English Speaking GCSE

Hello, I am currently in year 11 and my english speaking GCSE is on the 12th November. I had thought of a few concepts and the one I have chosen is 'Do insecurities make or break us?' . I am quite unsure on whether or not I should do this since many of my classmates are doing very informative speeches, e.g. Gender pay gap, Discredited women in the past, Social media, AI, Uniform should be removed, and so on.
So please be honest do you think this would be a good topic to talk about?
(I have written a small speech so far, so if you want to, I can post it for anyone to give me feedback)

I genuinely really like this idea!! However I think instead of having a debate-style title, a more opinioned title will be better as I personally think that makes it easier to integrate persuasive language in your speech. You can still use some counter arguments to show you've considered both sides of the argument, but ultimately I would use an even better argument to counter those counter arguments.
E.g. "Although it is undeniable that..., I think/research shows...."
Good luck!

Hey! I did my speech on "Is ethnic culture disappearing?" last year and got a distinction - here's my honest advice
If you really want to keep the question as "Do insecurities make or break us" then go ahead! However, you have to remember that you need a Line of Argument throughout, where you are arguing a certain point, so if you think that insecurities break us, you have to argue that they do, then compare the other side of the debate but say why you disagree.
If you are happy to change it, my best advice is to keep it straight to a point instead of having a "How" question - "how" insinuates that you have more areas to explore, which wouldn't be prudent since you are arguing your point specefically, not exploring it. In that case, perhaps having a question like "Do insecurities break us" would be easier to argue, but again its entirely your choice, I'm just saying what I found out when I was drafting for a question.
Also, you have to remember about your speaking skills - they are worth more points than your content. Including literacy techniques like rhetorical questions are really good, plus doing a hand up activity like in TED talks also can be rewarding. So yeah, good luck, I hope this helps!

Well done on your distinction!
Thank you so much this really helped, I will change my speech title to "Do insecurities break us".
Also, do you have any advice on how to prepare and improve my speaking skills? To be honest, I'm not the best at public speaking and we have around three weeks until our speaking exam so I would really appreciate it if you could help, thanks!

awh thank you!!
In terms of skills, when you're speaking, fix your vision on a certain point in the back of the classroom, that looks like you're looking at the audience but you're actually not, if you lack confidence. I would say, practice at home, with friends (who aren't in ur class so they don't get tired of hearing your speech many times) or even to a wall at home. I recorded myself speaking and then found out what areas I was too fast/slow, and how I can improve that. Also speak in front of your mirror, if possible so that you can see how you speak. Honestly I would say don't stress you; you'll do a lot better than you think, and 3 weeks is plenty, just memorising and talking about your topic is enough. Students tend to perform best at the questions anyway so just imagine that you are arguing about a topic with your group of friends or someone, so that you won't get too nervous. But trust me, you got this!!

Well done on your distinction!
Since my speech is about insecurities (also should I change this topic), how do I change it into an argument? Also my teacher told us to include a personal aspect/story to it, will I lose marks if I do not add this?

Thank you!
You won't loose marks if you don't add a story but I do suggest you look at the mark scheme.
You could make it into an argument by having two sides to the title but you have to come to a conclusion or solution so I suggest you don't make it balanced.
I would love to have a look at what you've got written currently if you want any more feedback.