Sample Outline #1: Not As Healthy As They Sound

Speech Commentary- General Purpose: Specific Purpose:

Central Idea: To inform
To inform my audience of some foods that are not as healthy as they sound.
Some healthy-sounding foods are not as high in nutritional value as you might think.
Purposes and central idea should appear at the top of the outline to help the speaker stay on target.
INTRODUCTION I. Attention Material
A. At a coffee shop, you try to choose between a chocolate donut with sprinkles and a corn muffin. (Show
photo.) [See Figure 4.]
B. You decide on the corn muffin because it’s healthier, but is it?
C. The donut has 270 calories, while the corn muffin has 510. (Consumer Reports)
1. You need 2,000 calories per day, so the corn muffin provides about one-quarter of your daily needs. 2.
Also the corn muffin has a great deal more fat than the donut.
D. Over 12 people who were interviewed said the corn muffin was healthier.

II. Orienting Material

A. Let’s look at some other foods that are not as healthy as they sound.
B. My goal is not to dictate a diet, but simply to inform you of some interesting facts. ( Transition: Let’s
start with vegetables.) The introduction has its own label and numbering sequence.
The speaker grabs attention by describing an interesting choice.
A preview lets listeners know what the speech will cover.
Transitions are placed in parentheses and are not part of the numbering system.
A corn muffin has far more calories than a chocolate donut. Bryan Solomon/Shutterstock; ©
© Anton Prado Photo/
Shutterstock
BODY
Roman numerals are used for main points.
Under each main point, subpoints are marked with capital letters.
Sub-subpoints are marked with arabic numerals (1, 2, 3).
Each level of subordination is shown by indention.
1.Vegetables can be nutritious, but often they are loaded with extra fat and calories. A. A salad with
tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, and other veggies can be okay if you add a modest amount of low-fat
dressing. 1. But some people choose a salad at a fast-food restaurant because they think it’s healthier than
a burger. (Show slide.) [See Figure 5.]
2. One fast-food chain sells a Spicy Chicken Caesar Salad with 750 calories, while its quarter-pound
hamburger has 470 calories. (KGET-TV of Bakersfield, California)
3. A salad becomes high in calories and fat if it’s topped with cheese, bacon, croutons, spicy chicken
strips, and a large quantity of high-fat dressing.
B. Potato chips are high in fat, so veggie chips sound healthier.
1. Veggie chips are not more nutritious than potato chips, says Patricia Chuey of Vancouver,
Canada, a nutritionist and author of Simply Great Food.
2. They are high in fat and calories.
3. They have almost none of the nutritional value of real vegetables.
C. A veggie sandwich sounds healthy, but beware.
1. It’s not all that healthy if you order the Veggie Supreme sub at one fast-food chain.
2. The Veggie Supreme was rated as the Worst “Healthy” Sandwich in America. (Eat This, Not That!)
3. It has 1,106 calories and 56 grams of fat, surpassing the calories and fat in two Big Macs from
McDonald’s.
4. The sub is a foot long, contains three different kinds of cheese, and is covered in oil.
5. Of course you can avoid the extra fat and calories if you ask the restaurant to skip the cheese and oil.
Figure 5 At a fast-food restaurant, a
salad can have more calories than a hamburger.
Figure 6 :Commercial granola bars are far different from homemade ones.
Igor Dutina/Shutterstock©
(Transition: Let’s look at our second category of foods.)
II. Nuts, fruits, and dairy products can be nutritious, but sometimes they have surprisingly high amounts
of fat and calories.
A. Granola bars would seem to be a super-healthy food. (Show photo.) [See Figure 6.]
1. They contain nuts, dried fruits, and whole oats.
2. They can be very healthy if you make your own granola bars at home.
3. But commercial granola bars have lots of sugar and syrup.
4. “They’re basically cookies masquerading around as health food,” says Jayne Hurley, a senior
nutritionist with the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
B. Yogurt-covered raisins sound like a healthy combination.
1. By themselves, raisins and yogurt are good foods, says Rosie Schwartz, a dietitian in Toronto, Canada.
2. But commercial yogurt-covered raisins are deceptive.
3. The “yogurt” coating is not real yogurt, but a high-calorie combination of sugar, oil, and some dried
milk.
