Persuasive Speech

Thomas Chilcott
06 April 2017

Persuasive Speech: Audience Assessment

Specific Goal: My audience will support Telework.

Type of Claim: This is a claim of policy.

Ethos:Primary Ethos:
a) Competence: I have thoroughly researched Telework and I work in an industry that
provides and uses services that support Telework.
b) Fairness: I will acknowledge common concerns about Telework and explain mitigating
factors and misconceptions to alleviate these concerns.

Secondary Ethos: I will cite five authoritative sources to provide supporting evidence to my claims
about Telework.

Audience Assessment: Most of my audience members will probably have an attitude toward my
proposition that is undecided.

Adaptation to Audience Attitude:

a. Common ground: Like my audience, I want to see organizations and their employees operating
efficiently and effectively.
b. Latitude of acceptance: My proposition stands to increase productivity, reduce operating
expenses and enhance corporate responsibility. These are beneficial qualities for any organization,
and they are generally easy to obtain by implementing Telework programs. Reluctance typically
stems from a lack of knowledge about Telework.

Baby Steps: I will begin with the most obvious benefits of Telework the reduction of environmental
impact from vehicular commuting. After that, I will draw attention to obvious cost-savings of Telework.
Finally, I will cite research that debunks the most common negative misconceptions/assumptions about
Telework.

Pattern of Organization: I will use a Comparative Advantages pattern of organization. I believe this is
appropriate because I will be proposing Telework as a better approach to conducting business than the
traditional office-based workforce model.
 Persuasive Speech: Full Sentence Outline
Its Time for Telework (Telecommuting)

Introduction

I. Hook: If you knew your organization was throwing money away, wouldnt you want to do something
about it? Like you, I work for an organization with an interest and responsibility to responsibly
manage its budget, without sacrificing productivity.

II. Ethos: As a 20-year veteran of Information Technologies, Ive experienced Telework, and Ive provided
support for the core services that make it effective.

III. Proposition (or Hint at Proposition): Today, I want to talk to you about the benefits of Telework
(Telecommuting) and explain why your organization needs a Telework policy.

IV. Preview:
1. Budget Savings
2. Increased Productivity
3. Positive Environmental Impact

Transition: In the 2011 report The Goals of Telework, the United States General Services Administration
(GSA) said, In reducing the demand on both natural resources as well as economic
resources, telework allows organizations and their employees to save money. (GSA,
2011)

Body

I. Most employees love the idea of working from home, so its good for morale. But Cost Savings are
another clear advantage of Telework versus a traditional, office-based workforce and thats a
direct benefit to any organization. Take operational expenses, for example.
A. Also in The Goals of Telework, the GSA says, Organizations can also expect to save
money on the following standard workspace expenses by increasing the number of
teleworking employees:
i. Purchasing new toner and print cartridges
ii. Purchasing new printer paper
iii. Paying lighting, heat, air conditioning, and other energy utilities expenses
iv. And subsidizing employees transit (GSA, 2011)
B. Global Workplace Analytics (GWA) reported in January of 2016 that, IBM slashed real
estate costs by $50 million through telework. And Sun Microsystems saves $68
million a year in real estate costs. (GWA, 2016)
C. In the 2011 eWorkPlace Final Report, from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, Fairview
Health Services reported a 50% decrease in overtime hours. (Humphrey School of
Public Affairs, 2011) when they implemented a Telework policy for their employees.

Transition: Dont you love saving money? Next, lets look at how those savings can be compounded by
productivity.

