color in movies
• The cultural impact of romance movies
• How are gender stereotypes depicted in Hollywood movies?

Author: Cinto Marti

Presentation topics about music

• The impact of pop music on beauty standards
• Should digital music be free for everyone?
• The psychology behind the music in advertisements 
• The effectiveness of sound therapy
• Can music inspire criminal behavior?
• The psychological effects of metal music
• The origins of K-pop
• How does music influence our understanding of the world?
• Can music help in the learning process?
• The positive effects of classical music
• The history of hip hop
• Why is music education essential in schools?
• The psychological benefits of playing piano
• Can anyone become a famous musician?
• The role of music in fashion

Author: Prezi Editorial

Presentation topics about health

• The link between food and mental health
• Inequality in the healthcare system
• Myths about healthy practices
• Simple practices that help you stay healthy
• Health education in schools: Should it change?  
• Toxic positivity and mental health
• The impact of superfoods on our health
• The psychology behind unhealthy eating habits
• Sex education in schools: Why should we have it?
• How to trick yourself into getting better: The placebo effect
• How to strengthen your immune system
• How to tell if someone is depressed
• The health benefits of regular exercise
• The impact of junk food on mental health
• Stress-caused diseases

Author: Prezi Education Team

Presentation topics about human psychology

• What is social depression?
• What triggers panic attacks?
• The impact of testosterone on aggressive behavior
• How to overcome social anxiety
• Differences in the functioning of the brain of a child and adult
• The impact of violent video games on children’s brain development
• How does the use of social media influence our attention span?
• How to overcome childhood trauma
• The influence of marijuana on the human brain
• How does behavioral therapy work
• The psychology behind fame
• The causes of personality disorders
• The differences in brain functioning between men and women
• What happens in therapy sessions?
• The psychology of substance abuse 

Presentation topics about self-development

• The impact of exercise on productivity
• How to deal with stress
• How to deal with procrastination
• The positive effects of meditation
• Why new–year’s resolutions don’t work
• How to overcome bad habits
• The impact of negative thoughts
• The negative effects of self-criticism
• The role of creativity in self-development
• Benefits of journaling
• How to learn something fast
• How to be mindful
• The importance of curiosity 
• How to become more self-aware
• Why it’s essential to spend time with yourself

Author: Nir Eyal

Presentation topics about education

• What are the advantages and disadvantages of online education?
• The positive effects of a gap year
• Should university education be free?
• Inequality in education access
• How language learning benefits brain development
• Emerging gender issues in education
• The importance of socialization in school
• School bullying and student development
• The benefits of reading 
• Is the education system broken?
• What you don’t learn in college
• The link between education and brain development
• The history of schools
• The gender gap in STEM
• The connection between equality in education and economic growth

Presentation topics about culture

• Is graffiti a form of art or street vandalism? 
• Cultural diversity in the workplace
• The impact of culture on gender roles
• The issue with orientalism
• Are humans the only species that has culture?
• How do different cultures view death? 
• The ethical issues of pop culture
• The impact of culture on personal development
• Sexism in different cultures
• The impact of globalization on local cultures
• The viral spread of the #metoo movement
• The history of subcultures
• The problem with romanticizing toxic relationships in movies
• 90s pop-culture influence on fashion trends
• The evolution of cultural psychology 

Author: Devin Banerjee

Presentation ideas for work

• What it’s like to be a digital nomad?
• How to deal with workplace conflicts
• The secret to a productive day
• How to set achievable goals
• The importance of diversity in a workplace
• The positive effects of creative thinking at work
• How to give constructive feedback
• The characteristics of a valuable team member
• Inequality and the glass ceiling
• Racial discrimination in the workplace
• Work habits of different cultures
• How is work perceived in various countries?
• Technological development and the future of work
• The importance of a healthy work/life balance
• The rise of health problems in office work

Author: Charles Huang

Presentation topics about hybrid work

• The positive effects of hybrid work on work/life balance
• Is hybrid work the future work model? 
• How to stay connected in a hybrid work model
• The challenges of hybrid work nobody talks about
• How to stay productive when working from home
• The social effects of hybrid work
• The economic impacts of hybrid work
• Case study: Hybrid work model in [company]
• What causes Zoom fatigue?
• The problem with online meetings
• Is hybrid work better than remote work?
• How to develop a close relationship with colleagues in a hybrid work model
• What kind of company culture is best for a hybrid work model?
• Is hybrid work sustainable?
• Cybersecurity consideration for hybrid working

Author: Barbie Brewer

Presentation topics about public speaking

• The importance of body language in public speeches
• How to appear confident when you’re not
• How to become a better orator
• The use of eye contact in public speaking
• Breathing exercises that will calm you down before public speaking
• The benefits of public speaking
• Ways to improve public speaking skills
• How to leave a great first impression on stage
• How to engage your audience during a public speech
• How to best structure your public speech
• How to end your presentation speech
• Can anyone learn to be good at public speaking?
• How to prepare for a public speech
• What not to do right before a public speech
• How to address a controversial topic in a public speech  

Author: Prezi Team

Presentation topics about entrepreneurship and leadership

• The main principles of a good leader
• The impact of leadership skills on professional performance
• The mistake every entrepreneur makes
• How to successfully lead a cross-cultural team
• How to celebrate inclusivity in a diverse team
• What are the common personality traits of a successful entrepreneur?
• The impact of entrepreneurship on the global economy
• The characteristics of a leader
• The most common challenges of entrepreneurship
• Can anyone learn to become a successful leader? 
• What affects new venture growth?
• The psychology of leadership
• What is crowdsourcing? 
• The benefits of being an entrepreneur
• Common mistakes leaders make

Author: Jill Sinclair

Presentation topics about technology

• The rise of technological development
• Is technology addictive?
• Should we use drones for military and non-military purposes?
• The sustainability of electric cars
• What are deepfakes?
• Limitations of AI machines
• The future of programming
• Ethical issues of AI
• The future of AR in business
• How VR can be used in the medical field

Author: David Vandegrift

Sales presentation topics

• How to make a cold email intro
• What is sales enablement?
• How to build better relationships with customers
• The best way to improve pipeline management
• Coaching via verbal and written role-play
• How to plan cold calls
• What’s a deal-breaker for most customers? 
• All about personalized coaching
• How to manage objections
• How to close more deals
• How to keep your prospects engaged
• Effective sales communication strategies
• How to conduct a competitor analysis
• The most valuable sales skills
• What soft skills do you need to become a successful sales rep?