4. One cup of yogurt-covered raisins has 750 calories, more calories than in two slices of homemade
chocolate cake with chocolate frosting.
C. Combining two healthy foods—yogurt and fruit—sounds healthy.
1. Yogurt is a nutritious food, and fruit contains essential vitamins and minerals.
2. So wouldn’t it be healthy to buy a container of yogurt that has fruit on the bottom?
3. But Schwartz says it’s not real fruit on the bottom. a. It’s actually fruit jam loaded with sugar.
b. One serving can contain as many as 28 grams of sugar. c. That’s more sugar than in a cup of vanilla ice
cream. ( Transition: Let’s review.)
Transitions are needed between main points.
Audiences like to know the source of information—in this case, an expert.
Complete sentences are used to
make sure all material is clear and well-developed.
Even though complete sentences are used, this outline is not a script to be read aloud. It is just a skeleton
of key points. In the speech itself, the speaker expands on the points, using additional words in a
conversational-style delivery.
The final transition prepares the audience for the conclusion.
The conclusion has its own label and numbering system.
The speaker summarizes the main points.
A graceful ending is achieved by referring to the dramatic question asked at the beginning of the speech.
The bibliography lists all sources used to prepare the speech.
Sources are listed alphabetically.
The MLA format shown here is explained in the chapter on locating information, along with another
format, APA.
CONCLUSION I. Summary
A. Some foods are not as healthy as they sound.
B. They include corn muffins, some fast-food salads, veggie chips, the Veggie Supreme sub, granola bars,
yogurt covered raisins, and yogurt with fruit on the bottom.
II. Clincher
A. Rather than dictate, I have just given information. B. I’ll bet all of you will remember that you don’t
save calories by choosing a corn muffin over a chocolate donut. BIBLIOGRAPHY Chuey, Patricia,
nutritionist, Vancouver, Canada. Message to Jeffrey Omura. 14 July 2011. E-mail.
“Food Fight.” Consumer Reports March 2008: 7. Print.
Hurley, Jayne, nutritionist. “Granola Bars.” Center for Science in the Public Interest Online, 21 Feb. 2011.
Web. 14 July 2011.
“New Law Requires Big Restaurant Chains to Provide Nutritional Facts.” KGET-TV, Bakersfield,
California, 2010. Web. 14 July 2011.
Schwartz, Rosie, dietitian, Toronto, Canada. Message to Jeffrey Omura. 13 July 2011. E-mail.
Zinczenko, David. Eat This, Not That! New York: Rodale, 2012. Print. Visual aids should be listed so that
the instructor can give guidance.

VISUAL AIDS
Two PowerPoint slides comparing calories. One photo of granola bars. speaking notes
brief reminders of the points a speaker plans to cover during a speech. Speaking Notes After you have
devised an outline, what do you do with it? Do you use it to practice your speech? No. Do you take it with
you to the lectern to assist you in the delivery of your speech? No. You use the outline only for organizing
your ideas. When it comes to practicing and then delivering the speech, you should use brief speaking
notes that are based on the outline. Speaking from brief notes is a good technique because it enables you
to look at your audience most of the time, occasionally glancing down to pick up your next point. It
encourages you to speak naturally and conversationally. How about using no notes at all? Would that be
even better? No, without notes, you might forget important points, and you might fail to present your
ideas in a logical, easy-to-follow sequence.
Notes bolster your sense of security. Even if you are in full command of the content of your speech, you
feel more confident and self-assured knowing that you have notes as a safety net to rescue you if your
mind goes blank and you fail to recall your next point. Some people have the idea that using notes is a
sign of mental weakness or a lack of self-confidence, but this belief is unfounded. Most good speakers use
them without losing the respect of an audience. After all, your notes represent a kind of compliment to
your listeners. They show that you care enough about the occasion to spend time getting your best
thoughts together in a coherent form. The kind of speaker that audiences do look down on is the windbag
who stands up without notes and rambles on and on without tying things together. Guidelines for
Preparing Notes
As you read these guidelines, you may want to refer to the sample speaking notes in Figure 7. ∙ Make
indentations in your speaking notes that correspond to those in your outline. This will reinforce the
structure of the speech in your mind. Some speakers use checkboxes and dashes to signal points; others
use the same numbering system that they used in their outline.
