Choose a topic of interest and that fits your speech assignment. It can be very difficult to speak about an uninteresting topic. Be compelled by your topic!
Start with background information that can be found via Google Searches, Wikipedia and other easy searches. Use these searches to create lists of keywords, organizations, historic events, legislation and other information.
Don't ever stop at just your first searches and sources found online! There are so many other resources available, such as UMD Library catalog and our giant collection of Resource Databases.
Get expert advice from your UMD Librarians on search strategy, resource selection and citation. We make it easy to Ask Us via email, chat, phone and by appointments.