Author: Cindy McGovern

Easy presentation topics

• Benefits of daily exercise and how to incorporate it into your routine
• Simple and nutritious meal recipes
• Tips for improving time management and productivity
• The importance of recycling
• The history of a local landmark or festival
• Ways to reduce stress
• Exploring different types of renewable energy sources and their impact on the environment
• The basics of budgeting and saving money for future goals
• The benefits of social media for professional use
• Tips for overcoming stage fright
• How to start a meditation practice
• The impact of technology on modern society
• The basics of personal finance
• The health benefits of a plant-based diet
• The history of Earth Day

Good how to presentation topics

• How to create a successful social media marketing strategy
• How to give a persuasive presentation
• How to create effective and engaging content for your blog
• How to discover your strengths and weaknesses
• How to use project management tools to increase productivity
• How to make the most out of boring meetings
• How to build a personal brand
• How to conduct effective market research
• How to use data analytics to improve decision-making
• How to improve your decision-making process
• How to write a winning proposal
• How to create a visually stunning presentation
• How to manage stressful situations at work
• How to make friends as an adult
• How to network at work events

About me presentation ideas

• My journey to becoming who I am today
• My passion for [insert topic or activity]
• My career aspirations and goals
• My travels and adventures around the world
• My hobbies and interests outside of work/school
• My role models and influences
• My strengths and weaknesses
• My favorite books, movies, and TV shows
• My proudest achievements and accomplishments
• My favorite childhood memories
• My family and friends
• My education and academic background
• My volunteer and community service experience
• My personality traits and values
• My vision for the future and how I plan to achieve it

Author: Adam Grant

Student presentation ideas

• The history and evolution of video games
• The history and cultural impact of tattoos
• The impact of social media on body image and self-esteem
• The effects of globalization on local cultures and economies
• The role of education in promoting social justice and equity
• The ethical implications of autonomous weapons in warfare
• The impact of mass media on society and culture
• The causes and effects of deforestation on biodiversity and climate change
• The history and cultural significance of dance in different parts of the world
• The psychology of addiction and recovery
• The impact of the gig economy on labor rights and job security
• The history and impact of feminism on gender equality
• The benefits and drawbacks of renewable energy sources
• The impact of colonialism on indigenous cultures and identities
• The role of technology in promoting global connectivity and intercultural understanding

Author: Edward Quinn

Informative presentation topics

• The science of sleep: How to get a restful night and improve your wellbeing
• A journey through the history of the internet
• Exploring the potential of AI in our world
• Climate change: Understanding the challenge, seeking solutions for a sustainable future
• How new technologies are shaping the future of food
• Understanding the psychology of money for financial success
• The power of a story: How storytelling captures hearts and minds
• Mastering the art of negotiation in every interaction
• The science of happiness: Unlocking the secrets to a more fulfilling life
• The power of mindfulness for a more present and peaceful YOU
• Understanding cybersecurity threats and protecting yourself online
• Exploring the potential of virtual reality for a more immersive future

Author: Andrew Davis

How to create a good presentation 

If you know what you want to present on, it’s time to create an impactful presentation that grabs everyone’s attention. Presentation design plays a crucial role in how your presentation is received and remembered. To stand out and leave a memorable impact on your audience, create a Prezi presentation. Instead of a linear, slide-based presentation, offer an engaging and dynamic storytelling experience to your audience. Breathe life into your presentation with motion, zoom, and spatial relationships. When creating your presentation, consider the following three essential elements: 

Visuals play a significant part in presentation design. They evoke emotions, make a memorable impact, and give more context to the story. Not to mention, 65% of people are visual learners , so visual aids are helpful when explaining a complex topic. 

In your presentation, include different types of visuals, such as images, videos, GIFs, and stickers, all of which you can find in Prezi’s content library. When selecting your visuals, consider what’s relevant and brings additional value to the story. Only add what’s meaningful and necessary. A video or image at the right place and time will enrich the viewing experience and make your presentation more memorable. 

The layout of your presentation is the structure of your story. It’ll help you introduce the topic, intrigue your audience, and unfold the layers of your topic one by one until you disclose your main arguments and summarize the presentation. A good presentation layout has a hierarchical, chronological, or logical flow that leads the viewer from start to finish. 

If you’re creating a Prezi presentation, you can create a dynamic storytelling experience by experimenting with your layout. Instead of going from slide to slide, you can zoom in and out of topics and experiment with different shapes, animations, and effects that draw the viewer into your story world. Here’s an example of a Prezi presentation with a great storytelling layout:

Author: Lydia Antonatos

Data visualizations can elevate your presentation from being a good one to a great one. By providing data behind your arguments, you’ll appear more trustworthy and confident in your audience’s eyes. 

Add charts, graphs, interactive maps, and more to your presentations with Prezi Design. You can choose from a wide selection of charts and maps to illustrate your data. With interactive elements, you’ll be able to engage your audience and make a memorable impact. 

Engaging visuals, a well-structured layout, and relevant data visualizations will provide a great starting base to create a memorable presentation. Discover other tips and tricks that make your presentation effective and capture people’s attention. 

Prezi AI for presentation success

If you already have a clear presentation style in mind or plenty of time for creation, fantastic! But what if you only have a day or less or you don’t know where to start? Enter Prezi AI . It’s your assistant for streamlining the presentation creation process. Here’s how Prezi AI leverages the power of artificial intelligence to turn you into a presentation pro:

Effortless design from scratch

Ditch the blank page anxiety with the AI presentation maker . Simply provide a title or outline, and Prezi AI will generate a visually appealing draft presentation in seconds. It’s like having a built-in design assistant ready to brainstorm with you.

Smarter text, stronger impact

Prezi’s AI text-editing tool helps you perfect your message in seconds. It analyzes your content, suggesting improvements for readability and conciseness.

From bullet points to animations

Let’s face it, static bullet points can put even the most dynamic presenter to sleep. Prezi’s AI animated slides maker transforms your text into captivating visual stories. Choose from formats like flowcharts, animated lists, or zoom reveals to keep your audience engaged.

Perfect for busy presenters

We all know the struggle – a million tasks on your plate, and a looming presentation deadline. Prezi AI can help you save valuable time! With AI assistance, you can generate presentations faster, focus on refining your content, and present with the confidence that comes from knowing your presentation looks polished and professional.

Design help

Don’t worry if you don’t have an eye for design. Prezi AI provides the tools and guidance to create presentations that impress visually.

With Prezi AI, crafting presentations is easy, allowing you to focus on delivering your message with impact and leaving your audience engaged and inspired. Explore what’s possible with Prezi A I today!

Learn more on how to turn your presentation topic into a stunning presentation with AI:

Final thoughts on selecting good presentation topics

Choosing a topic for a presentation isn’t easy. When selecting a topic, think about the goal of your presentation, your interests, and knowledge about the topic, and whether or not your audience will find it relevant and interesting for them. Also, get inspired by other topics that’ll help you figure out what you want to talk about. Lastly, when creating your presentation, consider the impact of visuals, layout, and data visualizations. To simplify the creation process, try Prezi AI or follow the step-by-step process of making a presentation with helpful tips and resources.

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My Life! Teaching in a Korean University

in Life in the Classroom

Presentation Project Ideas | ESL Presentation Topics, Tips, Ideas & More

Over the years teaching in a Korean university, I’ve had students do plenty of solo and group presentations. I love to do them at least once a semester because they’re great for the teacher to take a break from being at the front of the class, and designed well, students really enjoy them as well. Of course, I had to come up with some ESL presentation topics. Keep on reading to find out my presentation project ideas to try out in your own classes.

Presentation Project Ideas

Let’s get into the best ESL presentation ideas and topics.

Top 7 ESL Presentation Ideas

Here are my top presentation project ideas for ESL students with a bit of advice on how to make them work for you. Are you ready to find some ESL presentation topics and ideas for your students? Then keep on reading as we get to it!

Each student has to choose from a variety of topics such as “family” or “hobby.” They had to speak for between 1.5 and 2 minutes. I did this only once, with low-level students and it was so boring that I never did it again.

All the presentations were basically the same. “I have a mom. She is 46 years old. She has black hair and black eyes. I have a dad. He is 47 years old and he has black hair and black eyes. He is tall.” Trust me, they were some of the most tedious and excruciating hours of my entire life.

