Giving memorable 2-minute speeches are tricker than giving 2-minute speeches.
Speeches are an effective way to share your understanding, opinion, or perspective on a topic. It doesn’t matter if your speech is for 2 minutes, 10 minutes, or 50 minutes, the main essence of any speech is to reach the audience.
2-minute speeches are quite effective if presented in a well-structured manner. In fact, giving 2-minute speeches can also help you improve your public speaking skills. And that is the reason why schools ask the students to give 2-minute speeches for every assignment!
Now we understand you might have tons of questions when it comes to 2-minute speeches, but fret not, we’ve got you covered. Read till the end of the blog to get a more comprehensive idea about 2-minute speeches.
Also, check out our video here if you want a very short glimpse of the article:
Is a 2-minute speech too short?
2-minute speeches come under the category of short speeches. So ideally 2 minute speeches are short speeches. But when we say is it too short? Then the answer will be subjective.
For instance, If you are to present your research findings then a 2-minute speech would not do justice to years of your work. But at the same time if you are giving a self-introduction then 2 minute speeches are more than enough!
How long is a 2-minute speech?
To understand how long 2-minute speeches should be, you need to understand your pace of speaking which is the number of words spoken per minute. An average person usually speaks about 130-150 words per minute. So for 2-minute speeches, 260-300 words should be sufficient.
When it comes to the number of pages for a 2-minute speech, then your speech can be half to one page long. It all depends on the font size that you use!
Similarly, the number of sentences that would make up a 2-minute speech can vary depending on the font size that you use or your handwriting.
Writing 2-minute speeches
1. Choose a topic
The very first step in writing your speech is to know what you want to talk about, which is your topic!
You can either come up with the topic yourself or you can search for a broad topic on the internet and then narrow it down as per your liking.
So if for example, you are writing a 2-minute speech on unity as strength, you may want to focus on a particular instance wherein unity shown by people worked as their strength and helped them achieve a goal, like a freedom struggle.
2. Decide on your takeaway
If you are wondering what takeaways are, then they are your answer to the question “why are you presenting this particular topic to the audience?”
For some the answer could be, to educate, give another perspective on a widely studied topic, or even awaken the audience to take action.
In 2 minute speeches, the clock ticks faster so you should ideally focus on only 1 takeaway.
Once you have figured out why you want to present the topic to your audience or listeners, you can then move to the next stage of research.
3. Research for your speech
When you begin researching for 2 minutes speeches, you don’t have to get into tons of details. The idea is to give the audience enough information to understand your topic within a short time.
For starters, you can browse your topic on Google, YouTube, Instagram, and other social media channels. You might also want to research some facts or statistics related to your topic as it increases the credibility of your speech.
4. Structure your speech
There are 3 things to be kept in mind while structuring your speech. They are ethos, pathos, and logos.
Ethos means credibility. It is concerned with giving the audience a reason to believe in you. So, if your speech is about the impact of gaming on violent behavior, mentioning that you are a psychologist would add credibility to your speech.
Pathos is related to emotions. The idea is to connect with the listeners through emotions. And the easiest way to do that is through stories!
In the example above, you can share a story of a client who developed violent behavior patterns after spending a considerable amount of time on gaming and how they are doing now.
Logos means logic. Adding logical elements like facts, statistics, and quotes by famous personalities helps drive your main idea forward in a more rational sense.
Again, taking the example of the impact of gaming on violent behavior, logos could include a sentence like:
School shootings have increased from 11 in 2009 to 93 in 2021. It is a staggering number and when you take a deeper look into it, you’ll find that a considerable number of these shooters were addicted to gaming.
Edit
Editing is something we believe is a very crucial part of giving a memorable 2-minute speech. Why?
Because 2-minute speeches aren’t only about what you say but also about what you choose not to say.
Editing also helps you focus on your topic more clearly rather than drifting or diversifying your topic.
Delivering 2-minute Speeches
1. Establish your takeaway
Since you had already decided on your takeaway while writing the speech, you are well aware of it. But does your audience have any idea yet? No!
While they might infer why you are presenting the particular topic after listening to your speech, you cannot leave it to that.
Establish your takeaway right at the beginning of your speech, so that the audience also understands what they can expect from your speech.