∙ Use only one side of a sheet of paper or note card because you might forget to turn the paper or card
over. ∙ Write down only the minimum number of words or phrases necessary to trigger your memory. If
you have too many words written down, you may overlook some key ideas, or you may spend too much
time looking at the notes instead of at the audience. Exceptions to this rule are long quotations or statistics
that you need to write out in full for the sake of accuracy. Introduction 1 Cues remind the speaker to look
at the audience and speak slowly during the introduction. For reminders, red ink is eective.
LOOK AT AUDIENCE SLOW!
Donut?
Corn muffin?
SLIDE
Muffin healthier?
Figure 7 Here are samples of note cards for the speech about foods that sound healthy. Only the first two
cards are shown. Each card is numbered so that if the speaker accidentally drops or scrambles the cards,
they can be put back into order very easily. Only a few key words are used to jog the speaker's memory.
Consumer Reports
– Donut, 270
– Muffin, 510
-2,000 calories PAUSE
2 ∙ Write words in large letters that are neat and legible so that you have no trouble seeing them when you
glance down during a speech.
∙ Include cues for effective delivery, such as “SHOW SLIDE” and “PAUSE” (see the sample notes in
Figure 7). Write them in a bright color so that they stand out. Some speakers find it helpful to use a
variety of coded colors on their notes—for example, black for main points, green for support materials,
blue for transitions, and red for delivery cues.
∙ For speaking, use the same set of notes you used while rehearsing so that you will be thoroughly familiar
with the location of items on your prompts. I once practiced with a set of notes on which I penciled in so
many editing marks that I made a fresh set of notes right before I delivered the speech. This turned out to
be a mistake because the notes were so new that some of the key words failed to trigger my memory
quickly, causing me to falter at several points. I should have stayed with the original notes.
Even though they were filled with arrows and insertions and deletions, I knew them intimately; I had a
strong mental picture of where each point was located. The new notes, in contrast, had not yet “burned”
their image in my brain.
∙ Don’t put your notes on the lectern in advance of your speech. A custodian might think they are trash
and toss them out, or a previous speaker might accidentally scoop them up and walk off with them.
Options for Notes
Your instructor may require you to use one particular kind of note system, but if you have a choice,
consider using one of these four popular methods.
Option 1: Use Note Cards
Your speaking notes can be put on note cards, as shown in Figure 7. Note cards (especially the 3″ × 5″
size) are compact and rather inconspicuous, and they are easy to hold (especially if there is no lectern on
which to place notes). The small size of the card forces you to write just a few key words rather than long
sentences that you might be tempted to read aloud verbatim. If you use cards, be sure to number each one
in case you drop or scramble them and need to reassemble them quickly.

Option 2: Use a Full Sheet of Paper

If you use a full sheet of paper, you can have the notes for your entire speech spread out in front of you.
There are, however, several disadvantages: (1) Because a whole sheet of paper is a large writing surface,
many speakers succumb to the temptation to put down copious notes. This hurts them in speechmaking
because they end up spending too much time looking at their notes and too little time making eye contact
with the audience. (2) A full sheet of paper can cause a speaker’s eyes to glide over key points because the
“map” is so large. (3) If a sheet is brought to the room rolled up, it can curl up on the lectern, much to the
speaker’s dismay. (4) If a sheet is handheld because no lectern is available, it tends to shake and rustle,
distracting listeners. If you have access to a lectern, you can use several 8.5″ × 11″ sheets in a clever way:
put notes only on the top one-third of a sheet, leaving the bottom two-thirds blank. This will help your eye
contact because you can glance at your notes without having to bow your head to see notes at the bottom
of the page. A final tip: To avoid the distraction of turning a page over when you have finished with it,
simply slide it to the other side of the lectern.