Find out :  How to teach public speaking , in a far more awesome way.

And of course, I could have avoided this problem by choosing far more interesting ESL presentation topics. For example, I did a similar sort of thing with current events and the results? Much better!

#2: Presentation and Discussion Time

Each group had to give a presentation about a topic of their choosing and think of at least 5 interesting questions/surveys/activities that groups could discuss or do for about 30 minutes after their presentation.

This presentation project ideas had varying results, since some groups chose a topic that led to a lot of “yes/no” answers and discussions that lasted about 2 minutes. However, this could have been avoided by approving the topics in advance and requiring groups to submit their assignment for feedback a week or two before the actual presentation. The duds were mostly my own fault!

The key is to set up the project in a better way. The teacher needs to prepare for this activity well in advance! And of course, get students to prepare in advance as well so they can have a chance to revise their presentation if necessary.

#3: Poster Presentation

Each group had to choose a current issue (like environmental pollution, celebrity suicide, North Korea) and make a poster that had English writing and some interesting pictures. Set a(low) maximum number of words, or your posters will be terrible! Then, they had to do a presentation based on the poster where each group member spoke for 2 minutes, without a paper.

If I ever did this again, I would do something where the audience was more involved, such as peer grading. Or, I would require each group watching the presentation to think of at least 1 question to ask and they’d get a point for doing so.

Giving the students a reason to listen is key, so keep this in mind during your ESL projects.

More ideas for the classroom: Task Based Language Learning.

Topics for Group Presentations for ESL Students

#4: PowerPoint Presentation

This has the potential to be very interesting, or PPT death. It all depends on how you set the presentation project up. If you do go with this method, you should set a maximum number of slides and also a maximum numbers of words per slide (maybe 10?). Emphasize to students that you want to see pictures, charts, etc. and not a page of text.

Teach students how to make good PPTs and then penalize heavily for not following your recommendations. You should also coach students on how to stand to the side and still keep their body pointed towards the audience.

How to Make a Good PowerPoint Presentation (For ESL Students)

#5 Project Presentation Ideas: Making a Short Video

For homework in my conversation classes, I hated giving writing homework! It just seemed to defeat the purpose of trying to get the students to talk as much as possible.

In order to combat this, I’d often get students to make videos and then put them online on YouTube. I’d assign a topic that they had to talk about for a minute or two. Sometimes, I’d make an assignment where 2-3 of the students in the class would have to talk about something.

Or sometimes I’d require that students interview their classmates about something. It was really fun to watch these ones!

If you want to get creative, you could have your students make a short documentary or movie about a topic of their choice.

It’s simple, fun, and many students let me know that is was their favourite homework activity that semester.

#6: Impromptu Speaking Activity

If you ask your students, they’ll often tell you that they want to improve their speaking skills. By this, they often mean fluency. One way to do this is to use an activity like Just a Minute. It puts students on the spot and they’re required to talk about a certain topic for one entire minute.

It’s the perfect way to focus on speaking fluency because they can’t stop talking for the entire minute. You can make it into a conversation activity by requiring that students who are listening ask some follow-up questions.

Of course, do this in small groups for intermediate students, and only with an entire class for advanced level students. Or, consider using it if you teach ESL online .

#7: Infographic Presentation

Presentations are a regular feature of ESL classes, but your students may get overwhelmed at the thought of first creating and then presenting a full-length speech. This activity works very, very well for a small class of 5 students or fewer. Private classes are even better.

However, if you have larger classes, you can do these infographic presentations in a few different ways. The first option is to put students into teams of 3-4. Another one is to have students do them for a midterm or final exam. Finally, you can have 1-2 students do a PowerPoint presentation each class as a kind of warm-up and eventually, all students will have done one by the end of the semester.

Infographics have become a common way of presenting information, and your students can create and use one to provide the “meat” of an informative oral presentation. An infographic presentation will also provide an opportunity to research a topic in English. If your students work in an office, they are likely to use PowerPoint at work, so the combination of something familiar (PPT) with something new (English presentation) should reduce stress.

Any time you can get students up and out of their seats is a win!

Choose a Topic with Several Data Points

Have your students choose a topic of interest to them that has several data points. For example, if they have a favourite team, they can find the team’s current ranking, average points per game, number of championships, and so on to populate the infographic. The students should begin the project by researching several data points and finding an image or two online to use for decoration.

To create the infographic, the students will need to reset the margins to create the long, narrow look of an infographic. This is done by choosing a blank layout and changing the slide from landscape to portrait then adjusting the margins. Start with 10”/25cm by 30”/75cm and adjust if necessary.

Your students can use images, Smart Art, and/or charts to present the data they will report. However, you may want to give your students a time limit for choosing a layout or have them make a sketch before opening PowerPoint because the number of options can become a time-waster.

Layout First, Add in Data Second

Once the layout has been chosen, your students will need to fill in the data. If they are using charts, Excel will automatically to fill them in. Don’t worry, it’s pretty self-explanatory and the end result is right there for the student to see while working. Once the images are all in place, the students should add a brief explanation of each image. All images and text boxes can be resized, and the entire slide can be resized by adjusting the margins if there is more (or less) information than expected.

When the students are satisfied with the infographic, it can be saved as a JPEG. This will probably have taken an entire lesson, so the infographic presentation will be in the next lesson. You should tailor the focus of the presentation to your student’s level and needs. Lower-level students may only need to practice speaking without a script. Higher-level students may need to practice the use of gestures or inflection.

Teaching Tips for this Presentation Activity 

If your students do not use PowerPoint at work and are not familiar with it (or if you do not want to spend an entire lesson making an infographic), you may want to have the students find an existing infographic online to present. Search for “infographic” on Google Images and you’ll find many of them.

A video of the infographic presentation can be helpful for your students. When students see and hear themselves, they can more easily see the areas that need improvement.

Procedure: 

1. Have your students choose a topic of interest that would have several data points to research and present.

2. Have the students make a sketch of the planned infographic.

3. Using PowerPoint, have the students make the infographic (use a blank layout, in portrait, with the margins set to 10”/25cm by 30”/75cm).

4. In the next lesson, have the students present the infographic to you. According to the student’s level, have them focus on speaking without a script, using gestures, or inflection, etc.

5. Review the infographic presentation.

• Amazon Kindle Edition
• Bolen, Jackie (Author)
• English (Publication Language)
• 278 Pages - 07/12/2020 (Publication Date)

What are Some ESL Presentation Topics to Consider?

There are a few classic ones in here, along with some fresh, new ideas for presentation topics that you’ll want to consider:

• Teach someone how to do something
• Something in the news lately
• Controversial topics (and choose a side)
• If I were president…
• Favourite book, movie, restaurant, etc.
• Vacations (past or dream for the future)
• If I had a million dollars…
• Ideal first date
• Jobs and work
• What the world will look like in 30 years from now
• Money: Are you a saver, or spender?
• What do you do when you get home from school?

Why Do ESL Presentations?

That’s a great question and we’re happy that you asked! There are a number of reasons why you might consider using presentations for an ESL project idea.

#1: Presenting is a Tangible Skill

Although I’m here to teach English, I always try to give my students some tangible skills they can take with them. For example, in a writing class , I teach students about hooks, thesis statements and topic sentences. This will be useful in any kind of writing, in any kind of language.

