Persuasive Speech
Harrison Thacker
11-6-18

Persuasive Speech: Audience Assessment

Specific Goal​​:​ ​My audience will feel intrigued and interested, and will believe that there may be some benefit to having an automatic
account with 5-10% compound interest. After listening to my speech, they may want to look into more detail about automatic
accounts and the benefits they can have for personal finance and financial independence.

Type of Claim:​​ ​This is a claim of policy.

Ethos: Primary Ethos:

a)​ Competence: ​I plan on having an automatic account sometime in the future. Having strong personal finance is
something I’ve been preparing for, and automatic accounts can help in that regard.
b) ​Fairness​​: For opposing arguments, I’ll list all of them and go into detail for each of them. I also plan on sharing
small stories during the speech, that help to acknowledge the opposing arguments and also back up my points.

Secondary Ethos​​: ​ ​There should be about six or seven. I already have five, but I’ll still use them in different aspects.

Audience Assessment​​:​ Most of my audience members will probably have ​an attitude​​ toward my proposition that is uninformed.

Adaptation to Audience Attitude​​:

a. ​Common ground​​: For common ground, I’ll try to address opposing arguments, and use some of the stories in my sources
to help build my case why automatic accounts can be a great benefit.
b. Latitude of acceptance​​: While the audience may be intrigued and a bit apprehensive to my proposition at first, after listing
my arguments they may come away from the speech feeling more comfortable about automatic accounts with interest.

Baby Steps​​: I had to narrow down the scope of my speech and also make it a more specific topic. It will be about how automatic
accounts with interest can help with personal finance, and potentially help get someone on the path towards financial
independence.

Pattern of Organization​​: ​ ​Comparative advantages.

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​ ersuasive Speech: Full Sentence Outline

P
​Why You Should Get an Automatic Account

I. Attention:
A.
​Hook: ​ I’m willing to bet that some of you seem suspicious or intimidated about using an automatic
account, when you really shouldn’t be at all.
Thesis: ​Today I’ll go into detail with you about how automatic accounts work, and address some of the
concerns you may have about them.

1:​​ ​Back in 2012, Carl Jensen came up with a plan with his wife to save a sizable portion of their income over
the next five years.​​ Eventually they were able to retire early. Part of what may have helped them is automatic
accounts. (Kurutz, 2018)

2: ​There are plenty of such tools that can help you on your way to financial independence and stability. For
some, they managed to reduce expenses and save enough to reach early retirement. While that may not be an
option for most, many may have gotten on this track all thanks to automatic accounts with interest.

3: ​If you value building your credit while also accumulating wealth, then you should definitely consider getting
an automatic account.

B. ​Recently I read about the FIRE movement, which stands for Financial Independence, Retire Early.
The concept is about restructuring your life so that you can focus on what makes you happiest, and live life on
your own terms. I plan on following some of these practices in the future, and I’m certain that automatic
accounts can help along that path towards financial security.

​C. ​Automatic saving plans allow your money to be deposited without even having to worry about it, as
well as making it easier for you to stick to your budget.

Transition: ​So why should you set up an automatic savings plan with interest?

II. Need:
A. You may not be familiar with how to go about making one, but you could learn online so you could
gradually get more confident and feel more comfortable about the process.

1: ​All you’re doing with an automatic savings plan is your depositing a fixed amount of funds at specific
intervals.

2: ​One problem you may be facing is your expenses may be too high, and you also don’t make enough
money currently.

3: ​Plus most of us are still starting out and may be apprehensive to making changes in how much we
spend.

B. One other concern you may have is that an auto account won’t match your investments in high return
markets.
 

1: ​Since everything is automated, there’s no guarantee what you put into the stock market would
match.

2: ​All this and more coupled with the fact that you need a strong understanding of personal finance
before you’re able to use these tools and feel comfortable with them.

3: The University of Rhode Island has also found that good money management skills are what helps
most in order to achieve financial independence. ​(​Xiao, J. J., Chatterjee, S., & Kim, J., 2014)

Transition: ​As intimidating as this may look, all it takes to get started and familiar with these tools is by
educating yourself about the process.

III. Solution​​:
A. Just by familiarizing yourself with the process you can then take advantage of this knowledge and use it
to your advantage.

