CIS 110: Composition and Communication Fall 2015

Informative Speech Outline

Name: Ashley Tawney

Topic:

Cardiovascular Disease

Introduction
I.
Attention Getter: Imagine your heart is racing. Youre starting to have trouble breathing
and your chest feels extremely tight. Now there is numbness down your left arm. Youre getting
so dizzy and then suddenly youre on the ground and cannot move. You quickly slip into an
unconscious state.
II.
Listener Relevance Statement/Link: In case many of you dont know, this is what a
heart attack would feel like. Some of you may be asking why I did that and the answer is that
cardiovascular disease is a serious disease and what you do to your body now WILL affect your
health when you are older. Approximately three people in this room will die of cardiovascular
disease.
III.
Thesis Statement: Cardiovascular disease is the number one leading cause of death for
Americans and today I will be informing you about cardiovascular disease. First, Ill offer
some basic information about the disease. I can sum up the information about cardiovascular
disease in three simple main points, which include; basic information, risk factors, and how
to prevent cardiovascular disease as much as possible.
IV.
Speaker Credibility: I am interested in becoming a cardiovascular doctor and
because of this, Ive spent hours researching this topic.
V.

Main Point Preview:

Body
I.

First Main Point: To start off, basic information about cardiovascular disease may be
the most important part for young adults to actually understand the disease.
A. Sub-point: What is cardiovascular disease?
a. Commonly known as heart disease and includes many different types of
disorders that come from the disease
i. Such as heart attacks, high blood pressure, heart failure, stroke, etc.
b. The article, What Are Heart Disease and Stroke? By the American Heart
Association, heart disease is caused by blood vessels that have become
smaller or blocked that then prevents parts of the body from receiving proper
blood circulation.
B. Sub-point: According to the article, Health, published by the Centers of Disease
Control and Prevention, 26.6 million adults have been diagnosed with heart
disease (11.3% of adults) showing that it is important to take the disease seriously.
a. Heart disease is the reason for 1 in every 7 deaths in America
i. Equivalent to 30 people in a two-hundred person lecture
ii. Three people in this room (if it were 21 people) will die of heart
disease

CIS 110: Composition and Communication Fall 2015

C. Sub-point: Health problems when you are older are a result of what you are doing to
your body now and what youve been doing for 18 to 19 years. Habits start young and
continue through adulthood. Growing up involves making a proper foundation for
our body.
D. Sub-point: American Heart Association has estimated that in the next 20 years,
heart disease is expected to raise and claim 23.6 million DEATHS of Americans
if lifestyle stays on the same path it is on now.
a. The rates will continue to rise with the unhealthy lifestyle generations
currently have. Many new studies and research topics evolve around heart
disease such as Rekha Mankad M.D.s article, Heart Disease, which was
published by the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.
E. Integration of secondary source(s)/Evidence:
What Are Heart Disease and Stroke? American Heart Association, 2012. Web. 27 Nov.
2015. <http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/What-Are-Heart-Diseaseand-Stroke_UCM_308835_Article.jsp#.Vlj5CfmrShc>.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (May 2015). Health, United States.
Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus14.pdf#024
Mankad, Rekha M.D. (29 July 2014). Heart Disease. Mayo Foundation for Medical
Education and Research. Retrieved from http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseasesconditions/heart-disease/basics/symptoms/con-20034056
Transition (can be word or phrase) that leads into next point:
II.

Second Main Point:

i. Sub-point:
b.

Sub-point:

Integration of secondary source(s)/Evidence:

Transition (can be a word or phrase) that leads into next point:

III.

