There are many different types of speeches. Some of the more popular types of speeches are listed below.
Informational
Motivational
Persuasive
Descriptive
Demonstration
Narrative
Special Occasion
Introduction
For sake of brevity, I am going to focus on speeches that are used at all levels in a career: introductions, persuasive speeches and informational speeches.
Introduction Speeches
Introductions can be used to introduce both yourself to a crowd or to introduce a guest to an audience. They can be both informal (small gathering or interpersonally) and formal. (i.e. prior to a keynote speaker taking the stage).
Keep introduction speeches short. This isn’t usually the time for jokes, especially if you’re not a personal friend of the person you’re introducing.
How to write a Self Introduction.
Persuasive Speech
Persuasive speeches are usually used to argue a point. Buy ours, not theirs. Her idea is terrible, min is great.
The key for most persuasive speeches is use visuals and play on emotions. Whether that is in a sales pitch or a speech in a debate.
Informational Speeches
Professionally, informational speeches are usually given at conferences, by managers at meetings or at company-wide functions.
Another good opportunity for visual aids. However, beware of charts and graphs. They can sometime confuse an audience more than anything.
The rule for using charts and graphs in an informational speech is only to show relevant information on a chart or graph. Take "other" out of the pie chart. If it’s unknown, no one will care.
* unless other is greater than 30%, — but, in that case,it shouldn’t be unknown then.
Informational speeches are usually very straightforward (Intro, Body, Conclusion). Typically, they don’t include personal stories, asides or anecdotes.
If you’re a student and need inspiration for speech topics, check out this list.