And, in my conversational English classes, I like to teach some presentation skills like eye contact, gestures, etc. Hopefully, they’ll use these things again in the future.

#2: They’re Ideal for Business Students

Many business people have to do presentations at work. Help them get some practise with this important skill in your classes.

#3: Helps Improve Listening Skills

When else do students listen for an hour or two, in English, that’s almost exactly at their level? During presentations. Just be sure to give some tasks to give students a reason to listen (see the section below).

#4: They’re Student Directed

I generally give some very vague guidelines as far as topics go. For example, any current events topic . Or, food/school/culture/history/hobbies. Not just one of these things, but perhaps all of them!

This way, they are free to choose whatever they’re interested in and care about. They are often more willing to learn now vocabulary than if I were to just assign a random topic.

Of course, for best results, do be strict about time limits, PowerPoint slides, etc.

#5: It’s a Break from the Usual

Teacher talks, students listen. Sounds familiar? Mix it up in your classes, and have the students do all the talking.

How Can I Increase Audience Engagement?

It’s an excellent question! How can you keep the rest of your students engaged and learning English while other students are doing presentations? There are a few related strategies I like to use to do this. Remember, presentations can be a source of some serious listening and vocabulary practice, so do everything you can to take advantage of this!

Idea #1: Worksheets

Sometimes I require the group or person doing the presentation to come up with a few quick comprehension questions based on their presentation. Multiple-choice, true/false or short answer works well for this.

Then, before their presentation, students have to hand out the worksheet to their classmates. This gives people a reason to listen, and even if there are no grades attached to this, most students will do it.

Idea #2: Follow-Up Questions

Sometimes I put the audience in groups of 3-4. Then immediately after the presentation, I give them a couple of minutes to come up with 3-4 interesting follow-up questions based on the presentation. I choose a few groups to ask one of their questions to the presenter. Or, everyone has a chance to ask a question in the smaller classes.

Idea #3: Peer Grading

Peer grading is an interesting thing I’ve tried in my more mature classes. I’ve almost never seen students watch so closely. Students find this kind of thing surprisingly fun!

I generally let students assign 50% of the grade to their peers, and then I reserve 50% for my own grade. It works best if you give students clearly defined categories that they have to evaluate.

The only downside is that it can take quite a bit of time to compile all the numbers from this in a bigger class.

Idea #4: Taking Notes

Sometimes I’ll require that students take some notes from the presentation. Generally, 4-5 bullet points work well per presentation. It’s great listening and note-taking practise for our students.

Or, get students to write down 3-4 phrases that they hear from each presentation. It’s simple but effective at getting students to work with the language.

Quick tips:

The key to this working well is to coach students about how to take notes. They don’t have to write full sentences, but just the key words or phrases.

At the end of class, I have students show me their notes for some participation points. This activity does not work that well if no points or grades are attached to their work.

Idea #5: Choose ESL Presentation Ideas Carefully

The final thing to do to increase audience engagement is to choose the topics carefully. If the students find them interesting, they’ll listen. It’s really that simple and the best way to ensure success is to come up with some great ESL presentation topics.

• 148 Pages - 03/09/2016 (Publication Date)

How do I Make my Presentation Stand Out? Top 10 Tips

There are a few ways that you can really make your presentation stand out from the crowd. Here are some of the best ways:

• Use an icebreaker
• Tell stories
• Consider using videos or pictures
• Embrace the non-linear style
• Interact with your audience (ask them a question)
• Don’t forget about eye contact
• Move around
• Practice, practice, practice!

Don’t Forget This Book for Teaching Public Speaking!

If you want to teach presentations to ESL students, you’ll need this most awesome of books. It’s full of great resources for teaching public speaking.

Speaking of Speech: Basic Presentation Skills for Beginners

Trust me, it’ll make your life way easier and happier.

ESL presentation ideas

ESL Presentation Ideas FAQs

There are a number of common questions that people have about English learners giving presentations. Here are the answers to some of the most popular ones.

How do I make a good ESL presentation?

There are a few simple steps you can follow for making a good ESL presentation.

• Do lots of preparation and allow time for this.
• Structure your presentation (beginning, middle, end).
• Make notes on keywords but don’t write out full sentences.
• Rehearse lots.
• Use a PowerPoint slide or two but don’t include lots of text on it.
• Allow time for questions from the audience.
• Make eye contact and use hand gestures.

How do you write a speech for ESL?

To write a speech for ESL, check out these simple tips:

• Consider using short sentences with contractions.
• Use simple words like you’d use when having a conversation with someone.
• Read your speech out loud as you are writing it.
• Get someone to listen to you as you say it and point out any awkward or boring parts.

What is a good presentation topic?

A good presentation topic is one where you know a lot about the subject, either through personal experience or by doing lots of research. It’s also one that the audience has a general interest in.

How do you teach presentation skills to ESL students?

You can teach presentation skills to ESL students by using some of the following activities:

• Recite a famous speech.
• Give a presentation in a small group of 3-4 students.
• Do a solo presentation and put it on YouTube.
• Do quick presentations on a random topic with only a few minutes to prepare.
• Act out a play with the class.
• Work on things like eye contact and hand gestures.
• Teach students how to structure a presentation well.

What are your Presentation Project Ideas?

Do you have any ideas for presentations for English language learners? Do you love, or hate presentation day in your classes? Leave a comment below and let us know! We’d love to hear from you.

And don’t forget to share this article on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest. It’ll help other busy teachers, like yourself find this useful resource.

Last update on 2022-06-17 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API

About Jackie

Jackie Bolen has been teaching English for more than 15 years to students in South Korea and Canada. She's taught all ages, levels and kinds of TEFL classes. She holds an MA degree, along with the Celta and Delta English teaching certifications.

Jackie is the author of more than 30 books for English teachers and English learners, including Advanced English Conversation Dialogues and 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities for Teenagers and Adults . She loves to share her ESL games, activities, teaching tips, and more with other teachers throughout the world.

You can find her on social media at: Facebook Pinterest

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Jackie Bolen has been talking ESL South Korea since 2014. The goal is to bring you the best tips, ideas, and news for everything teaching English in Korea, including university jobs.

Contact Jackie Bolen and My Life! Teaching in a Korean University here.

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Address: 2436 Kelly Ave, Port Coquitlam, Canada

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15 Speaking Projects And Activities For ESL Students

I don’t think I am sticking my neck out too much by saying that most ESL students enjoy speaking activities more than typical reading, writing and listening activities. Tending to be more dynamic, true to life and fun, a good speaking activity can really enhance an ESL student’s fluency and confidence.

Here, I am going to offer you a series of ESL speaking projects that you can adapt and use for your ESL students. Let’s go:

Infomercial Activities

This is one of my favorite speaking projects by far. Show students some typical adverts from a shopping channel; I like to show some of the funnier products just for giggles and to encourage students minds to wander, take a look at this compilation to see what I mean.

Next, I ask students usually in pairs to come up with their own completely original product to sell on an infomercial. If students struggle to come up with a completely new product you can suggest they add a new twist to arnold product, or make a new product based on a combination of two or more others.

For example, in the past I have had: microwave televisions, hair dryers that double as vacuum cleaners and laptops that double as portable stoves.

I tend to also do a language lesson based around the language of selling and persuasion so that when students make their infomercial they will send realistic and they often like to know some of the sales phrases, tactics and strategies that are used in real life.