2. How to begin a 2 minute Speech (Simple beginning)
This might come as a shocker, especially because we are always told to begin with a Bang!
For 2-minute speeches, if you end up spending a lot of your time on the beginning, you will have to shorten the main content of your speech.
Starting in a simple and direct manner suits best in such cases.
A few ways in which you can begin your 2-minute speeches are given below:
If you are to introduce yourself, you can begin simply by saying your name. “Good afternoon everyone, I am Xyz…”
You can also use ethos, pathos, and logos to begin your 2-minute speeches.
Ethos:
“Mumbai is known for 2 things gateway of India and potholes. Being someone who has lost a close friend of mine due to the careless work done towards these potholes, I’m here to address the issue we so conveniently drive over”
Pathos
“About a year ago, in this very month of July, it was raining heavily in Mumbai. I remember this because there happened to be a friend of mine who was supposed to meet me for a meeting, we had that day, but he didn’t make it. The reason? Heavily flooded roads covered with potholes that he couldn’t see. A tragic accident or a convenient murder?”
Logos
“In 2018, Mumbai alone witnessed 522 accidents caused by potholes”
3. Emphasize
Repeating or rather stressing certain words gives rhythm to your speech. It also helps in easy learning and increases the chance of easy recall among the audience.
4. How to End a 2 Minute Speech
When it comes to 2-minute speeches, your conclusion or closing lines are very important. The reason is that your audience will mostly remember the last part of your speech better than the rest.
Make sure to restate the takeaway and main crux of your speech. You can also end your speech by quoting some famous personalities. In many speeches, the speaker asks the audience to take action or to think about a question that they leave the audience with.
So, we now know how your phone helps you socialize but keeps you away from the same people physically. We have been living in this virtual world for quite some time now. The least you can do is to keep your technology aside especially when you are with people you care about. An hour without your phone won’t hurt, will it?
Impromptu 2-minute speeches
Impromptu speeches are ones where you are given the topic on the spot with little to no time to prepare for the speech. In such cases, you barely have any time to go about carrying out thorough research and structuring your speech.
Rather you can keep a few frameworks in your mind and then structure the speech accordingly on the spot. This is the most convenient way of delivering effective impromptu 2-minute speeches.
A few frameworks that you can use for your 2-minute impromptu speeches are:
1. PREP model
PREP stands for Point, Reason, Example, and Point. This essentially means that you begin by talking about something, then give a reason that justifies that point. You then follow it with an example to back your point and end by repeating the point to reach your audience in a structured manner.
2. WWW model
No, WWW doesn’t stand for World Wide Web. Rather it means answering 3 questions,
- Who are you?
- What do you do?
- Where are you going from here?
WWW works best when you have to give an impromptu introduction of yourself.
An example of using the WWW model to introduce yourself is given below.
Hello everyone, I am Arsh M, a fashion designer, and advocate of sustainability. During my college years, I was astonished by the amount of cloth waste produced each day. Upon researching, I realized that the fashion industry happens to be one of the biggest polluters in the world. This motivated me to work towards bringing more sustainable styling choices for everyone. That is when I began my venture in Sustainaesthetic. We are a completely sustainable and animal cruelty-free brand that aims to provide you with diverse sustainable styling options at a very affordable rate so that saving the planet doesn’t hurt your pockets!
3. Pointer Format
As the name suggests, the pointer format involves dividing your content into 3-5 points. This will make it easier for you to talk about each point for a couple of seconds before moving to the next. At the same time, it sounds very structured and may be easy to recall.
An example of a pointer format is a speech given the by CEO of Pepsico Indra Nooyi.
Famous 2-minute speeches
1. Indra Nooyi
The speech given by Pepsico’s CEO is well-written and spoken. She begins by appreciating India, her home country, and then moves on to briefly talk about her 3 life lessons. Diving her speech into such crisp segments with an introduction, 3 pointers and finally, a conclusion, makes the speech very comprehensive and structured.
2. Denzel Washington
The speech given by Denzel Washington is one of the most motivating speeches of all time. It is because of the way he calmly delivers the speech by taking required pauses to stress the important lines.
2-minute speeches from movies
Speeches in movies usually bring out the emotion of awe, inspiration, or sympathy. We will look at two such 2-minute inspirational speeches from movies.
