PERSUASIVE SPEECH OUTLINE
Scott Esterly
COMS 101 Section B09
June 18, 2019
Organization: Problem-Cause-Solution
Audience analysis: My audience consists of around twenty online students from all
over the world, that range from early twenties all the way to
mid to upper forties. They all have a desire to serve God and
follow what He has planned for their lives, and they are using
Liberty Unniversity as a stepping stone to uncover that path He
has laid out for them.
Topic: The problem I aim to address is that of a strong lack of leaders
in our communities in the current generation and following
generations.
General Goal: To persuade my audience to embrace profession of arms as a
means to develop leaders
Specific Goal: To persuade my audience members that the profession of arms
field, its life style and overall perspective, and that you can use
this career to honor God; not just through His Word but
through the Army values, to develop strong faithful leaders for
our communities.
Introduction:
I. Get Attention
(Army theme song?) Are you tired of those people in your community that
seem to be in a position of authority and not using it to better your neighbor
hood? If you are a person feeling like you could make a difference, that God is
calling you for something bigger then just yourself? Well you are not alone,
the Army is looking for you to join a team of people that have a burning desire
for this country and can help you become that person of influence that you
feel is needed in American today!!!
II. Establish Relevance
We can see it in the young people growing up today, they seem to want
change to happen in the world; however there do not want to be the one to
make that change a reality.
III. Establish Credibility
The proof of this is all around, do to the internet and the media platforms out there.
There are so many Youtube videos for example of people expressing their opinons of
all kinda of topics. However, when you are looking for videos or groups that are
putting action behind their ideas, you find those to be harder to come by.
IV. State the Thesis
With your faith and truct in God, a basis of good morals, and the addition of
the values that the military instills in solders, the military can strengthen a
person to become a leader in the community that can benefit our country for
years; even once they are done serving in the Army.
V. Preview Your Main Points
I will validate this statement by looking into what I have found in articles
about the upcoming generations. Then take a look at what the Army does to
train individuals how to lead. Finally, we will look into the Bible and what
God has to say when it comes to leadership.
Transition: Let’s take a closer what is going on in communities today
Body:
I. Main Point 1.
A. When you look deeper into the issue of why we don’t have leaders in our
community, you find several reasons. One of which is communication skills
have dropped drastically with the future developing leaders. In the article
“Two Reasons Millennials Leaders Struggle With Communication,” it
touches on technology being the center of their focus and this and the
coming generations are very non-confrontaional.1
1. The millennial and GenZ generations you find interact with people more
on their mobile devices then actually in person. Accourding to the above
mentioned article it is 39% more, that is almost 50% which could be
where GenZ is progressing to. This is a huge problem because the world does
not exist inside or behind sceen, it is all around us.
2. The second reason the article talks about it that these upcoming generations are
non-confrontational by nature. This is displayed by their egernous to leave jobs
when the current leadership doesn’t align with what they had anticipated.
Instead of staying and working through differences, which might persuade
people to change things for the coming generation of workers; they feel it is
11 https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianrashid/2017/05/04/two-reasons-millennials-leaders-struggle-with-
communication-and-how-to-help-them/#39e4ff94c671
much easier to leave and go somewhere else, in hopes that the new work place
will fit their thinking.
B. The article “Why Millennials Don’t Want To Lead – And How We Can Fix
It,” Sindell talks about employers are coming to their employees too late
with the ideas of them moving into manager or supervisor roles.2 How are
these employees that the employer thinks is a good canidate for a supervisor
role going to be confident in that role without the proper training. What
should be happening is that employers should offer classes or seminars to
all employees to take advantage of attending. That way when the employee
is presented with an opportunity to progress to a leadership role they will
have more confidence do to the classes or training they previously attended.
C. I feel it is important to look into the leadership gap between the “Baby
Boomer Generation” and the “Millennials.” To do that let’s look into an
article that covers just that titled’ “Millennial, Boomers, and The
Leadership Gap.” 3 Brennan brings up how we can lessen the gap between
these generations and have a overall shift in the workplace environment.