Option 3: Use Visual Aids as Prompts
A popular technique is to use your visual aids (such as PowerPoint slides or posters) as the equivalent of
note cards. The visuals jog your memory on what to say next, and they give you the freedom to walk
around the room instead of staying behind a lectern. If you use this strategy, avoid using a visual aid that
is primarily a cue for yourself and has no value for the audience. In other words, design a visual aid for
audience enlightenment, not for speaker convenience. Take a look at the notes in Figure 7. They are fine
on note cards, but if they were displayed on a slide, they would be cryptic to the audience.
Option 4: Use Electronic Devices
If your instructor approves, you can put your notes on a smartphone or tablet. Just make sure that you
limit yourself to brief notes, not a full text. These options do not have to be used exclusively. They can be
combined. For example, you could use note cards for part of a speech and visuals as prompts for another
part.
Controlling Your Material
While preparing your outline, don’t let your material become like an octopus whose tentacles ensnare you
and tie you up. You must control your material, rather than letting your material control you. Here are
four things you can do to make sure that you stay in control. 1. Revise your outline and speaking notes
whenever they need alterations. Some students mistakenly view an outline as a device that plants their
feet in concrete; once they have written an outline, they think that they are stuck with it—even if they
want to make changes. An outline should be treated as a flexible aid that can be altered as you see fit.
2. Test your outline. One of the reasons for creating an outline is to test your material to see if it is well-
organized, logical, and sufficient. Here are some questions that you should ask yourself as you analyze
your outline (in your career, you can ask colleagues to critique your outline, using the same questions): ∙
Does the introduction provoke interest and give sufficient orienting material?
∙ Do I preview the central idea and/or main points?
∙ Do the main points explain or prove my central idea?
∙ Are the main points organized logically?
∙ Is there enough support material for each main point? Is there too much?
∙ Do I have smooth transitions between introduction and body, between main points, and between body
and conclusion?
∙ Have I eliminated extraneous material that doesn’t truly relate to my central idea? Using one full sheet
of paper for his notes, Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte gives a speech to a high school in Chicago.
Barry Brecheisen/AP Images©
∙ Does my conclusion summarize the main points and reinforce the central idea?
∙ Is my conclusion strong and effective?
3. Revise for continuity. Often an outline looks good on paper, but when you make your speaking notes
and start practicing, you find that some parts are disharmonious, clumsy, or illogical. A speech needs a
graceful flow, carrying the audience smoothly from one point to another. If your speech lacks this smooth
flow, alter the outline and speaking notes until you achieve a continuity with which you are comfortable.
(If you practice in front of friends, ask them to point out parts that are awkward or confusing.) 4. Make
deletions if you are in danger of exceeding your time limit. After you make your speaking notes, practice
delivering your speech while timing yourself. If the speech exceeds the time limit (set by your instructor
or by the people who invited you to speak), go back to your outline and speaking notes and trim them.
Deleting material can be painful, especially if you have worked hard to get a particular example or
statistic. But it must be done, even if you exceed the limit by only several minutes.
Sample Speech as Presented Earlier we examined the outline and sample notes for Jeffrey Omura’s
speech about foods that are not as healthy as they seem at first glance. A transcript of the speech as it was
delivered is printed below. Notice that the wording of the actual speech is not identical to that of the
outline. The reason is that Omura delivers the speech extemporaneously, guided by brief speaking notes.
Not as Healthy as They Sound
You go into a coffee shop, and you decide to buy a pastry to go with your coffee. [Speaker shows the slide
in Figure 4.] At first you’re attracted to the chocolate donut with sprinkles, but then you decide to go with
the corn muffin because you figure it must be a lot healthier. But is it? According to Consumer Reports
magazine, the donut has 270 calories, while the corn muffin has almost twice as many—510. The average
person needs about 2,000 calories per day, so the corn muffin gives you almost one-quarter of your daily
allotment. The corn muffin also has a lot more fat than the donut. I asked over a dozen people which they
thought was healthier. Everyone said the corn muffin. It does sound healthy, doesn’t it? Today I’d like to
show you some other foods that aren’t as healthy as you might think. By the way, I’m not trying to tell
you what you should eat. I just want to inform you about some surprising facts. Let’s start with
vegetables, which by themselves are very nutritious, but they’re often served in ways that add a lot of
extra fat and calories. Consider a salad with vegetables like tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers. It can be
healthy if you put a single serving of low-fat dressing on it. But the problem is, some people go into a
fast-food restaurant and they order the salad because they think it’s going to be healthier than the burger.
