PERSUASIVE SPEECH PRACTICE OUTLINE
SPECIFIC PURPOSE : To convince my audience to become organ donors. (actuate)
THESIS : To become an organ donor is an important decision not only for you, but for the thousands of
people waiting to receive an organ, allowing you to save a life.
THEME (optional):
INTRODUCTION
1. Attention getter: Have you all ever thought of what the very best gift you could ever give to
someone or receive? What about the gift of life? I want to talk to you all about becoming an organ
donor.
2. Relate topic to audience: Can you imagine yourself or a loved one in critical conditions and the
only thing in the way of a simple fix of a new organ is a long waiting list? If you or anyone you know
have been in that position, you can understand how unfair and disheartening it feels. An easy to
solution to shortening that waiting list, is to increase the amount of organ donors.
3. Establish your credibility: When I was in high school, a speaker came to our school to discuss
organ donation. After that, as soon as I turned 18 I became an organ donor and I have been a strong
advocate for it ever since.
4.
Preview your specific purpose/call to action and main points: Many people don’t think a lot of
becoming an organ donor, simply because they don’t know enough about it. So I want to talk about
how organ donation works, what some arguments against it are, and how and why you all should
become organ donors to hopefully convince you to become an organ donor.
BODY
I.
How it works
a. It’s a strict and stable system: UNOS website
b. What organs can be donated –list on powerpoint
c. Brain death must be determined
i. By 2 doctors, one neurologist
ii. Show criteria for brain death on powerpoint
1. Irreversible absence, NOT A COMA,
2. You can legally call this death
iii. Hospital notifies organization
1. In TN it is the Tennessee Donor Services
a. Representative goes to the hospital
iv. They alert the hospital of the next recipient on the list (UNOS)
v. A surgeon from that hospital flies with a team to get the organ, and flies back to do
to the transplant
TRANSITION: Now that you have a general overview of how it works, here are some popular
arguments against organ donation.
II.
Arguments
a. Doctors won’t work hard to save you if you are an organ donor
i. As mentioned previously, brain death has a set of criteria
ii. No benefit of the doctor to get the organ
iii. That doctor is not involved at all in the process.
1. A representative from the organ donation service would handle everything
between the patient declared as brain dead, to a surgeon flying in to
remove the organ
iv. No one but the organ donation service knows who is next on the list
v. From mayoclinic.org
b. Organ donation vs. donating body to science
i. Completely different, you can specify how you want your organs to be used.
ii. Mark on back on ID has nothing to do with research, and you can always talk to
your family about your specific wishes
c. Open casket problems
i. Only a problem if there is a lot of trauma. Scars can be covered, just like autopsy
scars.
d. Rich and famous go to top list automatically
i. Financial status is not considered in list arrangement. It is solely based on the
medically necessity of the patient. The more severely they need it, the higher they
are on the list.
TRANSITION: As you can see, the reasons why people choose not to donate organs are usually
because of misconceptions.
III.
How you can help and why you should
a. In the US, about 18 people die everyday waiting for an organ, every 10 minutes a new
name is added to the national organ waiting list. What is even more shocking than these
statistics is that just one organ donor can save up to 8 lives.
1. From New York Organ Donor Network
b. The whole process is free, and it is easy to become an organ donor
1. Register
a. ID, at DMV, online
2. Tell your loved ones, doctor, faith leader
CONCLUSION
1. Review main points/arguments: Now that you have the facts, you can see how important it is. The
process of organ donation and transplantation is very strict and the system is durable. There are no
loopholes, and the pros to organ donation highly out weigh the cons.
2.
Restate specific purpose/call to action—“What do you want them to do?”
a. show TDS website on powerpoint
b. Register at DMV, simply mark it on the back of your ID!
c. Most importantly, inform others about it, many people don’t even think about this.
3.
Memorable statement By being an organ donor you can give the ultimate gift. It’s literally a gift of
life. No one wants or should have to live in sickness waiting for an organ that has no use in a brain
dead body anymore. So if you are not an organ donor, I hope I at least gave you some things to think
about. It’s the opportunity for you to give life, even in death
BIBLIOGRAPHY (complete citations. 4 minimum)
“Organ Dono.Gov.” Donate the Gift of Life. Web. 23 March 2014.
< http://www.organdonor.gov/index.html>.
“Organ Donation Myths” Mayoclinic. Web. 23 March 2014.
<http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/consumer-health/in-depth/organ-donation/art-20047529>
“Tennessee Donor Services” TDS. Web 23 March 2014. <http://tds.dcids.org>
“Brain Death: What does it mean?” About Surgery. Web. 24 March 2014.
<http://surgery.about.com/od/proceduresaz/a/Brain-Death-What-Does-It-Mean.htm>