Name: Ima Student

English 10 Persuasive Speech Outline

Outline
I. Introduction
A. How I will catch attention:
Stress the importance of my topic as
most important
B. My main claim:
You should not text while driving.

Draft
Today Id like to offer you some advice
that may be the most important lesson
youll ever learn about drivingalthough
it may have only been covered briefly in
a single lesson of your drivers education
course.

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 Im 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 lets think about this. We
all know that drunk driving is a bad idea
A. Why my audience will think this is a because it is deadly. Thats why everyone
good reason:
was so outraged with Justin Bieber last
No one wants to die.
month.
B.Evidence I will use to support this
reason:
Satistics about just how deadly
distracted driving is.

Example of allusion: Justin Bieber

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

Example of alliteration: Distracted

driving is just as dangerous. It is deadly
dangerous.

III. Counterclaim:
A. Here is an counterclaim I need to
acknowledge:
It only takes a second. Im a good
enough driver to handle it.
B. How I plan to defuse or offer a
rebuttal to this counterclaim:

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.

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 youre going 55 mph,
then five seconds is the amount of time it
takes you to drive the length of a football
field.

Statistics about how far you actually

travel.
You may also think that youre 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 its
hard to know that if you arent looking.

IV. Reason #2: Texting and driving is

Another good reason to avoid texting and
illegal.
driving is because it is outlawed in many
A. Why my audience will think this is a
cities and states. Getting caught could get

good reason:
No one wants to get arrested or
fined.
B.Evidence I will use to support this
reason:
Utahs penalties

you in big trouble. In 2009, Utah passed

the nations toughest law on texting
behind the wheelup 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.

Example of parallelism: Spending a few

extra seconds to pull over now is better
than spending many extra years in jail
And in addition to the actual laws in
later.
place, there are technological advances
that now allow parents to install driver
cams that show them in real time exactly
what youre doing while youre driving.
This could also get you in trouble.

V. Reason #3: There are better options.

A better alternative is to wait until you
A. Why my audience will think this is a
reach your destination. Or, if you
good reason:
absolutely must respond to a text sooner,
I provide good alternate strategies.
find a safe place to pull over. If having
the phone within reach is too much of a
B.Evidence I will use to support this
temptation for you, try placing it in the
reason:
backseat where you cant get to it while
I will supply some ideas of what
youre driving.
to do instead.
VI. Conclusion
A. This is how I will strongly
emphasize the truth of my claim:
You dont want to be in an
ambulance.

So as you prepare to get out on the roads,

let your biggest worry be whether youll
pass your driving test, not whether youll
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

B.This is what I will ask my audience to
where youre going. When you respond
do:
to your BFFs text of where r u?, you
Pull over when need to text. Keep
dont want your answer to be in an
phone out of reach.
ambulance.