SecondThird Main Point: Risk factors for cardiovascular disease can be broken down
into two categories: things you dont have control over and other factors which you
do.
A. Sub-point: Basic risk factors include age, race, and environment. These factors
typically cannot be changed.
a. People over the age of 55 are more at risk to have heart disease
b. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention article, Health,
through multiple studies, it has been shown that African American women
are more at risk than white women. This shows that different races could have
different risks

CIS 110: Composition and Communication Fall 2015

c. Environment comes into play because if the living area is not safe, children
will not be able to play and exercise. Also if born into a lower class family,
children are more likely to eat unhealthy food and fast food.
d. Having a family history of early heart disease cannot be changed however it
is one of the biggest risk factors.
B. Sub-point: There are also risk factors that you have direct control over that will
reduce the likelihood of you dying from cardiovascular disease.
a. Being overweight or obese, smoking, physical inactivity, and having an
unhealthy diet are the four biggest risk factors that lead to heart disease
according to Lower Heart Disease Risk, by the National Heart, Lung, and
Blood Institute.
b. High blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and diabetes are the three health
problems that are associated with cardiovascular disease.
i. They have similar effects of the disease and can make the disease
become prevelant
c. Through all of the risk factors most of them arise from habits that start as
children and teenagers.
i. Staying healthy as an adult comes from forming the habits of eating
healthy, being active, and having a healthy lifestyle as a teenager and
young adult.
C. Integration of secondary source(s)/Evidence:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (May 2015). Health, United States.
Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus14.pdf#024
"The Heart Truth - Lower Heart Disease Risk." What Are the Risk Factors for Heart
Disease? HHS, NIH, NHLBI. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 2015.
Web. <http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/hearttruth/lower-risk/riskfactors.htm>.
Transition (can be a word or phrase) that leads into next point:
IIIVI. ThirdFourth Main Point (if needed): Lastly, prevention of heart disease can be
accomplished in three easy steps: eating properly, exercising regularly, and regular checkups.
A. Sub-point: A.Eating properly can be hard but the few ways to make it a habit are to
choose foods low in fats &sodium,

plenty of fruits &vegetables, less red meat,

fiber-rich whole grains, lower fattening dairy products, and limit sugar-sweetened
beverages.
a. Cardiovascular disease is the number one leading cause of death among
Americans, according to the American Heart Association in the article,
Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics and heart disease is climbing the
leading causes of death charts for countries all around the world because
of lifestyles.

CIS 110: Composition and Communication Fall 2015

i. Other countries have almost always had healthier lifestyles which
include more exercise, fresh foods, and taking care of themselves
from birth to death. Therefore cardiovascular disease is not as high
up on other countries leading causes of death as it is for America.
B. Sub-point: Exercising properly is looked at as the hardest thing to stay healthy,
however it can be as simple as walking briskly for two and a half hours every
week, or one hour and fifteen minutes of jogging and/or running.
C.
a. Most teenagers are in sports but once they go to college or become an adult
they dont know how to exercise or dont find time to. Most people joke about
the freshman fifteen however the freshman fifteen is a perfect example of how
not exercising or eating different can majorly impact your life.
D. Sub-point: B.Regular check-ups are important because it allows doctors to see
warning signs of the disease or even help you have a healthier lifestyle. According to,
Preventing Heart Disease At Any Age, by the American Heart Association,
Doctors can help people stay on track, look for anything unusual, and also be there if
something does happen.
Knowing the warning signs may be able to not only save your life but also someone
elses. With all of us being on our own now, it is important to take responsibility for your
own life.
a.
DC. Integration of secondary source(s)/Evidence:
"Preventing Heart Disease - At Any Age." Preventing Heart Disease - At Any
Age.
American Heart Association, Apr. 2015. Web.
<http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/GettingHealthy/Preventing-Heart-Disease--At-Any-Age_UCM_442925_Article.jsp#>.
American Heart Association. (2015). Heart disease and stroke statistics at-a-glance.
Retrieved from http://www.heart.org/idc/groups/ahamahpublic/@wcm/@sop/@smd/documents/downloadable/ucm_470704.pdf
Transition (can be a word or phrase) that leads into next point:
VI.

Fifth Main Point (if needed):

A.
B.
C. Integration of secondary source(s)/Evidence:

CIS 110: Composition and Communication Fall 2015

Transition (can be a word or phrase) that leads into next point:
Conclusion
I.

Restatement of Thesis: As you all know now, cardiovascular disease is the number one
leading cause of death and can be explained in three simple main points.

II.
II. Summary of Main Points: Through the basic information, risk factors, and how to
prevent cardiovascular disease I hope you all have learned more about the disease that
could approximately kill three people in this room. Now you all can create habits for a
healthy lifestyle and live for a long time.
III

Clincher: