Do an Outline and presentation for persuasive speech

Outline for a persuasive paper

Title: Avoiding car accidents

Speaker:

Specific Purpose: To inform the audience on the dangers of irresponsible driving and persuade them not to.

I. Introduction

A. Attention getter: What is happening in this photograph? Answer: Wedding. Most couples have big plans for the future, including establishing a family and investing.

B.   Establishment of Ethos (credibility): Hi, my name is ………., and the couple in this photo was my friends Mike Drauch and Laura Stevens who I grew up with. Three years ago, in their second year of marriage, the couple was involved in a greasy road accident. The couple was hit by an over speeding car as it was crossing an intersection on foot.  

C. Thematic Statement: So today I want to tell you about the dangers of irresponsible driving and persuade you not to do it. I will tell you how you can prevent what happened to Mike and Laura from happening to you.

(Translation- I will tell you how responsible driving can save your life just like Mike and Laura’s lives could have been saved)

II. Need

A. About 1.24 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes with road traffic injuries being the leading cause of death among young people, aged 15–29 years.

B. According to the American Tracking Association, 2013, in about 9 out of 10 clashes, the primary failure is a driver error. Indeed, as observed from the above data, the overwhelming majority of car accidents are caused by only human driver factors.

C. In America, the top three causes of car accidents and car accident deaths are impaired driving, speeding and distracted driving.

D. Speeding is a serious offense when it comes to accidents and deaths related to cars. The US Department of Transportation has speculated that almost 1 in 3 car accidents has some factor of speeding involved.

E. In 2011, the National Safety Council released a study stating that 1.6 million crashes involved a driver distracted on a cell phone each and every year.

F. According to World Health Organization, road traffic injuries cause considerable economic losses to victims, their families, and to nations as a whole. These losses arise from the cost of as well as reduced/lost productivity for those killed or disabled by their injuries, and for family members who need to take time off work to care for the injured.

(Internal summary- all these show that road accidents are a reality and if no action is taken, our economy will be headed for a downfall)

(Transition-Now that we have explored the problem, it is important that we provide a solution)

III. Satisfaction

A. The US needs strategies to cab the ever rising rates of road accidents.

B. Intoxicated driving can be avoided by choosing a designated driver or calling a taxi when it becomes apparent to you or the people around you that driving could make you put the lives of some people in danger.

C. Laws that establish blood alcohol concentrations (BACs) of 0.05g/dl or below are effective at reducing the number of alcohol-related crashes. The world Health Organization contends that enforcing sobriety checkpoints and random breath testing can lead to reductions in alcohol-related crashes of about 20% and have shown to be very cost-effective.

D. There are speed limits posted on the American roads. Proper rules and regulations should be designed and implemented to ensure that the speeds are followed to the latter. By observing the speed limits we can make the roads a safer place, especially since the faster you go, the greater the force of impact and the more destructive or deadly power your vehicle will have.

E. While there is little concrete evidence yet on how to reduce distractions from mobile phone use while driving, the government needs to be proactive. Actions that can be taken include adopting legislative measures, launching public awareness campaigns, and regularly collecting data on distracted driving to better understand the nature of this problem.

F. The increased accident rates are enough motivation as to why these solutions should be adopted with immediate effect.

(Internal summary- all these are potential solutions to road accidents. This means that in deed we can avoid unnecessary deaths and injuries if we really wanted to)

(Transition-Having established that there is a solution to road accidents, the almost immediate question is, Why should we as Americans get involved? And what is our role as individuals?)

IV. Visualization

A. Of course we don’t want to lose any more lives in our roads. Moreover the economic losses resulting from road accidents are too much to bear.

B. Each one of us has a role to play. Together, we can significantly reduce these accidents.

C. Some rules that can be implemented to cab road accidents may seem harsh in the beginning. However, if we could perceive the value of human life, only then can we embrace these measures whole heartedly.

(Internal summary-It is now evident that road accidents can actually be prevented. However, that is only if we could join hands and work together and in corporation with all relevant stakeholders)

(Transition to conclusion- How do we as Americans maintain a culture of safety?)

V. Action

A. Road accidents are a reality. Every day, it continues to take innocent lives. Unless something is done, road accidents will continue to claim lives, our economy will continue being adversely impacted and worse still our individual ambitions and goals like the ones Mike and Laura had will be crashed.

B. The good thing is that there is hope. Something can be done to end the situation. But that is only if we will embrace the solutions explored above. By doing this, we will save lives as well as our economy.

C. Here is Mike and Laura’s photo again. A young and happily married couple, about to embark on the journey of a married life and full of great adventure. Think about it

D. As drivers, let’s not compromise anybody else’s bright future. Let’s drive responsibly.

References

American Tracking Associations, 2013. Relative Contribution/Fault in Car-Truck Crashes.

Kostyniuk LP, Streff FM, Zakrajsek J., 2002. Identifying Unsafe Driver Actions that Lead to Fatal Car-Truck Crashes. Washington DC: AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs358/en/