1. Any Given Sunday
The scene on any given day is worth noting for its storytelling approach. Al Pacino begins his speech with brutal honesty when he says “ We are in hell gentlemen.”
He then goes on to talk about how the game is very similar to everyone’s life and emphasizes being at the right place at the right time.
“One second early or one second late, you miss a catch,” he says. In the latter half of his speech, he increases his voice as if trying to reach his player’s very core, in an attempt to motivate them to do their level best in the game.
2. Coach Carter
This speech scene of Coach Carter is unlike other traditional scenes where the coach inspires his students. Rather, one of the students gives a very short speech that moves not only his teammates but also his teacher.
It can also be counted as a very effective thank you speech!
Monologues happen to be yet another powerful tool used in 2-minute speeches from movies. Monologues are long dialogues given by a single character. Let’s take a look at some of the most striking monologues given in movies
2-minute dramatic monologue for male
When it comes to dramatic monologues for males, the dialogue is often very inspiring or tries to instill the right amount of motivation among the team players or the soldiers. Let us take a look at 2 such dramatic monologues given by male characters in movies that had an amazing impact on their audience.
1. V for Vendetta
V for vendetta isn’t only an amazing movie, but this monologue by V is out of the ordinary. In the scene, V introduces himself to a woman whom he had just saved.
He uses alliteration by introducing himself with words that start with V. Check out the exact dialogue to get a clearer idea about the monologue.
Voila! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran is cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified and had vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicarious and violation of volition…. You may call me V.
2. Wolf of Wallstreet
Who hasn’t heard of this amazing movie, wolf of wall street? One thing that we will observe when it comes to this movie is that the main lead had amazing public speaking skills. He had the power to persuade his listeners and encourage them to chip in at their level best for the growth of the organization.
In one such speech, he talks about how he isn’t leaving them and that he is here to stay.
The use of dramatic suspense followed by his change in tone and voice is something worth noting.
2-minute dramatic monologue for female
When it comes to dramatic monologues given by female characters in movies, 2 of these scenes come into our minds. The scenes are both beautifully written and executed by the actors.
1. Devil Wears Prada
In the movie Devil Wears Prada, the monologue is given by Meryl Streep who plays the role of Miranda Priestly. The speech is worth noting as she dramatically explains how even a small difference between two pieces of clothing to a lay person is a big difference for the fashion moguls as it is their opportunity to create millions!
Her passion for the industry is quite evident from the 2-minute speech. Further, the way her character picks up the pace when she talks about the reality of the fashion industry brings out her annoyance at the assistant and acts as a way of showing authority through words.
2. 300
The movie 300 features a small scene where the queen requests the councilmen to send more men to war, to help not only her husband but also all the others who are already a part of it.
We see the use of ethos in the speech when the queen says the following statement:
I come to you as a mother. I come to you as a wife. I come to you as a spartan woman.
Examples of 2-minute speeches
If you are looking for some examples for your next 2-minute speech or 2-minute speeches to memorize, check out the ones given below!
How to introduce yourself in 2 minutes?
When you have to introduce yourself in 2-minutes, it is better to follow a simple structure of past, and present.
An example of introducing yourself as a fresher for a job interview has been given below
Good afternoon, I am Arya Rose. I recently graduated from ABC college, majoring in Analytics. Growing up I had always found immense interest in math and had also won Olympiads at the school level. During my under graduation, I had taken up a course in tools for Data Analysis which made me realize my inclination toward analytics. It also encouraged me to pursue my major in the field of analytics.
Being an active member of my college, I made sure to participate in and represent my college across various events and intercollegiate festivals. I also had the chance to be a part of Hackin which is ABC’s elite Hackathon team. With the Team, we stood 2nd at Hackified, a hackathon organized by QPR college.
I was further able to put my theoretical knowledge to use by interning with this amazing organization called ANAlysis. The internship spanned over 3 months and I was able to gain an in-depth understanding of software like R and Python.
I now look forward to gaining more practical experience in the field by working and growing with your esteemed organization.
2 minute thank you speech
There are a few things that you must keep in your mind while you are giving a thank you speech.
- Acknowledge the people around you
- Thank them
- Introduce yourself or why you are giving this speech.
- Individually thank every person required.