1: ​For savings plans, having it automated can help you stay within your specified budget.
a:​​ Retirement-wise, most actually save for 10-15%. But there’s more to it than that. ​Mr. Money
Moustache ​(an early-retirement guru), has some of this math to offer. Saving 50% of your income
can allow you to retire in 17 years, while 75% or higher means 7 years or less. ​(​Mr. Money
Moustache, 2012)

b: ​For automation, you can try specifying how much will be taken from your checking account
to your savings account each month. Getting a savings plan from your same bank or credit union
should work fine.

c: ​Not only could this limit your spending impulses, but also make your money accessible in
emergency situations.

Transition: ​As for your investments not matching your automatic plan, here are a few options you can
try.
B.
1: ​To start out easy, you might want to pursue short-term savings goals first.
a: ​Once those are settled, then you should be prepared to tackle long term financial decisions
for yourself.

b: ​And if your investments don’t match your automatic plan, you can simply use multiple
accounts and keep them separate.

c: ​Automating your savings is a surefire way to achieve financial independence, all by growing
with compound interest over a period of time.
Internal Summary: ​Now you have a basic idea of how saving plans can work for you.

Transition: ​Now picture yourself reaping the benefits from automatic savings years down the line.

IV. Visualization​​:
 
A. You find yourself at ease. Your money gets updated periodically, and is sitting still, ready to be used
whenever you need it.

1: ​By then, a lot of your worries and concerns won’t be an issue. After a while, the process will seem
second-nature.

2: ​Plus, you’ll end up with a larger rate of return at a faster pace. You would have saved yourself far
more time and money than you would have otherwise.

B. You could also wake up each morning, and simply go about your day knowing that you have financial
flexibility to face most issues facing you because you may have plenty of money available to address
the problem.

C. Overall you and your finances will be in better shape. But if you have the ability to pursue early
retirement, then there are a couple things you should be aware of.

1: ​Back in 2006,​ The European Journal of Public Health created a study about the correlation of early
retirement and work performance, and found that those who retired from work more often than not
displayed poor work performance. ​(​Siegrist, J., Wahrendorf, M., Knesebeck, O. V., Jurges, H., &
Borsch-Supan, A, 2006)

2: ​What this has to show you is that you may not put as much effort into your job if you are looking
forward to retire.

3: ​The FIRE movement(Financial Independence, Retire Early), is just one of many demographics that
have a bigger financial ability to pursue what they want. Automated saving plans with interest can help
to make that more of a reality for you.

Transition: ​It all starts by looking at your options, and what will work for you. The rest happens over time.

V​​. ​Action:
A. Getting an automatic account and plan will put you at ease and help you to earn more at a faster pace.
Depending on how much of your income you save and deposit, you will be financially flexible and able
to retire early at such a point if you so choose.

B. Fire Blogger, SeoulOnFire, made an article this year about why you should still pursue financial
independence even if you can’t have the luxury of retiring early. ​If you pursue financial
independence, you’ll find more value in the places where you spend your money. (​SeoulOnFire, 2018​)

1: When you finally get started with automated savings, you won’t feel in over your head, nor
overwhelmed.

2: You’ll feel more at ease, confident, and happier that the way you save money has been changed for
the better.

3: Your finances may be changed for the better overall depending on how much you save.
 
C. Years from now you may think that getting an automated savings accounts with interest was one of
the best decisions you made financially.

1. Why not make that decision today?

References:

1:​​ ​Kurutz, S. (2018, September 1). How to Retire in Your 30s With $1 Million in the Bank. ​The New York

TImes.​ Retrieved from

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/01/style/fire-financial-independence-retire-early.html

2:​​ ​Siegrist, J., Wahrendorf, M., Knesebeck, O. V., Jurges, H., & Borsch-Supan, A. (2006). Quality of work,

well-being, and intended early retirement of older employees--baseline results from the SHARE Study.

The European Journal of Public Health,17​(1), 62-68. doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckl084

3:​​ ​S., & M. (2018, May 28). Why You Should Pursue FI Even If You Can't Retire Early. Retrieved from

https://www.choosefi.com/why-you-should-pursue-fi-even-if-you-cant-retire-early/

4:​​ ​The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement. (2015, November 13). Retrieved from

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/

5:​​ ​Xiao, J. J., Chatterjee, S., & Kim, J. (2014). Factors associated with financial independence of young adults.

International Journal of Consumer Studies,38​(4), 394-403. doi:10.1111/ijcs.12106