Seatbelts: a habit that could save your life

The opening sentences get the audience’s initial attention and arouse its curiosity to learn why the speaker has been on crutches for so long.	As you may have noticed, I was on crutches for two months this semester. I had already been on crutches for three months before that, and last year I was on them for seven months. You see, I’ve had hip surgery three times in the last year and a half.
By telling a dramatic story based on his personal experience, the speaker draws his audience into the speech. The story is particularly effective because of its specific details about the speaker’s in­juries and how close he came to dying, In contrast, imagine if the speaker had merely said, “A year and a half ago I was in a serious automobile accident.” This would not have had nearly the same impact. Nor would it have done as much to establish the speaker’s credibility.	It all started when I experienced my first serious car accident. I swerved off the road to avoid a head-on collision with another car. My car rolled over and struck a large tree. I was not wearing a seatbelt. In the process of being thrown back and forth across the car, I chipped a tooth, cut the back of my head, broke my hip, and cracked three ribs, which resulted in a punctured lung and massive internal bleeding. When they got me to the hospital, my blood pressure was down from a normal 120-over-70 to 50-over- 30 as a result of all the internal and external bleeding and as a result of shock. The doctors waited more than twenty- four hours to do surgery to repair my hip because they didn’t think I was going to survive all of my other injuries.
When the speaker said he will have a “piece of metal this long” in his hip for the rest of his life, he held his hands fourteen inches apart to indicate the length of the piece,	Somehow I survived, and now a year and half later I am finally walking normally, though I will be walking around for the rest of my life with a piece of metal this long in my hip, and I’m not allowed to do any athletic activities that require running.
Moving smoothly out of his opening story, the speaker reveals the topic of his speech and relates it directly to his audience. The final sentence of this paragraph establishes the speaker’s good will. Al­though the sentence may seem “corny.” It had a strong emotional impact when delivered in class.	All that pain and suffering could have been avoided if only I had been in the habit of wearing a seatbelt. But I wasn’t in that habit, and I know from my class survey that 40 percent of you do not usually wear a seatbelt, and 75 percent of you do not always wear one. Yet the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration tells us that each person stands a one-in-three chance of being in a serious car accident at some time in his or her life. So we can possibly predict that one-third of you will be in a serious accident at some point. And it may sound corny, but I mean it, so I’m going to say it—I don’t want what happened to me to happen to any of you.
Here the speaker ends his introduction by previewing the main points to be covered in the body of his speech. While the introduction is longer than usual, it is extremely effective in preparing the audience to accept the persuasive ap­peals that will follow.	So I want to talk to you about wearing seatbelts. First I’m going to tell you to what extent you will be protected by wearing a seatbelt. Then I’m going to look at some of the reasons why people don’t wear seatbelts and point out the problems with those reasons. And after I’ve given you the evidence, I am going to ask you all to make a habit of wearing seatbelts.
The speaker leads into his first main point with a question. This is a good technique, for it invites a subliminal answer that gets the audience more involved with the speech. The statistics in this paragraph are presented dearly and come from highly credible sources.	So first, to what extent will you be protected by wearing a seatbelt? Well, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation says if you are in an accident and are not wearing a seatbelt, you are four times more likely to be killed than if you are wearing one. Furthermore, consider this—there are 35,000 deaths each year in the United States as a result of traffic accidents. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Child Passenger Safety Association, and the Wisconsin Department of Trans- portation all estimate that traffic deaths would decrease from 35,000 to around 17,000 annually if everyone wore seatbelts.
The speaker does an excellent job here of reemphasizing figures from the pre­vious paragraph and translating them into terms that relate directly to his listeners. As we saw in Chapter 6, this is something you should try to do when­ever you use statistics in a speech.	So our most knowledgeable and reliable sources of information on seatbelts have all come to the same conclu­sion—that we would cut traffic deaths in half if everyone wore seatbelts, and that we would save 18,000 lives each year. Now let me put that number into perspective—18,000 people, or the equivalent of more than half the undergrad­uates on this campus, are needlessly killed every year because they do not wear seatbelts.
Now the speaker explains why a seatbelt is so valuable in helping to prevent injuries. Notice how clearly he compares the force of a 30 mile-per-hour collision to falling headfirst from a three-story building. Also notice how he uses the words “you” and “your” here (and throughout the speech) to keep his audience personally involved.	But why is this true? What does a seatbelt do to protect you? Well, in a head-on collision, which is usually the worst type, your body will be thrown forward into the steering wheel, into the dashboard, or through the windshield with incredible force. Imagine falling headfirst from the top of a three-story building. The force with which you would land on the ground is equal to the force with which you would be thrown forward in only a 30 mile-per-hour collision. But a seatbelt will absorb that force and prevent you from slamming into the interior of the car.