[Speaker shows the slide in Figure 5.] A TV station in Bakersfield, California, KGET—they report that
one fast-food chain sells a Spicy Chicken Caesar Salad with 750 calories, compared to the quarter-pound
hamburger, which has 470 calories. What some people don’t know is that a salad can become high in
calories and fat if you add extra things like cheese, bacon, croutons, spicy chicken strips, and a large
quantity of high-fat dressing.
You may have heard about potato chips being loaded with fat and contributing to the increased rate of
obesity. So let’s say you’re in a grocery store and you see a bag of veggie chips. What could be unhealthy
about that? Didn’t your mother always say, Eat your veggies? Well, let’s check with Patricia Chuey of
Vancouver, Canada. She’s a nutritionist and author of Simply Great Food. She says veggie chips are no
more nutritious than potato chips. They’re loaded with fat and they’re high in calories. And they contain
almost none of the nutritional value of real vegetables. Well, how about a veggie sandwich? It can be
healthy if you make it at home. But it’s not as healthy if you get the Veggie Supreme sub at one national
fastfood chain. A best-selling book Eat This, Not That! rated the Veggie Supreme as the Worst “Healthy”
Sandwich in America. It has 1,106 calories and 56 grams of fat—more calories and more fat than you’d
get in two Big Macs. The problem is, the foot-long sub comes with three different kinds of cheese, and
it’s covered in oil. By the way, in a case like this, you can avoid the extra fat and calories if you just ask
the restaurant to skip the cheese and oil.
Now let’s turn to nuts, fruits, and dairy products. As with vegetables, they can be very nutritious, but
sometimes they, too, have unexpected high amounts of fat and calories. Consider granola bars. [ Speaker
shows the slide in Figure 6.] They sound so wholesome and nutritious. They include nuts, dried fruits, and
whole oats. Nutrition experts say that if you make your own granola bars, they can make a good healthy
snack. But Jayne Hurley, a senior nutritionist with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, says that
commercial granola bars you see in stores are loaded with sugar and syrup. She says, quote, “They’re
basically cookies masquerading around as health food.”
Next we come to yogurt-covered raisins. What could be unhealthy about that combination? Rosie
Schwartz, a dietitian in Toronto, Canada—she says that raisins by themselves are fine, and yogurt by
itself is fine. But she says commercial yogurt-covered raisins—they’re not what you think. The so-called
yogurt coating is different from the yogurt you buy in the dairy section of your store. The coating is
mostly sugar, oil, and some dried milk—and it’s loaded with calories. One cup of yogurt-covered raisins
has 750 calories—that’s more calories than you’ll find in two typical slices of homemade chocolate cake
with chocolate frosting.
What would happen if you mixed two healthy foods together—like yogurt and fruit? Yogurt is a
nutritious, calcium-rich snack. Fruit contains essential vitamins and minerals. So how about buying
containers of yogurt that has fruit on the bottom? Sounds even better than the ordinary yogurt, doesn’t it?
But Schwartz says it’s not real fruit on the bottom. It’s fruit jam loaded with sugar. One serving can
contain as many as 28 grams of sugar. That’s more sugar than you’ll find in a cup of vanilla ice cream.
Let’s summarize. I’ve tried to show you that many foods are not as nutritious as you might think—corn
muffins, some fast-food salads, veggie chips, the Veggie Supreme sub, granola bars, yogurt-covered
raisins, and yogurt with fruit-on-the-bottom.
As I said in the beginning, I’m not trying to tell you what you should eat. But at least now you know
you’re not saving calories if you go with the corn muffin instead of the chocolate donut.