Although the College Library does not subscribe to CQ Researcher, its "hot topics" page may provide you with ideas and preliminary sources for persuasive speeches.
Nexis Uni. A treasure trove of information including: full-text newspapers worldwide, full-text periodicals, news transcripts, college and university newspapers, congressional hearings, U.S. Code, legal publications and case law, reference materials, business information, including SEC reports, etc.
Newspaper Source Plus includes more than 1,000 full-text newspapers, providing more than 38 million full-text articles. The database contains comprehensive full text for major newspapers such as the Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Chronicle, The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), The Times (UK), Toronto Star, USA Today, The Washington Post, The Washington Times (DC) and others.
All staff articles are also included from many newspapers, including The Philadelphia Inquirer, Houston Chronicle, Star Tribune (Minneapolis), etc.
These databases are useful when you are focusing on a very specific topic or when you need data (research, numerical, etc.) to support a claim you are making in your speech.
The BC Library also has access to many subject-specific academic journal databases. For a list of databases arranged by subject/discipline, follow this link.
The databases listed below are particularly useful when researching speeches, because they provide accurate information at a level appropriate for a 7 - 10 minute speech. Even children's databases are good sources for speech material, because they include often humorous anecdotes and examples that work well in an oral presentation.
Most of the library's databases come from EBSCOHost. Click on the link below for complete instructions on searching, retrieving full text, and using interlibrary loan in the College Library's EBSCOHost databases.