Just for fun, you can tell students that they have a certain amount of money to spend and after they have seen all the infomercials they get to spend it. Sales can be recorded and you can see which idea/pair has made the most money and are the winner!

Presentations

Give students a presentation of a topic of your choosing, perhaps your own hobby and model the format and language that you want the students to use.

I tend to share slides with the student with the title of each slide already inserted. Students then have to fill the space with suitable information for that slide.

So, for example, if I wanted my students to present their own hobbies then I would probably have six slides titled with questions:

What is my favorite hobby? Why did I start this hobby? What have I achieved doing this hobby? Who do I do this hobby with? What will I do next in this hobby? Other interesting info about my hobby.

Students then fill the slides full of pictures that relate to the question and then they talk about these to the group and answer questions.

Some students always want to write out a script for a presentation which I let them do on the understanding that they can’t actually read it when they present. I allow them to write it out just so they can build up some confidence in what they are going to say and check the language accuracy of it. 

I do usually place sentence starters and linking words on posters behind the audience so that the presenter always has some support if needs be.

Of course, this could also be done as a recorded video task. I sometimes ask students to record a voice over on top of the slides. This can then be converted into a video format for sharing later.

A few other simple presentation topic titles for ESL students that could be used are: My Best Friend, Who Am I?, My Pets, My Future Career, My Family, The Last Celebration I want to, Why I am a fan of __________ (insert name of whatever they are a fan of).

At this point you might also want to read one of my popular article about how to make your students speak English , here

Hot Seat ing

Become an expert – As it sounds. Students spent a certain amount of time researching a topic that either they choose or that is given to them. They are then to become that character and the rest of the group has to ask them questions to find out as much as they can about them in a set amount of time.

You can award points for correct questions being asked and for grammatically correct sentences in response. Personally I like to do this at the beginning of a new topic and direct students to research different famous people.

For example, if we are going to be covering the topic of Travel as in the IGCSE ESL then I have students research characters, such as: Dr Livingstone, Joe Simpson, Ernest Shackleton, Amelia Earhart, Ranulf Fiennes, and so on. 

I often have students create a mini glossary for their characters as well which other students can refer to as they are quizzing the character.  

This activity is best for intermediate level and above students and even then you may need to provide texts at a suitable level for students to be able to access, otherwise students end up on Wikipedia reading very difficult text.

You can have the group make notes and write summaries of each character for homework if you also wish to work on summary writing skills.

Recommended reading: 15 Research Projects For ESL Students

The Detective Game

For this activity you make up a crime that occurred in a given location, the more gruesome the better and if you can personalise it to your location and environment more the better.

Divide the group into smaller groups of three or four people and then ask them to create their alibis for the morning, afternoon, or evening in question. These people are the suspects.

One group, however, is assigned as being the investigators and they individually quiz different suspects one to one to try and find inconsistencies in their group’s stories. This forces each group to consider exactly what they were doing, where and with whom very carefully and in great detail. 

After interviewing as many members of each group and making notes about inconsistencies between group members the investigators then confer with each other to decide upon which group’ alibi is the most inconsistent. This group are then sent to jail.

Whilst the investigators are discussing this, the suspects discuss which investigator was the best at questioning them and finding out the inconsistencies. The suspects will then announce who this person is, and they earn a promotion. Finally, the investigators announce the losing group which will go to prison.

This ‘game’ has got real legs and could go in so many different directions, so don’t be afraid to improvise and have fun with this one.  

Drama Activities

Acting out a chapter of a book. Pretty much as it sounds. Read through a chapter of a book with students or have them read it for homework before letting groups act out the chapter, or a scene from it.

This works well even if they all act out the same scene as each group will learn from the last and the acting/performance and language should get increasingly better throughout. Alternatively arrange it so that each group acts out the following scene to the last group and so the full story is told.

Storyboard and act out the student’s own story. Rather than act out a book, you could have students plan out a story, or at least part of a story on a storyboard. This can give a greater sense of ownership, achievement and ‘buy in’ from the students.

What happened next. Read the opening of a book and as a ‘cliffhanger is reached’ pause and have students work together to act out the ending of the story or the next scene at least.

This also works well with videos from YouTube, crime videos work well as do Walt Disney cartoons – even with adult learners for some reason!

You might also be interested in reading my helpful article on how to get your students speaking fluently , here.

Mind Map ping

Vocabulary relationships. Engage students in a subject which contains lots of relationships of cause and effect. Basically, you need to pick a topic and analyse what the different factors were that affected the main decision or characters involved.

In the centre of your mind map place the decision or a character that was made and then arrange influencing factors around this. 

The larger the circle each factor is in and the closer it is to the centre of the paper the stronger the influence is. Students then need to explain their mind map and the relationships to the group. Others can question and agree/ disagree with them. 

Topics can range from serious issues from history through to celebrity scandals, or even plots in a movie, such as, why did celebrity couple X and Y get divorced, or why did actor x decide to y in the movie xyz. Obviously, you can let the students self select these issues for greater interest. 

Backs To The Board

A timeless classic not so much a speaking project but this can be developed into a full lesson’s worth of speaking and it works for groups of all sizes. It is excellent for reviewing vocabulary at the end of a project or to see what students know at the beginning of a topic.

Simply split the group into teams of no more than five and have one member of the group come to the front and sit with their back to the board.

The other members of the group form a ‘u’ shape around the person, or, rather than being sat literally against the board groups can be sat at tables with just one student having their back to the board. 

All you then need to do is to write a word on the board and the students facing the board have to get the person not facing the board to say the word without literally telling them the word. They should be encouraged to use definitions, synonyms and examples of the word where possible. 

Depending on numbers, students can just shout out when they think they have the answer, or with large groups I make the students raise their hand if they think they have the answer.

The danger with debates is that to the teacher they may seem boring, or at least they do to me but have to remind myself that just because I have done the debates dozens of times, they haven’t and even the most overdone/boring sounding debates may go down like fireworks with some groups.

With that in mind here are a few of the more traditional/boring debates for your students to get their teeth into:

Which is better, country life or city life?

Should animal testing be allowed?

Should school uniforms be gotten rid of

Are cats better than dogs?

Should women be paid as much as men?

Online learning is better than classroom learning

Does money equal success in life?

I also like to see if there is something going on in the students view of the world that is worth debating. For example, in Thailand the debate over whether Korean pop music is better than Thai pop music is a popular one. 

I have had colleagues dive into debates about serious political topics with higher level students which have worked really well.

However, some topics are just too hot to handle and you don’t know who you are upsetting so be careful what topics you do debate, you never know who is listening, or who is going to offense at any of your personal views that you may let slip!

Here is a good resource for more ESL debate ideas .

Book And Movie Review s

This is pretty much as it sounds. I like to set a reading task for students over a holiday break and when they return they have to submit a video review of the book or movie they watched/read. 

I usually show them a good movie review for ideas and ask them to follow the same format. Something like this review of Kung Fu Panda . This goes along the lines of: background information, main characters, plot explanation, favorite moments, final recommendation.

I’ve also done this with higher level groups for documentaries but with enough support and speaking frames pre intermediate students can engage well with this activity.

Conversation Question s

Don’t underestimate the value of pure lists of conversation questions. Students are often happy to just ‘have a chat’ and use the English that they do know.

It is great for their confidence and fluency, as well as requiring zero lesson prep, which is always a nice thing. Just be sure to rotate speaking partners to avoid students getting bored with the same partners and used to different accents.

