Examples of Persuasive Speeches
(Some are much shorter than we are writing)
Don't Touch That Towel!
By Shannon C.
I think our school would benefit by investing in automatic motion-sensing hand dryers. I
have several reasons for this. Children can get sick from the germ-infested paper towel
dispensers we now have. There is also terrible waste when students continuously pull the
lever, dispensing towels they don't really need.
First of all, this automatic hand dryer is very sanitary. Instead of pulling on a lever that
has been touched by a large number of students, users can just stick their hands under the
blow-dryer. No germs can get on them because there is nothing to touch.
In addition, if we buy this automatic hand dryer, we can save the school budget and trees.
The money we save by not wasting paper towels can be used for educational things,such
as field trips. We could even go to a tree farm and see how many trees we saved. Cutting
fewer trees will make a big difference in the environment.
If the electricity happens to go out, the hand dryer, like all electric appliances, will go out
too. That is ONE bad thing, but we know the lights don't go out that often. We will store
extra paper towels in the custodian's room for emergencies.
So I think there is much to be said for this automatic motion-sensing hand dryer.
Administrators will be glad to know that absenteeism will be lowered. Money can be
saved. Finally, if the trees could talk, they would probably shout for joy, knowing that a
whole school is saving a forest. Let's install automatic hand dryers at our school as soon
as possible.
Why the Apple Watch is Not Worth Buying
Apple has continually been the company able to astonish and amaze. Its previous CEO
and guru Steve Jobs was a genius of marketing; when he was alive, Apple kept surprising
its customers year after year. However, recently Apple started to remind of an old lady
who tries to act young; some of its products seem to be useless trinkets rather than
practical and revolutionary. This unflattering remark refers to Apple Watch – one of
Apple’s most recent gadgets; although Apple fans are already drooling over it, there
is, in fact, no reason why someone should pay large sums for this product.
There is nothing special about the Apple Watch. Among the most important features
developers (and marketers) emphasize is the ability to show notifications when your
phone’s screen is locked; incoming text analysis – the watch screens emails and other
incoming information and suggests reply options; quick voice messaging and
customizable emojis; a heap of fitness functions, such as the measurement of heart rate, a
workout organizer, and so on; Siri is traditionally on board, as well as Maps (Mashable).
But is all this really so outstanding? The notification function simply moves the vibration
from your pocket to your wrist when the phone is off. Stick your iPhone to your hand
with a duct tape, and you will get a similar experience. The text analysis system,
subjectively, is one of the most controversial and least needed functions. Where is the
guarantee that it will always work correctly? Even though it suggests possible reply
options, you will still have to read through them to check whether the reply is accurate; it
does not save much time. And if you decide to not double-check, and simply send the
message right away, just imagine yourself replying to your boss’ message with something
like, “Sorry, sweetheart, I have a headache, let’s do it next time.” This function makes the
communicator – the user – almost useless, leaving them as a passive spectator. Quick
voice messaging is not revolutionary either – tons of apps can do that, starting from Viber
and ending up with exotic (in the West) LINE. The same goes for fitness functions. As
for customizable emojis, it is definitely not an icing on a cake that costs $600.
Besides, this gadget does not fit the Apple environment well. The only sync it can
establish is with an iPhone. If you, however, have an Apple phone older than an iPhone
5s, be prepared for your Apple Watch to be inert and a detached piece of plastic and
metal. Why is it bad? Many people still use iPhones of the 5th or even 4th generation,
because they work just fine, and the new ones cost a lot. So, if they ever want to purchase
an Apple Watch, they have to pay additional $500 (approximately) for an iPhone 5s.
Users of Android phones cannot use the gadget either (Whatculture.com).
Apple Watch is a product of high quality marketing. As usual, Apple has offered
something that millions of customers immediately felt amazed and amused with;
however, behind this wall of awe, they cannot see that Apple Watch is not outstanding in
any aspect. It is expensive, it does not work well in the Apple environment, it possesses a
bunch of functions which any smartphone – even a mediocre one – can perform at the
same, or even better level. So, is it worth purchasing it? The answer is most likely no.
Students Should Not Be Allowed to Use Cell phones at School
A regular cell phone nowadays is a portable computer allowing its owner to solve
multiple tasks anywhere, anytime. Along with this, a cell phone provides numerous
entertainment options, which are especially valued by the younger generation – high
school students, in particular. Whereas having a cell phone for a teenager is already seen
as a must, in some situations teenagers should be required to be abstained from using
their gadgets for certain periods of time, and one place where they should be abstained
from is at school.
There exist numerous reasons why high school students should not be allowed to use
their cell phones, tablets, and other gadgets at school, not to mention during classes.
One of them is a severe cell phone addiction that teenagers can develop if they overuse
their devices. According to a study by Gaby Badre, in such cases, teenagers tend to
experience “increased restlessness with more careless lifestyles, more consumption of
stimulating beverages, difficulty in falling asleep and disruptive sleep, and more
susceptibility to stress and fatigue.” They may also have headaches and, what is curious,
experience phantom ringing sounds (when a person thinks that their phone is ringing,
when it is not). This is what distracts teenagers during studying, and keeps them awake at
night, when they should be sleeping. All this does not speak in favor of allowing
teenagers the use of cell phones in high school, where they are not necessary(Teen Ink).
Along with the health problems caused by the excessive use of cell phones, parents
should be concerned about how teenagers use cell phones. It is not a secret that
adolescent subculture is strongly based on hierarchy; those who do not manage to fit in
often become bullied by their more fortunate peers. In these terms, cell phones provide
limitless opportunities for what is called cyber-bullying. For example, camera phones can
be secretly used almost anywhere, including private areas (such as restrooms and locker
rooms), where bullies can take embarrassing photos of their victims; then, using their cell
phones, bullies can spread these photos around school in no time, upload them to
YouTube, or publicly humiliate their victims in some other way. This is not to mention
sexual harassment (apps like SnapChat make it easy), digital revenge for broken
relationships, hacking and stalking, and so on (Safe Search Kids). It is impossible to
control a student outside of school, but doing this during classes is not difficult.
According to British research of cell phone policies of Birmingham, London, Leicester
and Manchester schools, their effects on students’ performance has been discovered that
the schools which banned cell phones showed in an increase in test scores by 6.4% for 16
years old students. These results seem to be significant for the United States as well,
since about 73% of American teenagers use cell phones (compared to 90% of British
students). These gains were observed among students with the lowest achievements, and
among average students these results were doubled. This shows that banning cell phones
has a great impact on students’ performances, and in terms of increasing the quality of
education, such measures would be beneficial (Time).
As it can be seen, cell phones, if used improperly, can negatively affect a teenager’s
life in a number of ways. In particular, an adolescent can develop restlessness and
anxiety (along with a cell phone addiction), which is unacceptable at such a young age.
Due to the peculiarities of school life and the way teenagers interact with each other, cell
phones can be used for bullying – for example, secretly taking embarrassing photos of
classmates in private areas, and so on. In addition, using cell phones in schools negatively
affects performance; in schools where the use of cell phones has been banned, students’
performance increased significantly. These reasons definitely speak in favor of
prohibiting teenagers using cell phones in high schools.
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