Name: Alex Turnage

Subject: Text Messaging while drivingGeneral Purpose: to persuade

Specific Purpose: to persuade my audience to not send text messages while driving

Central Idea: Text messaging while driving is a problem in South Carolina because no official traffic laws have been passed to prohibit this from happening in comparison to other states in the US.

Persuasive Speech Preparation Outline

I. IntroductionA. Attention Getter: Close your eyes. Pretend you are driving in a car. Now really focus here, imagine you are driving on an old highway. Your car starts accelerating and then after a click of a button you just ended someones life. What just happened to here? A click of a button? What am I talking about here?

B. Problem Introduced/Central Idea: The click of a button I was referring to was sending a text message while driving, and you just drove straight through an intersection taking away an innocent life. This didnt happen to you, but it did happen to someone else.

C. Significance of Problem Established: This problem is significant because according to the following source, the college student age group has the highest proportion of distracted drivers involved in fatal crashes. Also, I can say with great confidence that everyone in this room has sent at least one text message starting in 2011 while driving a vehicle.

1. http://www.distraction.gov/stats-and-facts/

D. Relate to the Audience (why problem important to them): This problem is important to my audience because it will reinforce how dangerous driving while text message is in addition to raising their awareness of what is being done to fix this problem today.

E. Credibility Statement (needs to be strong): I am credible to this topic because I have done a lot of research on this topic in addition to almost having an accident myself because I was sending a text message while driving before.

F. Preview of both Problem and Solution: The problem is that text messaging while driving is going to lead to further accidents on the road and the solution is to pass traffic laws prohibiting text messaging while driving in South Carolina that penalize drivers for this.

Transition into problem: Now that I have reinforced the idea the text messaging while driving is dangerous and should be stopped, lets look into the exact reasons why it should be stopped.

II. BodyB. Main Idea (Problem): I will give statistics on text messaging while driving in order reinforce the dangers. Then, I will discuss why text messaging is such a problem and what the risks involved are. i. Supporting Material: statistics 1. http://txtresponsibly.org/about/fact-sheet/i. Supporting Material: 60% of Teens text while driving2. http://www.livescience.com/5437-60-percent-teens-text-driving.htmli. Supporting Material: Article titled, As Text Messages Fly, Danger Lurks

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/us/20messaging.html

Internal Summary/Internally Preview Transition: Now that you know the problems associated with text messaging while driving, what is the solution?

B. Main Idea (Solution): The solution is to pass laws prohibiting text messaging.2. Supporting Material: No laws currently in South Carolina prohibiting1. http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html1. Supporting Material: Bills being considered by the state of South Carolina2. http://www.drivinglaws.org/scarolina.phpb. Supporting Material: What can you to?2. Raise your awareness1. http://txtresponsibly.org/about/fact-sheet/

Transition into conclusion:

III. ConclusionC. Recap Problem and Solution: I will restate the problem and solution in a summarized form for my audience. i. Problem: Text messaging is dangerous and should not be allowed due to the high occurrence of accidents and distractions associated with it.i. Solution: The state of South Carolina needs to pass official laws prohibiting text messaging in order to protect the citizens living there.

B. Relate back to the Introduction / Central Idea / Importance: I will relate back to Taylor (who killed the boy in the car accident) from the introduction to reemphasize my point.

C. Clear Final Action Plan for Audience: I will instruct the audience to explore both of the following websites.

1. 1st: to raise awareness about the problem: 1. http://txtresponsibly.org/about/fact-sheet/1. 2nd: to see what current bills are being looked at concerning text messaging while driving2. http://www.drivinglaws.org/scarolina.php

D. Impact Statement for Strong Closing: End with video commercial about texting while driving for closing. Bibliography

ExpertHub.com. (2010, March 11). South carolina cell phone laws. Retrieved from http://www.drivinglaws.org/scarolina.php

Governors Highway Safety Association. (2011, April). Cell phone and texting laws. Retrieved from http://www.ghsa.org/html/stateinfo/laws/cellphone_laws.html

Steinhauer, J., & Holson, L. (2008, Spetember 19). As text messages fly, danger lurks. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/20/us/20messaging.html

TxtResponsibly.org. (2011). Be a part of the solution. Retrieved from http://txtresponsibly.org/about/privacy-policy/

U.S. Department of Transportation (2011, April 3). Statistics and facts about distracted driving . Retrieved from http://www.distraction.gov/stats-and-facts/

Practice Times

1. 4/18/11 @10:00pm = 5 min 30 sec2. 4/19/2011 @ 6:00pm = 5 min 45 sec3. 4/19/11 @7:30pm = 6 min 10 sec4. 4/19/11 @ 9:00pm = 6 min