Sample Persuasive Outline Using  Monroe’s Motivated Sequence

Topic: Random Acts of Kindness

Specific Purpose:  To motivate my audience to partake in random acts of kindness.

Central Idea:  Partaking in random acts of kindness can positively impact our world, and you should begin incorporating them into your life.

I.  Introduction

A.  Attention Getter: (Note to students: you can write this out point by point, or if you know it well, do something like this.) Example of Mark walking home and dropping his books…. (Canfield, p. 35).

1.  Bill saved Mark’s life … with a small, random, seemingly unimportant act of kindness.

2.  So how many times have you stopped to help someone pick up the books they dropped? Or paused to thank a house-keeper for keeping your hall so clean? Asked to speak to the manager of a restaurant because you had a great waitress?

3.  If your answer is not often or never, you should consider participating in random acts of kindness.

B.  Credibility Statement:  Hello, my name is Houston, and I have recently become interested in random acts of kindness; and by reading several books on the subject, I have learned more about the impact these acts can have on people’s lives. Partaking in random acts of kindness can brighten someone’s day, save someone’s life, and even change the world.

C.  Preview:  Random acts of kindness can brighten someone’s day, save someone’s life, maybe even change the world.

(Transition: So why do we need random acts of kindness?)

II.  Body

A.  The Need Step: Throughout the nation, throughout the world, people have bad

1.  In fact, 17.5 million Americans suffer from depression each year (Drexler).

a.  How many times have you heard about people in the news who were so distraught or depressed then decided to shoot a few people? The postal worker. The boy at his high school.

b.  And I’m sure all of you can recall having a bad day or feeling unhappy.

2.  As College Students, we tend to get wrapped up in the stress and deadlines of our everyday life.

a.  We forget to take the time to offer a compliment to others.

b.  We are often in too much of a hurry to stop and help someone in need.

c.  When we need help and can’t get it, we may become unhappy.

3.  Unhappiness leads to more unhappiness.

a.  For instance, a teacher having a bad day might yell at a student.

b.  The Student may then go back to the dorm and yell at his/her roommate.

c.  The roommate then yells at his/her friend. It’s a chain reaction.

(Transition: But there is a way to break a link in this chain.  The smallest effort can stop this chain reaction in its tracks and even reverse it. And every one of you can do it.)

B.  The Satisfaction Step: By partaking in random acts of kindness, you can change someone’s day for the better, give someone a boost of confidence, possibly even save a life or eventually change the world.

1.  There are so many ways to be kind.

a.  You could tell the next worker you see what a great job he/she’s doing.

b.  Pick up and return that pen the person walking in front of you dropped.

c.  Thank the cafeteria worker for the superior service.

d.  Compliment a friend on a quality or a classmate on his/her strong points.

2.  Just think of the things you could do for others or say to others that will brighten their day.

(Internal Transition:  These are only a few examples of kind acts that you can do.)

a.  According to a Greek proverb, “Kindness begets kindness.”

b.  It’s true! Kindness is also a chain reaction.

c.  One act of kindness leads to another.

d.  For example, a teacher compliments you on the strong points of your speech.

e.  With the boost of confidence, you will go to your room and thank your roommate for cleaning the last

f.  He/She’ll compliment a friend and so on.  And it all started with a teacher’s simple comment on a speech.

(Internal Summary:  Now, you know how you can use random acts of kindness every day to benefit yourself and everyone around you.)

(Transition: Envision yourself partaking in Random Acts of Kindness daily.)

C.  The Visualization Step: Imagine yourself thanking your professor for his/her enthusiasm.

1.  How would that make him/her feel? Probably terrific.

2.  And the next class that comes in that day will be in for the most enthusiastic lecture ever.

3.  Or imagine commenting on a classmate’s talent, only to find out later that you saved his/her life.

4.  There are no disadvantages–It is a Win-Win situation.

a.  It doesn’t cost anything, and we definitely don’t lose anything by doing it.

b.  In fact, random acts of kindness will not only cheer other people up, but they will also make you feel good too.

c.  Let’s admit it, when we compliment someone or lend a helping hand, we feel good about ourselves.

(Transition: But don’t just think about what you can do–do it!)

III.  Conclusion

A.  Summary Statement:  With all of the world’s problems and the bad day’s people are having, sometimes all it takes to turn a problem into an opportunity and a bad day into a smile is a simple act of kindness.

B.  Call to Immediate Action: According to William Wordsworth,” nameless, unremembered acts of kindness” are “the best portion” of a person’s life, so go out and demonstrate it in every way that you can (Ryan, p. 578).

1.  I’m going to hand out some cards that suggest a random act of kindness you can do today.

2.  Try one of the random acts on the card you receive or try one of your own ideas.

3.  Be honest, sincere, generous, and kind.

4.  Who knows, the world may slowly become a better place because of a single random act of kindness.

Bibliography

Canfield, Jack, and Mark Victor Hansen. Chicken Soup for the Soul. Deerfield Beach, FL:  Health

Communications, Inc., 1993.

Drexler, Madeline. “When the Blues Turn Black.” Redbook. Vol. 184, Issue 1, p. 108.

November, 1994.

Lieberman, Gerald F. 3,500 Good Quotes for Speakers. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and

Company, Inc., 1983.

Ryan, Alan, John Sparrow, T. C. Worsley, eds. The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.3rd edition.

New York: Oxford UP, 1979.

Briggen, Nancy (1997).   Random Acts of Kindness  [Online].  Available:http://www.readersnd

ex.com/randomacts/ [1997, October 27].

Courtesy of http://www.hawaii.edu/mauispeech/pdf/mspsamplerak.pdf.