Here are a few of her points.
1. Making the focus on work more about having a mission and making that
mission have a positive inpact is something Millennials are interested in. At
times the business world gets too much tunnel vision on the bottom line of the
company, and making money.
2. Millennials have a different leadership style overall then previous generation.
Again the older style of leadership is all about the numbers for profits and takes
the focus on the people actually doing the work. Their style is more about
having the employee in mind, making sure that you take car of the employees
and then in turn the employees will want to produce those profitable numbers
for you, because they feel they are cared about in there work place.
3. That brings me to the third point I feel that stands out in this article, that not
everything is about the salary. Actually 74% of the millennials working today
care more about flexible schedules then anything. They want the successful
career, but they also do not want to sacrifice theor family life. Millennials want
to go and do things then share their experinces with friends and family on
social media. So, why should we not look into things like offering trips and
cruises as part of a yearly salary insentive, or more vacation time for them to
22 https://www.digitalistmag.com/future-of-work/2017/02/07/why-millennials-dont-want-to-lead-and-how-
to-fix-it-04890768
33 https://www.hrtechnologist.com/articles/leadership-succession/millennials-boomers-amp-the-leadership-
gap/
have and go do those things they want to in the world. In the end the happier
your employees are then the more it will benefit your business because you
will save money on having to train new ones and be able to retain your position
in the market place.
Transition: Now for what the Army has in place to train strong leaders.
II. Main Point 2. The Army has a for sure process for making individuals into
strong leaders, as one would think. This process is build on tried and true
training, regulations, and traditions. We are going to review some of those in
here today.
A. First, we are going to look over how the Army defines what a Leader is.
According to ADP 6-22 on Army Leadership a Leader is defined as,
“anyone who by virtue of assumed role or assigned responsibility inspires
and influences people to accomplish organizational goals.” 4 So, this is
saying people who either, take the initiative and start making decisions to
get things done to help the organization they are assigned to better it or get
tasks done for a mission, or people who are assigned to do that; are leaders
or have leadership potential.
B. Second, we have the Army Values which are defined with what we like to use so
much in the Army, an acarynom. This acarynom is, LDRSHIP and we us this to
help us memorize each of the values, which can be found in regulation AR 600-20
The Army Command Policy. 5
1. Loyalty – Bear true faith and allegiance
2. Duty – Fulfill your obligation for your country and fellow soldiers
3. Respect – Treat people as they should be treated.
4. Selfless Service – Putting the welfare of others before your own.
5. Honor – Live up to Army Values.
6. Integrity – Do what is right legally and morally
7. Personal Courage – Face fear, danger or adversity (physical or mental)
These values are instilled into your thinking from the first day you enter into
the military environment, another words day one of basic combat training. I
feel as leaders we should always keep these values at the center of our focus
and as our foundation on how we lead by example. A saying I try to keep in
mind for not just my soldiers but my kids, “More is caught then taught.”
4 https://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/adp6_22.pdf
5 https://www.army.mil/e2/c/downloads/399376.pdf
C. My third and final point of Army Leadership that I will be sharing with you, also
comes from AR 600-20, The Army Command Policy. In this regulation the focus I
pull from it is how we have come to start treating the soldiers that we are placed in
charge of. It talks about all soldiers should be treated with dignity and respect. The
Army as a past history has not always been like this, and in basic combat training
they have only now started to shift to this focus. That doesn’t mean it is going to
be easy for you, but there is a professional way to treat someone and still motivate
them with your commanding presence. As a leader not just in the Army but
looking to lead in our communities you have an obligation to learn how to do this.
Transition: That leads me to the best example of all, what does God’s Word
say about leadership.