By drawing upon his own experience, the speaker reinforces his point about the value of wearing a seatbelt. The impact of the last sentence was en­hanced considerably by the speaker’s use of pauses, vocal variety, and strong eye contact to communicate directly with his listeners.	In my own experience there is little doubt that a seatbelt would have minimized my injuries, I looked at pictures of the car after my accident. The car was totaled, and it was an ugly mess, but the two front seats and the entire driving compartment were completely intact. I have to believe that if I had been strapped into that seat, I would have walked away from my accident with minor bruises. But remember I used the word “if”—if I had worn a safety belt.
A transition bridging the first and second main points helps the audience keep track of where the speaker is in the speech.	So the evidence is strongly in favor of wearing seatbelts. That brings me to the next question—why don’t people wear seatbelts?
This and the next paragraph are ex­tremely important, for they answer the audience’s two major objections to wearing seatbelts. Had the speaker ig­nored these objections, his speech would have been much less effective. Here he uses compelling statistics to show that the fear of being trapped in a burning or sinking car is not a valid reason for refusing to wear seatbelts. Like many other statistics in the speech, these come from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation. While this would not have been the best source for a speaker in another state, it was an excellent source for this speech, which was pre­sented to a class at the University of Wisconsin. If you were giving a speech on the same topic in a different state, you would be well advised to use figures from transportation officials in that state.	People often say that in an accident they would rather be thrown free of the car, or at least be able to get out of the car in case of fire or submersion in water. Well, according to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, accidents involving fire and submersion make up less than one out of every 200 auto accidents. Furthermore, you are actually more likely to be able to get out of the car if you are wearing a seatbelt, because you are more likely to be conscious and not seriously injured. And with regard to being thrown free of the car, the Wisconsin Department of Transportation says you are 25 times more likely to be killed if you are thrown out of the car, because you can be thrown onto hard pavement, thrown into stationary objects, or struck by other cars. Clearly you are safer being strapped in than being thrown around.
The signpost (“The other major reason why people don’t wear seatbelts”) keeps the movement of thought clear and easy to follow. The speaker’s reasoning in this paragraph was reinforced by his delivery, in which he used his hands to represent the two sides of the scale. As in other parts of the speech, the speaker addresses his listeners directly as “you.^1’ In addition to increasing audience in­volvement, this gives the speech a strong conversational quality. The speaker comes across as talking with the audience, not at them.	The other major reason why people don’t wear seat­belts Is that seatbelts are uncomfortable and restrict move­ment. Now, if this is your reason for not wearing a seatbelt, let me ask you to do something right now. Imagine in your mind a two-sided scale. On one side of the scale, put the value that you place on being completely comfortable while driving. And on the other side of the scale, put the value that you place on your life and your health. Which side is heavier? If your life and your health mean more to you than a little bit of extra comfort while driving, then it only makes sense to wear a seatbelt.
Now the speaker moves to his third main point, which is a call to action. He begins by restating key statistics from earlier in the speech. This is an excellent tech­nique. Rather than overwhelming lis­teners with a barrage of figures, the speaker uses a few well-chosen statis­tics to drive home his message.	So I’m here today to ask all of you to make a habit of wearing seatbelts. The statistics are simple—chances are that about one-third of you will be in a serious auto accident at some time in your life. It could happen fifty years from now, and it could happen tomorrow. And if you are in an accident, you are four times more likely to be killed if you are not wearing a seatbelt than if you are wearing one.
After the evidence of the previous para­graph, the first sentence of this para­graph acquires special force. Here, as elsewhere, the speaker’s appeal is en­hanced by his clear, direct language.	So if you think you are safer not wearing a seatbelt, you’re betting against heavy odds. And if you still won’t wear a seatbelt, because a seatbelt is uncomfortable and inconvenient, then you’re placing your momentary comfort ahead of your life and your health. So tell yourself that you are going to make a habit of wearing seatbelts. Then do it.
The speaker begins his conclusion by referring to the accident he discussed in the introduction and by reinforcing his central idea. His evident sincerity here and throughout the speech did much to enhance his credibility and persuasive­ness.	There is nothing I can do about my accident now, and I don’t plan to go around for the rest of my life kicking myself because I didn’t wear a seatbelt that day. What’s important is that I learned something from the experience. I’ve made a habit of wearing seatbelts when I ride in a car, and I’m hoping that each of you will do the same if you haven’t already.
This last paragraph ends the speech on a strong emotional note. The final sen­tence states how lucky the speaker was to survive his accident, but it also implies that members of the audience might not be so lucky if they fail to wear seatbelts.	I will never be able to play basketball or go downhill skiing again, but at least I’m here and at least I can walk. I was a lot luckier than 35,000 other Americans that year.

Assignment 4. Analyze the persuasive speech below. Do you find it effective? Is it organized according to the Formula of Persuasive Speech you have studied? Improve the speech using the persuasive speech formula and communicative tactics that you have studied.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-30