II. Increased Productivity is a counter-intuitive benefit of Telework. What I mean is, its a common
assumption that Teleworkers dont work as hard or as much. In reality, Teleworkers are more
productive than their in-office counterparts. GWA reported that Best Buy, British Telecom, Dow
Chemical and many others show that teleworkers are 35-40% more productive. (GWA,
2016) In fact, GWA says that over two-thirds of employers report increased productivity
among their telecommuters. (GWA, 2016)
A. Teleworkers lose less productivity to idle conversations and unnecessary meetings if a
meeting is needed, for business purposes, a teleconference can be conducted with minimal
interruption of work activities.
B. Teleworkers are also not as prone to tardiness and missed workdays.
i. Teleworkers are not affected by traffic jams, breakdowns or traffic accidents on telework
days.
 ii. Teleworkers are more likely to work through a minor illness, and they are more likely to
return to work after a mid-day personal appointment, such as a doctors visit or a family
emergency.
iii. Teleworkers can continue to work, even when external events make it difficult or
impossible to commute to the office.
1. According to an article in the New York times, in March 2016, New York and
New Jersey businesses had to prepare for a possible Transit Employee strike, one
of the options employers told their employees to consider was telecommuting.
(Newman & Fitzsimmons, 2016) That would be a loss of productivity averted.
2. In 2012, the Washington Post reported that the United States Patent and
Trademark Office managed to remain fully operational, and average over 70
percent of normal productivity, during a two-day government shutdown caused
by Hurricane Sandy. (Yoder, 2012) This report went on to say, The cost to the
government in lost productivity is a recurring issue when federal
agencies are closed because of severe weather. (Yoder, 2012)

Transition: But why stop at mitigating strain on productivity?

III. A good Telework policy also relieves strain on the environment. In 2011, the Humphrey School of
Public Affairs published their eWorkPlace Final Report a scholarly project aimed at determining the
effects of Telework on traffic congestion in metropolitan areas. This report offered three key
environmental conclusions: (Humphrey School of Public Affairs, 2011)
A. Teleworkers take 80% fewer trips during the day. Including 93% fewer daily trips
during peak hours.
B. Teleworkers reduce their daily Vehicle Miles Traveled by 92% vs. non-teleworkers
on telework days.
C. And 4,212 eWorkPlace participants means 8.2 million fewer pounds of C02
released each year, which is equivalent to planting 1,000 acres of forest.

Transition to close: When you take these factors together, can you see how Telework just makes sense?

Conclusion:

I. Summarize main points/thesis: In a paper he wrote in 2014, Adeel Lari (speaking about
Telework) declared, three-folded benefits to individual employees, employers and the
community at large. (Lari, 2016) He was referring to cost savings, productivity and decreased
environmental impact. These are the same advantages of Telework that I have spoken about today.
II. Bookend: Couldnt your organization benefit from advantages like these?
III. End the speech memorably: Is your organization failing to capture cost savings and increased
productivity? Are you contributing, unnecessarily, to environmental pollution?
IV. Challenge the audience to respond: Id like you to think about what Ive talked about here,
today. If your organization doesnt have a Telework policy, you owe it to yourself to step up and be
a hero for your organization, and for your community. I challenge you to take a long, hard look at
what Telework can do for you.
 References:
General Services Administration (GSA). (n.d.). The Goals of Telework. Retrieved March 27, 2017,
from https://www.gsa.gov/portal/category/102099

GlobalWorkplaceAnalytics.com (2016, January). Federal Telework Return on Taxpayer

Investment. Retrieved March 27, 2017, from http://globalworkplaceanalytics.com/pros-
cons

Humphrey School of Public Affairs (2011, June). eWorkplace Final Report [Scholarly project].
In University of Minnesota - Humphrey School of Public Affairs. Retrieved March 27, 2017,
from
http://lgi.umn.edu/centers/slp/telecommunications/telecomm_technology/pdf/eWorkPlaceFi
nalReportWithAppendices.pdf

Lari, A. (2014, July 14). Telework/Workforce Flexibility to Reduce Congestion and Environmental
Degradation? Retrieved March 27, 2017, from
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877042812027851

Newman, Andy and Emma G. Fitzsimmons. (2016, March 09). N.J. Transit and New York
Businesses Make Strike Contingency Plans. Retrieved March 27, 2017, from
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/10/nyregion/nj-transit-and-new-york-businesses-brace-
for-looming-rail-strike.html

Yoder, E. (2012, November 08). Patent office says telework withstood Sandy. Retrieved March 27,
2017, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/patent-office-says-telework-
withstood-sandy/2012/11/07/ea399322-2829-11e2-bab2-eda299503684_story.html?
utm_term=.396bd05974dc