Dueas
COMM Marissa 150
Horton
Persuasive Speech Outline
Introduction:
I. Attention Getter: On May 27, 2011, Olivia LaBorde from WGNO News reported that
the survey of more than 1,000 adults, taken earlier this spring, found that 76% of
households are planning at least one water-related recreational activity this summer.
However, 21% describe their swimming skills as fair, poor or non-existent, with 3%
unable to swim at all.
II. Thesis Statement: Im here to persuade you that swimming should be learned by people
of all ages.
III. Preview Main Points: Ill be focusing on the how its a full body work out, the ways that
it is beneficial and why swimming is important.
Transition to Body: First, Id like to talk about how its a full body workout.
Body:
I. First Main Point: Swimming is a full body work out
a. On May 1, 2011, current member of Team USAs championship team in the sport
of Aquathlon, Fiona Bayly writes in her article, What Muscles Does Swimming
Exercise? that swimming is a combination of cardio and power, it works your
heart as well as the muscles in your legs, arms, torso and hips
b. According to Brad Walker who is the founder and CEO of The Stretching Institute
website, said that lap swimming works the muscles in the abdomen, biceps,
triceps, hamstrings, quadriceps and the gluteus maximus.
c. Different strokes target different muscles.
c.i. First, theres freestyle which targets the deltoids and leg muscles. If
youve never heard of freestyle, its the most basic of all the strokes.
Consists of the scissor kick and pulling your arms through the water.
c.ii. Breast stroke targets the biceps, thighs and gluteus maximus. With breast
stroke, you pull through the water with both arms at the same time. I was
taught to make a heart shaped motion and your legs would perform a frog
kick.
c.iii. Back stroke targets the triceps and leg muscles. Youre swimming on your
back and like freestyle, the scissor kick is used but the arms are moved in
a backward motion through the water.
c.iv. And finally, the butterfly focuses on the abdomen, deltoids and leg
muscles. Butterfly is considered the hardest stroke of them all. A dolphin
kick is performed, and the arms are moved through the water in a squiggly
motion and then brought up above the water only to dive back in.
d. Transition: Other than the fact that swimming works the entire body, there are
many other benefits.
II. Second Main Point: The benefits
a. Christophe Keller from enjoy-swimming.com says that it trains the
cardiovascular system.
b. There are also a few psychological benefits as well. It energizes you and gets you
ready for the day and its also stress relieving.
c. It has a low impact on the body. For this reason, the Arthritis Foundation highly
recommends swimming and other water activities to protect the joints from stress
and strain. This is because the body is buoyant in the water and therefore less
force and strain on the muscles.
d. Improves endurance. A study showed a group of middle aged men and women,
who trained in swim for 12 weeks reported that their maximal oxygen
consumption improved by 10%.
e. According to the Centers for Disease Control and on Prevention February 16,
2011, Swimming laps provides a moderate to intense aerobic workout that can
strengthen your muscles and increase lung capacity. Regular physical activity can
also help you minimize your risk of heart disease, diabetes, metabolic disorders
and some cancers.
f. Swimming also opens up to other recreational activities such as boating, fishing,
kayaking and surfing.
g. Transition: Because of the substitutions to swimming I just mentioned, its
important to know why its important.
III. Third Main Point: Why its important
a. I, myself, am a competitive swimmer. I started swimming competitively at a late
age, my sophomore year of high school, where my competitors have been
swimming their entire lives.
a.i. When I was learning to doggy paddle, they were learning how to freestyle
or back stroke. When I was still plugging my nose to jump into the pool,
afraid water might get in it, they were freely moving though the water,
nose unplugged and all. I honestly bought one of those nose plugs from
Big 5 because I was that scared.
b. Trust me, it wasnt easy; my couch had to start from the very beginning: teaching
me how to come up for air, how to correctly execute the different strokes. I could
barely finish two laps; Id stop midway and walk to the wall to wait for the next
drill.
c. Most of us are taught to swim at an early age. For me, it was the basic doggy
paddle when I was 6 or 7.
c.i. Though I felt good about myself, learning how to swim and all, I was still
told to stay along the walls of the pool in case I got tired.
d. On August 25 of this year, it was reported that 5 year old Jason Baucan, drowned
in a pond near his home in Missouri. John Garlock from Heartland Connection
reported that he had been playing in the back yard with his twin brother and
several other children, when he somehow made his way into a nearby pond. By
the time he was discovered missing from the group, it was too late. His lifeless
body was found in the water several minutes later.
e. According the president of the International Life Saving Federation, Dr. Steve
Beerman reported that 1.2 million people drown every year, and from this, more
than 50% are children. This statistic, of course, is worldwide.
f. The American Red Cross notes that most drownings are preventable if the victim
does not become panicked and/ or knows how to swim.
Transition to Conclusion: For these reasons, it is crucial that knowing to how swim is
so important. Im not saying to go out and learn the butterfly or breast stroke. The
basic doggy paddle will do the trick.
Conclusion:
I. Restate Thesis: Everyone, no matter what age they are, aside from infants and toddlers,
should know how to swim.
II. Summary of Main Points: Why? Because its a full body workout, there are many
benefits to swimming, and its important in life threatening situations.
III. Strong closing statement and call to action: So the next time you hear that a friend or
relative cant swim, think of all the Jasons in the world; how his family, his friends
found out, that their 5 year old, drowned. Think of how you can be doing so much for
them, by teaching them how to swim.