Sometimes, depending on ability and interest levels I will teach three or four idioms at the beginning of the lesson and set the task of trying to naturally drop them into conversation later on.

There are lot of good sources of conversation questions, here are a couple: eslconversationquestions.com and esldiscussions.com .

ESL Exam Preparation Material

Some students are hugely motivated by doing well in exams such as the IELTS test, and IGCSE ESL speaking tests. Exam boards for tests such as these produce a plethora of practise material that is often available for free online and ready to be use.

My students particularly enjoy the IELTS speaking part 2 task where they are required to speak about a given topic and are given three bullet points to talk about. They are given one minute to prepare their ideas before they have to speak on their own for two minutes. 

If you think your students might enjoy this then here are some good sources of free IELTS style questions: IELTS IDP and ielts-exam.net , and for IGCSE ESL speaking questions check out the role play paper here.

The added bonus of these activities is that there is always a grading criteria ready to be used so you can grade students and give them real reasons why they scored a certain level and what they need to do to score higher in the future.

Here are the IELTS speaking criteria for example which clearly spells out what is expected of students at different levels.

Finger Puppet Shows

One really good way to get shy students speaking I have found to introduce sock puppets. As silly as it sounds, there is something about using a puppet that takes away the pressure on the speaker and frees them up to speak.

Whether it is the element of hilarity of  speaking sock or the fact that people are generally looking at the sock rather than the person it seems to work well.

Depending on the ability level I will either give pairs of students scripts to act out with puppets. They can introduce their own props as well to make it even more funny. Alternatively, I will do this as an improv.

I will read out a situation, for example, one of you has lost their passport at the airport. Then the students have to act out this scenes as best as they can.

Switch partners and introduce more situations and watch the energy level of the room pick up!

By the end of the lesson you may well notice previously shy students speaking confidently with other students having been drawn into the magic of sock puppets! A great little speaking project.

Role Plays With Idioms

I use this lesson pattern quite regularly and it works well. I start off with student matching idioms to meanings and then to example sentences with the idioms missing.

After going through these answers and doing any teaching necessary to aid understanding I will then hand out a dialogue but with all the sentences jumbled up.

Students then have to unjumble the conversation which contains one or more of the idioms being used in a natural way. Next, they read the dialogue through taking different roles each and then doing the dialogue again without looking at the words.

Next, students are given the task of creating their own dialogues using at least one of the idioms in an appropriate way. Students write out the dialogues, rehearse them and then act them out for the group.

You can also do this with phrasal verbs but either way it works out well and the routine can be used again when you are a bit short of material or are having a hangover day!

Barrier Activities

One favourite of mine that never fails to stimulate plenty of language use is to simply create your own barrier exercise. I like to get a nice chunky newspaper article related to what we are learning and then go through each paragraph and remove key details, such as: names, dates, place names, times, location etcetera…

I create two versions of this, the first one will have words missing from odd number paragraphs and the second copy will have words missing from even number paragraphs.

This prevents it from becoming confusing and make sure to keep one master version with no details missing and if you have time highlight the missing words in red so it is easy for students to check later.

Once the missing word copies are ready you can divide the class into two halves distributing sheet A to one half and sheet B to the other half. Allow them to work in groups at this point to work out what questions they need to ask the other half of the group in order to get the missing details filled in.

If you think this will be too difficult for them you can provide the questions in a jumbled up format so they have to rearrange them to make the questions,, or even give them the questions but they have to work out the order in which to ask them to correspond to the paragraph order.

After this preparation period students can then pair up with someone from the opposite half of the group to take turns asking and answering each other’s questions.

Make sure that students do not show each other their articles and simply just sit and copy the answers, clearly this simply defeats the whale point of the exercise.

Before starting this I also pre teach any tricky vocabulary that I know is going to come up in the article just to make sure the final questions and answer session goes without too much stopping and starting to ask about vocabulary.

After students have got the answers then you can either display the answers on an overhead projector, or send students back to their original half of the group to see if they have all gotten the same answers.

Jigsaw Reading

This is another easy way to get students involved in the language and speaking. Select a relevant article related to the topic you are studying and chop it up into paragraphs. Hand out A4 paper with a simple one column table with as many boxes as there are paragraphs.

Hand out the paragraphs to the students considering which paragraphs are more difficult and should go to the higher level learners and which are slightly easier and can go to the lower ability students. 

Individually, students now summarise in their own words as far as possible their paragraphs and write the summary in a box in the table. Following this students pair up with students who had a different paragraph and they then read out their summaries whilst the other students make notes of it.

Rotate partners so that everyone can get every paragraph and after the first couple of times students have read their summaries, force students to turn over their paper and explain their paragraph from memory.

After the first couple of goes they should be able to do this and by the time they have explained to everyone in the group they should be reeling off their summary very comfortably.

A Word On Differentiation …

There is a lot of fun to be had for the students in the above activities but it is important to not forget that some students will require more support than others. Just asking students to do a role play with no support may be too much for some. 

Always consider using speaking frames, having sentence starters placed around the room, ‘useful language’ handouts, and always show a clear model of what it is you are expecting the students to produce. 

If you can tick those boxes then your speaking lesson will go that bit more smoothly.

All the best with your ESL speaking projects!

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Level: B1 / Intermediate

Do you know your needs?

Engage in talking about needs and priorities with this lesson! Students practise collocations with ‘need,’ watch a video on Maslow’s hierarchy, and discuss things that are important to them. They also analyze and apply Maslow’s theory to various areas and discuss different opinions.

A trip down memory lane…

Students talk about photos, work with some vocabulary, and watch and discuss a video about photo preservation. They also think about how photo-taking has changed over the years and share what they do with their photos.

Let’s go on a date!

Students discuss different types of dating, how it has changed over the years, and brainstorm hypothetical dating scenarios. They explore opinions, learn vocabulary, and watch and discuss a video about speed dating.

Plastic-free future

Engage in talking about human impact on the planet! With this lesson, students watch a video about plastic pollution, practise collocations related to environmental actions, and discuss environmental responsibility.

With this lesson, students talk about family structures and shared parenting. They explore vocabulary to talk about parenting and watch a video about single mothers and children who share households.

Stress relief and relaxation

The set lets students talk about tips to deal with stress as well as explore various ideas on how to calm down and relax quickly.

How about a little improvement?

With this lesson, students practise quantifiers in various contexts. They discuss work conditions and employee feedback and watch a video about employee satisfaction.

Workplace safety

Engage in talking about safety in the workplace with this lesson! Students explore vocabulary to talk about injuries, watch a video about safety at work and discuss workplace rules.

The power of breathing

With this lesson, students discuss stress-relief ideas, practise phrases to talk about relaxation techniques and watch a video on the box breathing exercise.

Talking about experiences using Present Perfect and Past Simple

In the first lesson, students learn the differences between the two tenses and talk about life experiences. In the second lesson, they practise the use of the tenses through role-plays.

Sharing experiences (Present Perfect and Past Simple)

With this lesson, students discuss the topics people talk about when they first meet. They also practise Present Perfect and Past Simple, watch a video about people who have just met and do a role play activity.

I was wondering if… (making requests)

With this lesson, students talk about ways to make requests. They watch a funny ad and discuss requests at work. Students also practise phrases to make requests and do a role play activity.

What a chore!

