Persuasive Speech Speaking Outline

Topic: Hotdogs

General Purpose: To persuade

Specific Purpose: To persuade the audience that hotdogs are not sandwiches

Thesis: Hotdogs are not sandwiches

Reasoning: Deductive. (1)

Pattern: Refutation Pattern OR Problem/Solution

Introduction- 0-1:00

Attention Getter- Imagine yourself hanging out with some friends, and you all start to

feel hungry. You decide to get sandwiches to eat, so one of your friends leaves to get them.

And… they return with hotdogs. What would you do? The dilemma of whether a hotdog is a

sandwich is a joking yet intriguing dilemma that has been debated and thought on for many

years.

Reason to Listen- Why does this matter? It matters for a couple of reasons. The reason

that this debate matters is because definitions are important. We know what a triangle is because

we know that its definition is a shape with three sides. If this definition was unclear, we could

mistake any shape for a triangle. Another reason this is important is that the hotdog is the

American cornerstone food. When you think of America’s pastime, Baseball, it’s no surprise that

America signature food is there as well. If you care about America, you should care about

this issue.
 Thesis Statement- Today I will persuade you that hotdogs are not sandwiches.

Credibility Statement- I have been long enthralled with this debate ever since I heard it

as a child. I would ask and debate with friends to try and come to the truth of the matter, and I

can strongly say that I have found the answer. To prepare for this speech I have poured though

countless internet articles, YouTube videos, and discussions online to find the best arguments

and solution to the problem.

Preview of Main Points- In the course of this speech, I will show all of you my

arguments for why a hotdog is a sandwich and some rebuttals to common arguments for the

affirmative.

Transition- I shall now share with all of you the following reasons why hotdogs are not

sandwiches.

Main Point 1- My Arguments for why they aren’t 1:00-3:00

My Appeal to Authority: The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council is a council of hot

dog and sausage manufactures that seek to inform the public about hotdogs. If you have doubts

of the validity of this council, checking their donors would show you that they are the real deal.

Their main sponsor is Tyson Foods, who is the parent company for meat producers like Jimmy

Dean and Hillshire Farm (Go Meat). According to one of their press releases, their president

Janet Riley made this statement on the issue: “Limiting the hot dog’s significance by saying it’s

‘just a sandwich’ is like calling the Dalai Lama ‘just a guy.’ Perhaps at one time its importance

could be limited by forcing it into a larger sandwich category, but that time has passed.”

Cultural Distinction: Another reason why hotdogs are not sandwiches is because there is

a clear cultural distinction between hotdogs and sandwiches. You don’t need to know rocket
science to see that we don’t have sandwich stands or sandwich salesman at baseball games.

There are no hotdogs on sale at Subway, Panera Bread, Jimmy Johns, and countless other fast-

food sandwich restaurants. Hotdogs have a separate emoji than sandwiches, if they were the

same why are they separate? If this isn’t enough, according to a survey conducted by the

National Hot Dog Council, around 57% of Americans believe that hotdogs are not sandwiches,

with 33% saying yes and 10% undecided.

Expert Opinion- If the popular opinion doesn’t persuade you, why don’t we ask experts

in the field of food and the culinary arts. Food Network star and world renown chief, Anthony

Bourdain, says. “No. I don’t think it’s a sandwich. … It is not a classic sandwich, in my view. I

mean, if you were to talk into any vendor of fine hot dogs, and ask for a hot dog sandwich, they

would probably report you to the FBI. As they should.” Another expert on hotdogs that should be

heard is hotdog eating champion Joey Chestnut. Joey Chestnut has 14 championship medals

from the annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest as well as several world records for speed

eating. According to him, “I want it to be known that the Hot Dog stands free and independent

from the tyranny of the sandwich.”

Transition- With my arguments for hotdogs not being sandwiches out of the way, I will now

look at common arguments and solutions proposed to the dilemma.

