Philosophy Speech Sample Outline
I. Introduction
A. Introductory technique: (Music – Ode to Joy) and Bold Statements
1. Ode to Joy
2. Joyeux Noel
3. Joy to the world
4. Let the sing joyfully unto the Lord
5. What is joy? Where is joy?
B. Context Builders:
1. Cleaning my house doesn’t give me joy. Shopping doesn’t give me joy. Yet, I
can be joyful in my approach to all things.
2. Joy is something we all want to have in our lives, but often people confuse joy
with other upbeat words like happiness and fulfillment.
3. Joy is more complex and not as easily found as happiness.
C. Thesis statement: Joy is source of inspiration and meaning that far exceeds mere
happiness.
II. Topic Sentence #1: Joy is more than happiness.
A. Gifts
1. Kids are happy to get something new, but something must be truly special to
inspire joy.
2. A new puppy brings joy. Typically, a new toy brings happiness.
a. Kids were thrilled with a new Wii game, but the newness waned.
b. Puppy- not always “thrilling” to fulfill the responsibilities, but to see a
new puppy learn a trick, to hold a puppy while it sleeps, or to play catch as
it grows, and as a child grows, “priceless”
3. The exception is when a toy is given to someone who has never had one.
a. My grandmother. The one thing I asked to inherit was her doll.
b. She waited for it year after year- did not understand why she did not get
one and thought that Santa did not care about her- maybe did not know
about her intense desire for her own doll.
B.
Joy can be seen flourishing at major family milestone moments, moments when
meaningful personal goals are met and when life changing events happen.
1. A parent feels joy at the graduation of a child who has struggled to succeed in
school.
2. It is a joyful event to many when we see a grandmother finally graduate from
college.
3. People cry at weddings because they feel an inexpressible rush of joy.
4. Perhaps there is no greater joy than the birth of a child.
a. My goddaughter
b. My children
III. Topic Sentence #2: Joy inspires faith, zeal, and optimism
A. Julie
1. My friend is a process engineer who also tutors at-risk students at Cooper High
School.
2. She says, “If you can’t do something with joy, you have to ask yourself if you
should be doing it at all.”
3. She has influenced me to make a deliberate choice to approach my choices- to
choose joy or to let go of the things that strangle my optimism.
4. Joy is like zeal- it is a passionate commitment to looking fosters optimism and
optimism enables faith and zeal
B.
Jan
1. I met her about 2 ½ years ago, before my daughter started the 1st grade. I
needed a carpool.
2. Brother in-law died after complications from a car accident.
3. Sister was chronically ill with MS. Sister died- leaving four boys and one girl.
No one else was able to take all of them and keep them together, so she and Dan
did.
IV. Topic Sentence #3: Without joy life lacks meaning.
A. Kids- Images that come to mind when I think of joy
1. My son eating an ice cream cone on a hot August day at Cannon beach
2. My daughter’s laugh when…. comes out as a snort
3. Poem
V. Conclusion
A. Joy is more spiritual than happiness. We talk about things giving us joy, but in
reality, joy is cultivated, nurtured, and grown through commitment, deep abiding
friendships, love and perseverance.
B. To live with joy is to make a conscious choice, a deliberate decision to live life
optimistically and to do all things with a sense of purpose and wonder.