- Add some inspiring or heartfelt closing marks
An example of a 2-minute thank you speech for an event is given below.
I’d like to first thank every one of you present here, for joining us to make this event an absolute success. To those of you who might not know, I am Shiya M, the editor of the XYZ club and the coordinator of this amazing open mic event “Mehar.” Mehar means blessing in Punjabi, and there is a reason behind it.
On my very first day at XYZ, I was stunned to see the company ritual. Before leaving we were to recall one blessing that we received that day from our colleagues. As unusual as it felt, it was beyond measure one of the most beautiful rituals I had come across. You see in this fast-moving world, we tend to focus a lot on our busy schedule for the things we don’t have. And in all that chaos, we forget to take a look at the n number of blessings showered our way.
So, we wanted to provide a platform where you could do that, even if it was for a couple of hours.
I’d like to thank Ms. T, founder of XYZ, and her immense support and encouragement throughout, Arya and Daven for working closely with all the participants and audience members, ensuring that all your needs were met. I’d also like to thank Mr. Ajay for the technical support provided to him and how can we not thank Jay for being our lead guitarist, tuning in the vibe of this small room as per each participant’s requirement, Jay thank you!
Thank you to all the participants for presenting such beautifully written pieces, we enjoyed them all. A great round of applause for our participants!
Last, I’d like to thank our dear audience for being patient and for motivating all our speakers today you have been the most amazing audience we have ever seen!
Thank you again all of you, it was a great pleasure interacting with every one of you.
meher rakhi!
Humorous 2-minute speeches
If you are trying to understand how to add humor to your speech and make it more fun as well as casual, check out the 2-minute speech example given below.
2-minute humorous speech by bridesmaid
“Hello everyone, first of all, I’d like to begin quite humbly by thanking everyone present for gathering here to celebrate the union of this beautiful couple Jess and Jim.
Now if you know jess, you know me. Because I pretty much tag along with her everywhere. Just like those lice in your hair, can’t leave her alone!
At 5, I had taken up responsibility. It was to protect this absolutely beautiful soul. But as we grew up, it turned out that she was the one who protected me. What the turn tables!
Jess, I’m grateful every day to have such an amazing sister like you in my life who motivates me to do better and talk to “decent” guys..pst they are just not my type!
You’ve been my mom at times, waiting at the door every time I’d get late which makes me wonder if mom outsourced her strictness to you? And if yes, why not me? I was the broke kid!
I’m going to miss those small things you know? How you told me it was chocolate powder when it was coffee, how I never won a game I played with you because you never played it fair, and oh how you never missed complimenting my outfit when I was wearing your clothes!
But seriously, I’m going to miss you tons. I hope you get your fairytale happily ever after! To Jess and Jim!
if you have been asking yourself which topic is best for a 2-minute speech? what are some good topics to speak on? or what should I do for my school speech?
Here is a list of various topics you can choose from!
Common topics for 2-minute speeches
2-minute speech topics for students
- Failure: A blessing in disguise
- The best attitude to have is gratitude
- Covid-19
- Is there value in homework?
- Impact of technology on mental health
- The authenticity of online degrees
- The future is sustainability
- Social media detox
- Blended learning and its benefits
- Residential programs and their benefits
- New education policy
- Value of time
- Importance of education
- Discipline and its importance.
- 2-minute speech on any freedom fighter
- Ban on school uniforms
2-minute speech topics for adults
- Work-life balance for remote employees
- Fields that can turn completely virtual
- Slow living: beyond the hustle
- Impact of diet on mental health
- Unhealthy patterns that cost you in your 40s
- Advice to an 18-year-old
- How colors affect people
- Consistency over motivation
- Future of automobile
- Metaverse: the new shopping hub
- The power of fake news
- Ban on animal testing
- Adopt, don’t shop!
- Social media diet fads or eating disorders?
- Can money buy happiness?
Final words
2-minute speeches are short, crisp speeches that help in conveying your ideas or opinions to the people effectively. As the time is short, focusing too much on the opening lines or in-depth research will steal your time. Instead, focus on a takeaway and chip in extra efforts to give a memorable conclusion.
At the end of the day, there are no strict rules that you must follow for 2-minute speeches, and hence you are open to writing it and delivering it the way that suits best for you.