Main Point 2- Rebuttals of Negative View 3:00-5:00

The Definition Problem- One common argument used by sandwich sympathizers is the

definition argument. The argument believes that all we have to do to find the truth about this

issue is to look at the simple definition of a sandwich. Many use the common definition given by

Merriam-Webster that states that a sandwich can be “a split roll having a filling in between”
They claim that these mentions of a split roll justify their argument as proof for their belief. This

argument is faulty when you consider that not all dictionaries agree with these definitions. The

Cambridge dictionary lists a sandwich as, “two pieces of bread with cheese, salad, or meat,

usually cold, between them” Even government officials when deducing taxes on sandwiches

have broad definitions: New York says that “Sandwiches include cold and hot sandwiches of

every kind that are prepared and ready to be eaten, whether made on bread, on bagels, on rolls, in

pitas, in wraps, or otherwise, and regardless of the filling or number of layers.” This definition

goes as far to include burritos as sandwiches! What a disgrace to the burrito!

Structure Arguments- This problem leads many people to become distressed over the

lack of consistency. This has lead people down dark and evil paths that no mortal man should

dare travel down. Some people have ascribed to the idea of the “Cube Rule of Food

Identification” This system places all food into 8 different categories depending on the way the

food is prepared and presented in the form of a cube’s sides. Each of these categories has a

number of sides. These categories are: Salad, Toast, Sandwich, Taco, Sushi, Quiche, Calzone,

and Cake. In order to show this system fails to show any kind of logical sense, I will give you

some examples of food categorized in this system. Chocolate is Salad, Pizza is Toast, Hotdogs

are Tacos, Pigs in a Blanket are Sushi, and Burritos, Corndogs, Pies and Pop Tarts ate Calzones!

[pause of dramatic effect] This is ludicrous!!! This is not only a sin against hotdogs but to the

entire food world!

Another supposed solution to this problem is the use of something called the Sandwich

Alignment Chart. This chart suggests that we can place all opinions on this issue on two axises:

ingredients and structure. I would argue that this chart draws us away from the truth. This chart

spits in the face of any factual statement about the issue, it only masquerades the viewers into
believing that this is a matter of opinion. In truth, within all of us, there is a picture of the “true

sandwich”. According to the philosophy of Plato, there exists a true form of every object in the

“Realm of Forms” for things like chairs, trees, and sandwiches. This is how we are able to

recognize objects for what they are. I believe that there exists two separate forms, one for the

Sandwich and one for the hotdog.

Transition- As previously stated, I believe that the hotdog is separate from a sandwich. I also

have shown that many arguments and solutions to this problem make no logical sense. The Cube

Rule of Food Identification and the Sandwich alignment chart are not viable responses to the

“hotdog problem”

Conclusion- 5:00-6:00

Review of Main Points- To review, I have given three arguments for why hotdogs are

not sandwiches: The National Hot Dog & Sausage Council’s statement, the cultural distinction

between a hotdog and a sandwich, and the expert opinions of multiple culinary experts. I then

rebutted multiple supposed arguments or solutions to this dilemma such as the argument from the

dictionary definition, the Cube Rule of Food Identification, and the Sandwich Alignment Chart.

Restate Thesis- Again, I would like to make this clear for the audience, hotdogs are not

sandwiches.

Closure- To conclude this speech, I want everyone listening this afternoon to remember

common sense. When you see a pop tart, you don’t call it a sandwich, call it a pop tart. When

you see a hotdog, call it what it is, a hotdog. This should be the case for all food items not just

the hotdog. I would like to ask everyone in the audience to use common sense. I urge everyone in
the audience to say it like it is: A hotdog is a hotdog. I hope that all of you have a wonderful

afternoon, and say it with me: A hotdog is a hotdog.

 Bibliography

http://www.hot-dog.org/press/national-hot-dog-and-sausage-council-announces-official-policy-

hot-dog-sandwich-controversy

https://www.thehotdog.org/is-a-hot-dog-a-sandwich/

https://www.tax.ny.gov/pubs_and_bulls/tg_bulletins/st/sandwiches.htm

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sandwich

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/sandwich