Persuasive Speech: Preparation Outline
Conclusion (II)
(Call to action) I know that social media has become a getaway. - An escape or even something relaxing, scrolling through posts and short videos, but that amount of time spent is only hurting you. - There are so many options out there that not only fill the time, as social media does but do so in a constructive way. - Deleting social media is a door opener to a better life. Social media is not only disparaging to an individual's mental health but hours of the day are wasted on staring at a screen, depleting away lives. - Thus, "Delete all social media from your phone"
Conclusion (III)
(End on a strong note) Life is simply too short to waste it away. Living a more fulfilling life can be accomplished if you decide today to take action. I believe most people should feel embarrassed for the amount of time wasted on their social media. - Now it's up to you to improve your life and start living it again.
Introduction (III)
(Establish Credibility) As a teenager living in the world of social media, I am all too familiar with how much time is spent on social media, as well as how it feels to be rid of it. - I mean, if you were to look me up on any social media app, there would definitely be an account attached with my name. - However, I think we all need to take the time to realize what we are doing to ourselves when we become completely engrossed in the world of social media.
Body (I.A)
(Need) First and foremost, social media impairs mental health. Within the scientific journal titled, Impact of Social Media on Self-Esteem, they conducted research and had found that: - The majority of the people participating in the study ended up making upward and downward comparisons with others. - What the study means by upward and downward comparisons is that: - Upward comparisons make people envy others and their lifestyles. They also feel less obliged and ungrateful for what they have in their own life. - Downward comparisons are comparisons between an individual and those inferior to him (possessing negative attributes), thus creating a sense of superiority. - As a result, their self-esteem gets negatively affected both ways. - Deflation or negative inflation of ego
Transition
(Now you understand the impact of social media, the way you can resolve these problems, and the benefits of taking action.)
Introduction (IV)
(Preview the body of the speech) I would like to encourage all of you to delete all of your social media.
Body (II.D)
(Questions that may arise.) Now, you might have some questions bouncing in your mind, such as, -"How can social media be that bad? Aren't you overexaggerating?" - The point is I am not. The articles, studies, and reports I have discussed only scratch the surface of the countless amounts of research that backs up the fact that social media is simply harmful. "Aren't you making yourself antisocial? An unaware hermit?" - There are various ways to connect with people, an easy one being text messaging or calling. There really is no reason to see that your neighbor went to the Bahamas for vacation, that they just finished watching the latest Marvel movie, or all the opinions that they tweet. - Consider what truly is relevant today that may impact you, and you can usually find out through the various news outlets from the New York Times to the Washington Post.
Introduction (II)
(Reveal Topic) I feel as though most of us would feel embarrassed to come out and say how much time we spend on our phones. Specifically, how much time we spend scrolling through the various social media apps we have: from Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok, and the list goes on.
Body (II.A)
(Satisfaction) You simply need to delete all social media. Understand that the solution is simple, and the only problem is that there may be a mental block preventing you from doing this. - There is a lot that goes into the mental processes of routine and what we have gotten used to.
Conclusion (I)
(Signal Ending) I would like to ask you to take that first step forward in living a better life.
Body (III)
(Visualization) No matter what happens, deleting social media will have been the right choice. - Becoming a social media-free individual may seem daunting, even bordering on scary. But removing these restrictions on your life will help improve your mental health and increase the amount of free time that can be used for both better and more constructive activities. - Thinking that deleting social media only improves your own life is simply not the case. - In fact, once you delete social media and relieve yourself of the pressures associated with it, not only does your life improve, but so does those around you. - Improving your life in a better and more constructive way affects those around you because when you're happy, the people around you are more likely to be happy too. - Happy people make others happy
Transition
(We'll begin by understanding how exactly social media affects us.)
Body (I.D)
Another problem is that our social media usage essentially wastes time that can be spent to better use. According to online articles, such as How Much Time Does The Average Person Spend On Social Media? and Average Time Spent Daily on Social Media (Latest 2020 Data): - The amount of time spent on social media is around 2 hours and 10 minutes. This is time spent depleting our mental health and doing nothing to improve our life. - This doesn't even count the amount of time spent on social media using other devices, but at this moment, we are focused on your phone. - There is more to life than sharing what you're or learning what everyone else is up to.
Body (I.C)
Discussing particular apps, if we look at Facebook, we can find evidentiary support from the Journal of Clinical Psychology that the study Seeing Everyone Else's Highlight Reels: How Facebook Usage is Linked to Depressive Symptoms is indeed true. - Through their findings, it was found that social media apps come with unintended negative health outcomes. - Especially for the youth, as their identities are continually being molded and this vulnerability makes them more susceptible to these negative consequences. - This was not the only study that saw this sort of decline in youth. In fact, these findings are supported by similar studies such as Facebook Use Predicts Declines in Subjective Well-Being in Young Adults.
Body (II.C)
I cannot stress enough that deleting your social media, however frightening it may seem, will help improve your life significantly.
Introduction (I)
I would like for all of you to think back to the amount of screen time you have on your phone. There is this update that Apple has added to their phones, a weekly update that lets you know how much time you've been staring at the screen. - Has it gone up lately? - Have you seen that notification telling you your percentage has gone up since the other week? - Are you feeling fulfilled having spent all those hours staring at your screen?
Body (II.B)
If you don't want to completely delete your social media, begin by deleting the apps. - You might ask yourself, "Why can't I just limit myself?" Well, consider removing the apps will allow you to experience a trial run. - Understanding that you can limit yourself will let you realize that you can take the next step forward. - Learning self-restraint is useful for many aspects of life, but in the case of social media, there does not seem to be much of a point.
Body (I.B)
Within another study, Effects of Social Media on Mental Health: A Review, it was further studied that social media in fact does have an alarming and dangerous effect on our youth, the generation that tends to use social media excessively. - However, even though the prominent demographic that was effective negatively was the younger generation, it is not to be ignored that regardless of age, social media contributes to depleted mental health that can last throughout the individual's life. - Something interesting to note is that in this study's conclusion they specifically state that, "Any social media application that has not positive effect like discrimination, violence, and racism, etc. should be dissolved at once completed."