Example Outline
Planning to Protect Our Memory Persuasive Speech Outline

I. Introduction
A. How to Grab their attention
1. Show a picture of the human brain
2. This is a picture of the brain of a twenty five year old vs. the brain of an 85 year old. Deina lives among these people. But she has hope, because there is someone fighting for her.
3. She is not alone. Her neighbor needs a rescuer as well.
B. Thesis: The battle against poverty can be won through the efforts of those who have been blessed and who are willing to give of themselves.
C. Purpose/Preview: By the end of this discussion I hope to have:
1. Presented a picture of poverty, a way we can fight it, and hope of victory.

[Transition: But first, let define poverty.]

II. Need
A. Court fees and fines that fund crime victims have fallen off
B. Around the world, 30% of children suffer from malnutrition, 19% have no access to clean water, 17% will never attend school, and worst of all, 30,000 children under five die each day (UNICEF, 2006).
C. A deeper definition
1. Compassion International take the definition of poverty a step further, “Poverty is much more than a lack of money or material possessions—at its core, poverty is a lack of options. It is a mindset of utter hopelessness that overwhelms its victims with difficult circumstances and tells them to give up. Those suffering from poverty can teach us what true joy really is…and how one can find this joy in the most unlikely of places (Compassion, 2007).”
D. Poverty is a continuous cycle and its effects are endless. Poverty is closely associated with:
1. High crime rate, low literacy, increased suicides, starvation, lower life expectancy, and increase in political violence (Wikipedia, 2007).
E. America is not exempt from poverty.
1. In 2005, 37 million Americans were living below the poverty line. An estimated 12.4 million children live in hungry homes (USDA, 2005).
2. America’s Food Bank Network had this to say about poverty in America-“A child who is unequipped to learn because of hunger and poverty is more likely to be poor as an adult. As such, the existence of childhood hunger in the United States threatens future American prosperity.”

[Despite all of these scary statistics, there is a solution.]

III. Solution
A. Poverty can be reduced and prevented through the giving of not only our resources but also of time and love.
B. What about the other side of the statistics, the people who do have hope?
1. Through Compassion International alone there are 689,086 sponsors who have answered the needs of children around the world.
2. The Child Survival Program rescued and cared for more than 4,000 of the world’s most needy children and their caregivers (Compassion Magazine, 2007).
3. 3 out of 10 Americans donate some of their time each week to a non-profit organization.
C. Giving-“But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.”

[Transition: Poverty is being fought one person at a time.]

IV. Visualization
A. We can best visualize the fruits of this solution through the stories of real people who have been rescued from poverty.
1. This is Alexander Villamil, and he was born in Bogota, Columbia in poverty. His family lived in a home barely protected by the gangs that dealt drugs, stole, assaulted, and killed. Unable to afford much more, his parents registered him with Compassion. Because of the sponsorship of someone who loves him, Alexander said he was able to “learn a lot of things I never would have in my neighborhood. Also, I met new friends, new people. I heard testimonies of people who had an impact on my life. So at Compassion’s project I gained a new life and new opportunity.”
2. There are countless stories like Alexander’s, stories of opportunity granted by those willing to give.
B. Alexander has a vision for his country, “My country has problems, but we have people with dreams. I am part of that group of people. I want to go forward.”
C. With everyone’s help, we can help give life to those dreams and help the world ‘go forward.’

[Transition: It’s not just people like Oprah giving hope, its average people like you and me that can share our love by giving.]

V. Call to Action
A. Summary: Poverty is a huge problem in the world. But, with the joined forces of those willing to give time, money, and love, the world will be able to ‘go forward’ in ways it never has before.
B. Sponsor a child: I urge you to consider joining with your family and friends to sponsor a child. There are websites to help you choose the organization that you can trust. It may seem like your contribution is insignificant, but changing the life of just one child brings us one step closer to ending poverty.
1. www.charitynavigator.org
2. www.charitywatch.org
C. I am Deina Kabuka’s sponsor, and it means the world to me to be able to give her hope. Her happiness is worth more than any amount of money I could give.

Work Cited

Compassion International (2007). What Does Poverty Look Like? March 07, 2007. http://www.compassion.com/sponsordonor/default.htm

UNICEF (2006). The State of the World’s Children. March 08, 2007. Compassion Magazine.

Wikipedia (March 2007). Effects of Poverty. March 07, 2007. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty#Effects_of_Poverty

Nord, Mark, M. Andrews, S. Carlson. United States Department of Agriculture/Economic
Research Service, Household Good Security in the United States, 2005.

Stafford, D.W., & Lehmann, R. (2007). Dear Compassion Advocate. Compassion Magazine.
2007.