III. Main Point 3. God has established His Word for us to study as a guide for all
aspects of our lives. Jesus was the ultimate Leader/Teacher that lived on this
earth. It is by studying the Bible and His example He shared with us as He
lived all those years again that we can develop true skills and have everlasting
rewards long after our time has pasted on earth.
A. As we look into one of the most life guiding books from my own
experience; Proverbs 11:14 says, “Where there is no guidance, a people
falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” To me this is
speaking to exactly what I am referring from the very beginning of our
discussion. We truly need leadership in our communities or life as we know
it in America will no longer exist.
B. In the Book of 1 Timothy 3:2-3 it states, “ Therefore an overseer must be
above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled,
respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle,
not quarrelsome, not a lover of money.” Additionally in Titus 1:7-9 The
Word talks about, “an overseer being a lover of good, self-controlled,
upright, and disciplined, trustworthy…” To me this is somewhat a list like
the Army values we touched on earlier. It emphasizes that for leadership
you should be focused on things that are greater then yourself, and striving
to avoid the sin temtations more then a person content with following.
C. Lastly, I want to bring our attention to how to do all this, and that is through
the example of Jesus Christ. He stated in Matthew 22:36-39 when He was
asked which is the most important commandment, “ Thou shall love the
Lord with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind. And the second is
like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourelf.” It is from this basis that I
draw my leadership style from. I have done this first in my parenting style
and once I joined the military I pulled from that to change how I would lead
soldiers from what I was shown from leaders. I feel leaders in the Army and
in life can show you one of two things. Examples of what you should try to
combine of expand on your own style and then example of what you should
not incorporate at all into your leadership style. Either way they are
teaching you on of these. If we us Jesus as our foundation, then we have
one of the strongest basis to become a leader in our community that we
could ever hope for.
Transition: In summary
Conclusion:
I. Summarize Your Thesis and Main Points
We looked over the fact of there being a generational gap from the Booms and
GenX to the Millennials and the GenZ generations. Part of this gap difference
has been lack of willingness for individuals to take up the leadership roles that
are being vacated by previous generations. The solution for this I feel is to
encourage the upcoming generation to enter into the Army or other military
branches to assist them in learning how to become leaders. It is through this
tried and true process along with having strong faith in God that we can and
will see a shift in our furutre communities to have those leaders that are so
needed in the coming generations.
II. End with a Clincher
So, for you young people out there that have yet to graduate school, and those
of you in the work force now, opportunity awaits you. Start unplugging from
those media platforms you have come so accustom to, and seek out those of
the generation before you. Listen to things they have experienced and for
those few of you that want a challenge, to follow in the footsteps of so many
of our family members, take the leap of faith and see what the Army can offer
you!
Bibliography
ARMY.MIL Features. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.army.mil/values/
Army Command Policy. (2014, November 06). Retrieved June 7, 2019,
from https://www.army.mil/e2/c/downloads/399376.pdf
Army Leadership. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://fas.org/irp/doddir/army/adp6_22.pdf
Brennan, M. (n.d.). Millennials, Boomers & The Leadership Gap. Retrieved from
https://www.hrtechnologist.com/articles/leadership
succession/millennials-boomers- amp-the-leadership-gap/
Fries, K. (2018, January 31). 7 Ways Millennials Are Changing Traditional Leadership.
Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberlyfries/2018/01/18/7-
ways-millennials-are-changing-traditional-leadership/#56989aa27dae
Rashid, B. (2017, May 04). Two Reasons Millennials Leaders Struggle With
Communication And How To Help Them. Retrieved from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianrashid/2017/05/04/two-reasons-
millennials-leaders-struggle-with-communication-and-how-to-help-
them/#53cb893ac671
Sindell, T. (2017, February 07). Why Millennials Don't Want To Lead – And How To
Fix It. Retrieved from https://www.digitalistmag.com/future-of-
work/2017/02/07/why-millennials-dont-want-to-lead-and-how-to-fix-it-
04890768
