Use Sophia to knock out your gen-ed requirements quickly and affordably. Learn more
×

Your Areas of Expertise

Author: Sophia

what's covered
In this lesson, you will learn about why it is helpful to choose a topic you are familiar with. Specifically, this lesson will cover:
  1. Your Expert Areas

1. Your Expert Areas

Many people have areas in which they are experts. Experts are people who have a thorough knowledge of something that most people do not. Expertise is when someone has a wealth of knowledge in a particular field.

EXAMPLE

Rocket scientists are experts, but so are the analysts who talk about football on the television.

When trying to select a topic for your speech consider any areas in which you are an expert. Do not expect to speak fluently on a subject that you know little or nothing about. Your fluency will be in direct ratio to two important conditions: your knowledge of what you are going to say, and your being accustomed to telling what you know to an audience.

Your area of expertise might be a good topic to give a speech about because you already possess a familiarity with it. One benefit of this familiarity is that it reduces the time you will have to spend on researching. Instead, research will mostly be aimed at refining your expertise, enriching it, and ensuring that you are familiar with the conversation around that topic.

When trying to determine what topic you will speak about, picking an area where you have expert knowledge increases the likelihood that your speech will effectively communicate with your audience.

For the audience, you are the authority on the topic that you are speaking about, so it might help to already have authoritative knowledge. A speech whose topic is related to your expert area will draw on your extensive knowledge, making it easier for you to explain the specifics of the topic to the audience.

terms to know
Expert
A person with extensive knowledge or ability in a given subject.
Expertise
Great skill or knowledge in a particular field or hobby.
Knowledge
Familiarity or understanding of a particular skill, branch of learning, etc.

summary
In this lesson, you learned that considering your expert areas can help you decide what topic you will speak about. An expert area is one where you have knowledge that most people do not. Choosing an expert area for a topic has an advantage because you already have the knowledge, which makes it easier to explain to an audience.

Source: Source: Boundless. "Your Areas of Expertise." Boundless Communications Boundless, 3 Mar. 2017. Retrieved 29 Jun. 2017 from https://www.boundless.com/communications/textbooks/boundless-communications-textbook/choosing-a-topic-6/finding-and-selecting-a-topic-35/your-areas-of-expertise-154-6625/

Terms to Know
Expert

A person with extensive knowledge or ability in a given subject.

Expertise

Great skill or knowledge in a particular field or hobby.

Knowledge

Familiarity or understanding of a particular skill, branch of learning, etc.