With this lesson, students discuss chores, practise vocabulary and watch a funny video on doing chores at work. They also discuss tips to make chores fun and do role-play tasks assigning and prioritising chores in different scenarios.

Food is more than just fuel

With this lesson, students discuss the impact of food on health. They practise vocabulary on nutrition, watch an informative video about the effects of foods on sleep and talk about specific food labels and food philosophies.

Are you ready to go?

With this lesson, students discuss travel preparation, watch a video about tips on packing and talk about potential challenges when travelling. You can also do a vocabulary activity to revise vocabulary related to the topic.

Marketing and advertising

This lesson set offers students a chance to talk about advertising and their personal experience as well as marketing from a more professional standpoint.

Journalism and the news

With this engaging lesson, students talk about journalism and news. They practise vocabulary about the topic, watch a video about journalism, discuss the challenges of being a journalist and read authentic stories about journalistic cases.

It’s such a lovely place! (so and such)

With this lesson, students talk about travel experiences, watch a short video about the capital city of Ghana and practise ‘so’ and ‘such’ structures. They also share their personal experiences and discuss the advantages of different travel options.

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Creative Resources for ESL/EFL Teachers

50 ESL Conversation Questions for Teens and Adults

This speaking activity contains 50 ESL conversation questions for teens and adult learners. (16+, B1+). It is best for small groups or as a pair-work.

This activity contains  50 questions  and a  YouTube video , so students can practice listening to real language and you can also play the game from the video with your students in your classroom. Scroll down for the ESL conversation questions activity, and the video.

The slideshow can be used as a resource for online teaching, just share your screen on Zoom or another app when teaching online. Click on the full-screen option in the top right corner of the slideshow and your whole group can discuss or if you want to use the activity in smaller groups, assign your students into breakout rooms and send them the PDF with the conversation questions before your lesson. During the lesson, pop into the breakout rooms to listen in and observe.

1. You have to save the world tomorrow, who’s in your team?

2. What is your favorite summertime memory? Why?

3. Who do you think impacted your personality the most? Why?

4. What is your go-to skill in a talent show?

5. When was the last time you did something new?

6. What are you passionate about?

7. What makes you laugh the most?

8. What is best about being an adult?

9. What is best about being a teenager?

10. What is your favorite smell?

11. When was the last time you cried because you laughed too hard?

12. What are you most self-conscious about?

13. If you had 24 hours to live what would you do?

14. What have you started that you didn’t finish? Why?

15. What is your favorite guilty pleasure?

16. Road trip or flying?

17. What is your favorite childhood memory?

18. Who is the one person you can always count on?

19. Sunset or Sunrise?

20. What quote would you tattoo on yourself and where?

21. What inspires you?

22. What always makes you smile?

23. If you could be any character (book/movie/TV) who would it be?

24. What accomplishment of yours are you most proud of?

25. Where would you live for a year if money were no object?

26. What is your go-to karaoke song?

27. Star Wars or Star Trek…or neither?

28. What weird food combinations do you really enjoy?

29. If magic was real, what spell would you try to learn first?

30. Do you believe people can truly change?

31. What problem are you currently grappling with?

32. What is the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?

33. What is the most embarrassing thing that’s ever happened to you?

34. Which of your vices or bad habits would be the hardest to give up?

35. Name something that is completely overrated.

36. Is it better to be loved or to love?

37. If you had to choose only one, love or money?

38. What do you miss the most about being a kid?

39. Who do you wish you could get back into contact with?

40. What is the kindest thing you’ve ever done for someone else?

41. What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?

42. What makes you feel really alive?

43. What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?

44. What are you thankful for at this very moment?

45. Would you rather be in space or under the sea?

46. What is your favorite family tradition?

47. Where do you want to be in 10 years?

48. What would your friends be surprised you like to do?

49. When was the last time you gazed at the stars?

50. What is the one meal you never get tired of eating?

Watch a video where teens agree/disagree with various statements

In this video, teens express how strongly they agree/disagree with different statements. The statement appears on screen and students indicate their responses by stepping into lanes representing how they feel about the questions. Some of the students are then asked to explain their answers.

You can pause the video after every question and ask your students to answer it one by one, or you can play the variation of the game in your classroom.

Other resources to practice speaking:

ESL Exam Speaking Picture Description and Questions

ESL Conversation Topics: 12 Mini Presentations

Conversation Questions: Present Perfect and Past Simple

Balderdash: ESL Speaking Game

Unfinished Sentences ESL Speaking Activity

ESL Reported Speech Speaking Activity: Gossip

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Comments (7)

Great activities! I would love to know your views on vocabulary building apps like https://www.beebl.io

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100+ ESL discussion topics for every English level

• Posted by by Cameron Smith
• Updated 1 year ago

Struggling to come up with the right ESL discussion topics for your lesson plans? In this guide, we’ve included a list of 100+ ESL discussion topics along with our best tips and tricks for choosing the right topic for every English level.

You’ll also find links to printable lists of ESL conversation questions for each of the conversation topics below. If you use these lists to save time and choose the right conversation starter for each class, you’ll find that the conversation possibilities are endless.

List of ESL discussion topics

• AI and Artificial Intelligence
• Daily Routine
• Environment
• Football & Soccer
• Friends & Friendship
• Intelligence
• Games & Gaming
• Gender & Gender Roles
• Small Business
• Social Media
• The Olympic Games

What are ESL discussion topics?

ESL discussion topics are teaching tools that help English learners practice their speaking skills. It’s important to select suitable-but-interesting discussion topic for your students if you’d like to facilitate engaging conversation in your classroom.

ESL discussion topics vs ESL conversation questions: what’s the difference?

ESL discussion topics are discussion categories whereas ESL conversation questions are lists of questions that focus on a particular discussion topic. Discussion topics and conversation questions go hand in hand ; you will need to choose a discussion topic and to formulate conversation questions based on that topic for your students.

How to choose the right ESL discussion topics for your classroom

Choosing the right ESL discussion topics for your lessons is an art unto itself. You’ll need to consider consider the following criteria before creating your speaking lesson plans.

• English Level. Basic discussion topics for beginners. Advanced discussion topics for experienced English students.
• Age. Some topics are better suited to younger English students, while other topics are better suited to Adult learners.
• Culture. Cultural norms may rule out . For example, if it is culturally unacceptable to discuss relationships or money in public, then these discussion topics should be avoided.
• Conflict and Controversy. Some discussion topics may . For example, politics and religion. Of course, healthy debate is possible! But if you wish to avoid conflict and controversy in the classroom, then it may be better to avoid these discussion topics altogether.

What is a good topic for ESL students to discuss?

The best topic for ESL students to discuss will depend on each student’s English level and other factors that we listed above. Here are some discussion topic suggestions with links to printable conversation questions for each topic.

ESL discussion topics for beginner students

• Countries  

ESL discussion topics for intermediate students

• Fashion and Clothes
• The Olympics

ESL discussion topics for advanced students

• Dating, Relationships, and Marriage
• AI & Artificial Intelligence

ESL discussion topics for children and teenage students

Esl discussion topics for adult learners, what are some controversial esl discussion topics.

• Football and Soccer
• Gender and Gender Roles

List of ESL discussion topics books

Want to save yourself some time? ESL discussion topics books can reduce the amount of planning you need to do before class. These books contain lists of printable ESL discussion topics and conversation questions that can be used to facilitate English speaking practice with your students.

The best ESL discussion topics books are:

• 500 Grammar Based Conversation Questions
• 67 ESL Conversation Topics with Questions, Vocabulary, Writing Prompts & More
• 1005 ESL Conversation Questions: For English Teachers of Teenagers and Adults Who Want to Have Better TEFL Speaking and Conversation Classes

What are your students’ favorite ESL discussion topics?

Every English learning group is different. And some classes tend to prefer certain English discussion topics over others.

Whether you’re asking students to practice English with another conversation partner or engaging entire classrooms in speaking practice exercises, yow are you choosing ESL conversation topics for each of the groups that you teach? And what topics are they responding to the most?

Share your experiences in the comments below. And tell us how you’re using ESL discussion topics in the classroom.

Cameron Smith

Cameron Smith is an English Communication Coach based in Vancouver, Canada. He's the founder of Learn English Every Day, and he's on a mission to help millions of people speak English with confidence. If you want longer video content, please follow me on YouTube for fun English lessons and helpful learning resources!

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CONVERSATION TOPICS: Intermediate Level

Conversation topics suitable for intermediate learners of english..

♦ NOTE : It's a good idea to pre-teach vocabulary relating to the topic before beginning a discussion. Providing phrases for giving an opinion, agreeing and disagreeing is also recommended. This will help students feel more comfortable and encourage them to participate.

• Food - What country has the best cuisine? - What is your favourite food? - What is the worst thing or the strangest food you’ve ever tasted? - What is 'junk food'? Can you give some examples? - What sort of food is called 'healthy food'? - People don't eat enough healthy food? Why? Why not? - Would you like to be a farmer and produce food (meat, vegetables, cereals, fruit…). Why ? Why not ?
• Travel - What country would you most like to visit? - Is there a place you would never visit again? - Can you describe your best/worst travel experience? - If you were only allowed to take five things to an unknown destination, what would you take?
• Eliminating things from today's world If you could « delete » anything from the world, what would you choose ? e.g. war, sickness, pollution, cruelty, aggressivity, greed, death … - What would be the most important to eliminate ? - What would you add to the list ?
• What have been the most important new stories in the last year? - Is it important to know what is happening in the world. Why? Why not? - Do certain events get too much/too little coverage? - Is it better to read the newspaper or watch news reports on television? - Do you trust everything you read, hear or see on the news?
• Fake news - Have you ever heard of fake news (false or fabricated news)? - Where do we most often find fake news? (newspapers, social media, show business ...) - What examples of fake news can you think of? - Can fake news be dangerous?
• Marriage Some couples today live together without getting married. - Do you think marriage is outdated? - Why do some couples still prefer to get married? - Make a list of the advantages and disadvantages of marriage in today’s society.
• Working from home Many employees are now allowed to work from home. - What are the advantages of working from home? - Can you think of any disadvantages ? - How do you keep in contact with your colleagues ? - If you have children, is it easier or more difficult to work from home ?
• Physical Appearance - Is it important how people dress ? - Which is the most important : clothes, shoes, hair, hygiene, style … ? - Can you guess someone's personality by the way they dress? - On what occasions do people dress formally? - On what occasions is it acceptable to dress casually ? - How should you dress for a job interview ?
• You are elected President of your country . - List the most urgent changes you would make and explain why.
• Friendship - Do you prefer to have a lot of friends or just a few close friends? - Are you still friends with someone you knew in Primary/Elementary school? - Why do people need friends? / What are the benefits of having friends? - What qualities do you look for in a friend? - Why do some people have no friends? - What is the best way to make friends?
• Coronavirus - What do you know about the coronavirus? - How can we stop the virus spreading? (wearing masks, washing hands, tests, vaccines …) - Do you think everyone should be vaccinated against the virus? - Are rich countries better protected than poorer countries? - Do you think our lives will be different in the future as a result of the virus?
• Electric cars - Have you ever used an electric car? - What are the advantages? - Are electric cars expensive? Why? - Where can you charge an electric car? - Can electric cars travel as far as petrol or hybrid cars? - Are electric cars better for the environment? - Do you think there will be more electric cars in the future?
• What is for you the most enjoyable type of holiday? (camping, hotel, club, rented accommodation, touring, sports activities, etc.) List 5 things not to forget when you go on holiday.
• Describe your favourite pastime/hobby. - Why is it so enjoyable? - When did you take it up? - How often do you do it? etc...
• Annoying habits - Can you think of some things that annoy you? - What annoys you on public transport? - Do some drivers have annoying habits? - Does snoring annoy you? - Do children or young people do things that annoy adults?
• What are the 5 most important decisions in a person's life? After making suggestions, the group decides on the order of importance.
• Who is the greatest? (Ask students to add to the list.) - Who is/was the greatest leader in the world? - Who is/was the greatest athlete of all time? - What is/was the greatest movie you ever saw? - Who is/was the greatest inventor of all time?
• Your experiences in life - What is the best idea you have ever had? - What is your biggest stroke of luck? - What if the best / the worst piece of advice you ever received? - What achievement are you most proud of? - What initiative would you never take again?
• Environment - What are some of the most serious environmental problems? - What are the causes of pollution? - What are the causes of climate change? - Suggest ten things people can do to help the environment. - Suggest five things governments could do to help the environment.
• Natural disasters - What is a natural disaster? (fires, flooding, earthquakes ...) - Can you give an example of a natural disaster? - Have you ever been in a fire? - If you had to leave your home quickly, what would you take with you? - What would you do if you lost everything?
• Television - How often do you watch television? - What do you think of the quality of television programmes today? - What television programs are popular in your country? - Is watching television good for children? Why? Why not? - What would be your ideal TV show?
• Telephones and mobile phones - Have people become telephone addicts? - What do people use the telephone for nowadays? - Could you live without a telephone? - What would happen if our telephones no longer worked?
• Why are social networks so popular nowadays? - What are the positive/negative effects? - Are social networks sometimes used for bad purposes? - What bad purposes can you think of? (harassment, fake news ...) - What advice would you give to people about social networks?
• Do you think actors, singers, sportsmen, etc. earn too much money? - Why/why not?
• Manners and politeness - What do you think are some good/bad manners? - Can good manners in one country be bad manners in another country? - What are some good manners for using a mobile/cell phone? - Why are manners important? - Do people have better manners now than before?
• Under what circumstances would you : - walk out of a restaurant? - refuse a taxi? - call the manager of a hotel? - sleep in a train/bus station? - wear casual clothes to work?
• If you won a lot of money, what would you do? Would you : - keep it a secret? - stop working? - go shopping? - buy a new house? - travel around the world? - give money to your family/friends? - give money to charity?
• What is a good job? (Ask students to add to the list.) - an interesting job? - a well-paid job? - a secure job? - good working conditions?
• If you had to move to another country because of your job (or your partner's job) , - what country would you prefer if you had a choice? - what would you miss most? - what would be the most important for you?
• Equality men/women - Are men and women always treated equally? - Is it the same in all countries? - Do women often face discrimination at work?
• If .......... , what would you do? - If your house caught fire, what three things would you save before running outside? - If you could be another person for one day, who would you choose to be? - If you could be invisible for one day, what would like to do? - If you could live without sleeping, how would you spend your nights? - If you could change ONE thing in the world, what would it be?

see also: Unfinished sentences - intermediate Conversation Topics - advanced Conversation Topics - beginners

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