Name: Ima Student
English 10 Persuasive Speech Outline
Outline
Draft
I. Introduction
Today I’d like to offer you some advice
that may be the most important lesson
A. How I will catch attention:
Stress the importance of my topic as you’ll ever learn about driving—although
it may have only been covered briefly in
“most important”
a single lesson of your driver’s education
course.
B. My main claim:
You should not text while driving.
Texting while driving is a serious
distraction and one that could cost you
your life or the lives of others. I know
how hard it is to put the phone down and
concentrate on the road. Even as an adult,
I sometimes struggle with avoiding
distractions while I’m driving. But there
are plenty of other options and a lot of
good reasons to keep your eyes on the
road.
II. Reason #1: Distracted driving is
deadly driving.
First, texting while driving is very
dangerous. Now let’s think about this.
We all know that drunk driving is a bad
A. Why my audience will think this is a idea because it is deadly. That’s why
everyone was so outraged with Justin
good reason:
Bieber last month.
No one wants to die.
B. Evidence I will use to support this
reason:
Satistics about just how deadly
distracted driving is.
Example of allusion: Justin Bieber
Example of alliteration: “Distracted
driving is just as dangerous. It is deadly
dangerous.”
But did you know that distracted driving
is just as dangerous? It is deadly
dangerous. In fact, because texting takes
your eyes off the road longer than any
other activity that distracts you from
driving, it makes all drivers 23 times
more likely to be involved in an accident.
In 2011, almost a fourth of all auto
collisions were caused by someone using
a cell phone.
III. Counterclaim:
A. Here is an counterclaim I need to
acknowledge:
It only takes a second. I’m a good
enough driver to handle it.
B. How I plan to defuse or offer a
rebuttal to this counterclaim:
Statistics about how far you actually
travel.
I know you may think that it only takes a
second to type that text and hit send.
However, in actuality, the average text
takes your eyes away from the road for
five seconds. If you’re going 55 mph,
then five seconds is the amount of time it
takes you to drive the length of a football
field.
You may also think that you’re a good
enough driver that you can safely send a
text message without interfering with
your ability to operate your vehicle.
Statistics show that teen drivers who text
spend approximately 10% of their driving
time driving outside of their lane. But it’s
hard to know that if you aren’t looking.
IV. Reason #2: Texting and driving is
illegal.
A. Why my audience will think this is a
good reason:
No one wants to get arrested or
fined.
B. Evidence I will use to support this
reason:
Utah’s penalties
Example of parallelism: “Spending a few
extra seconds to pull over now is better
than spending many extra years in jail
later.”
Another good reason to avoid texting and
driving is because it is outlawed in many
cities and states. Getting caught could get
you in big trouble. In 2009, Utah passed
the nation’s toughest law on texting
behind the wheel—up to 15 years in
prison. Think about it: spending a few
extra seconds to pull over now is better
than spending many extra years in jail
later.
And in addition to the actual laws in
place, there are technological advances
that now allow parents to install driver
cams that show them in real time exactly
what you’re doing while you’re driving.
This could also get you in trouble.
V. Reason #3: There are better options.
A. Why my audience will think this is a
good reason:
I provide good alternate strategies.
B. Evidence I will use to support this
reason:
I will supply some ideas of what
to do instead.
VI. Conclusion
A. This is how I will strongly
emphasize the truth of my claim:
You don’t want to be in an
ambulance.
A better alternative is to wait until you
reach your destination. Or, if you
absolutely must respond to a text sooner,
find a safe place to pull over. If having
the phone within reach is too much of a
temptation for you, try placing it in the
backseat where you can’t get to it while
you’re driving.
So as you prepare to get out on the roads,
let your biggest worry be whether you’ll
pass your driving test, not whether you’ll
end up in an accident due to texting and
driving. Let it wait. Pull over. Or just put
your phone out of reach until you get
where you’re going. When you respond
B. This is what I will ask my audience to
to your BFF’s text of “where r u?”, you
do:
don’t want your answer to be “in an
Pull over when need to text. Keep
ambulance.”
phone out of reach.