7.4: Types of Outlines

Learning Objective

1. Define types of outlines: full-sentence outline and speaking outline.

Figure 7.4.1: Dave Gray – Blank index card – CC BY 2.0.

When we discuss outlining, we are actually focusing on a series of outlines instead of a single one. Outlines are designed to evolve throughout the speech preparation process, so this section will discuss how to progress from a full-sentence outline to a speaking outline. We will also discuss how using notecards for a speaking outline can be helpful as a speaker.

Full-Sentence Outline

The full-sentence outline should contain full sentences only. There are several reasons why this kind of outline is important. First, it includes a full plan of everything a speaker intends to say, so not to have to struggle with wordings or examples. Second, it provides a clear idea of how much time it will take to present the speech. Third, it contributes a fundamental ingredient of good preparation, part of being an ethical and accountable speaker. This is how a full-sentence outline looks:

Name: Anomaly May McGillicuddy

• >Topic: Smart dust
• >General Purpose: To inform
• >Specific Purpose: To inform a group of science students about the potential of smart dust.
• >Main Ideas:
  1. Smart dust is an assembly of microcomputers.
  2. Smart dust could be an enormous asset in covert military operations.
  3. Smart dust could also have applications to daily life.
• >Introduction: (Grabber) In 2002, famed science fiction writer, Michael Crichton, released his book Prey, which was about a swarm of nanomachines that were feeding off living tissue. The nanomachines were solar powered, self-sufficient, and intelligent. Most disturbingly, the nanomachines could work together as a swarm as it took over and killed its prey in its need for new resources. The technology for this level of sophistication in nanotechnology is surprisingly more science fact than science fiction. In 2000, three professors of electrical engineering and computer Science at the University of California at Berkeley, Kahn, Katz, and Pister, hypothesized in the Journal of Communications and Networks that wireless networks of tiny microelectromechanical sensors, or MEMS; robots; or devices could detect phenomena including light, temperature, or vibration. By 2004, Fortune Magazine listed “smart dust” as the first in their “Top 10 Tech Trends to Bet On.”
• >(Thesis Statement) Thus far researchers hypothesized that smart dust could be used for everything from tracking patients in hospitals to early warnings of natural disasters and as a defense against bioterrorism.
• >(Preview) Today, I’m going to explain what smart dust is and the various applications smart dust has in the near future. To help us understand the small of it all, we will first examine what smart dust is and how it works. We will then examine some military applications of smart dust. And we will end by discussing some nonmilitary applications of smart dust.
• >(Transition) To help us understand smart dust, we will begin by first examining what smart dust is.
• >Main Point I: Dr. Kris Pister, a professor in the robotics lab at the University of California at Berkeley, originally conceived the idea of smart dust in 1998 as part of a project funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
  1. According to a 2001 article written by Bret Warneke, Matt Last, Brian Liebowitz, and Kris Pister titled “Smart Dust: Communicating with a Cubic-Millimeter Computer” published in Computer, Pister’s goal was to build a device that contained a built-in sensor, communication device, and a small computer that could be integrated into a cubic millimeter package.
  2. For comparison purposes, Doug Steel, in a 2005 white paper titled “Smart Dust” written for C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston, noted that a single grain of rice has a volume of five cubic millimeters.
     1. Each individual piece of dust, called a mote, would then have the ability to interact with other motes and supercomputers.
     2. As Steve Lohr wrote in the January 30, 2010, edition of the New York Times in an article titled “Smart Dust? Not Quite, But We’re Getting There,” smart dust could eventually consist of “Tiny digital sensors, strewn around the glove, gathering all sorts of information and communicating with powerful computer networks to monitor, measure, and understand the physical world in new ways.”
• >(Transition) Now that we’ve examined what smart dust is, let’s switch gears and talk about some of the military applications for smart dust.
• >Main Point II: Because smart dust was originally conceptualized under a grant from DARPA, military uses of smart dust have been widely theorized and examined.
  1. According to the smart dust website, smart dust could eventually be used for “battlefield surveillance, treaty monitoring, transportation monitoring, scud hunting” and other clear military applications.
     1. Probably the number one benefit of smart dust in the military environment is its surveillance abilities.
        1. Major Scott Dickson, in a Blue Horizons paper written for the US Air Force Center for Strategy and Technology’s Air War College, sees smart dust as helping the military in battlespace awareness, homeland security, and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) identification.
        2. Furthermore, Major Dickson also believes it may be possible to create smart dust that has the ability to defeat communications jamming equipment created by foreign governments, which could help the US military not only communicate among itself, but could also increase communications with civilians in military combat zones.
  2. According to a 2010 article written by Jessica Griggs in new Scientist, one of the first benefits of smart dust could be an early defense warning for space storms and other debris that could be catastrophic.
• >(Transition) Now that we’ve explored some of the military benefits of smart dust, let’s switch gears and see how smart dust may be able to have an impact on our daily lives.
• >Main Point III: According to the smart dust project website, smart dust could quickly become a common part of our daily lives.
  1. Everything from pasting smart dust particles to our finger tips to create a virtual computer keyboard to inventory control to product quality control have been discussed as possible applications for smart dust.
     1. Steve Lohr, in his 2010 New York Times article, wrote, “The applications for sensor-based computing, experts say, include buildings that manage their own energy use, bridges that sense motion and metal fatigue to tell engineers they need repairs, cars that track traffic patterns and report potholes, and fruit and vegetable shipments that tell grocers when they ripen and begin to spoil.”
  2. Medically, according to the smart dust website, smart dust could help disabled individuals interface with computers.
     1. Theoretically, we could all be injected with smart dust, which relays information to our physicians and detects adverse changes to our body instantly.
     2. Smart dust could detect the microscopic formations of center cells or alert us when we’ve been infected by a bacterium or virus, which could speed up treatment and prolong all of our lives.
• >(Transition) Today, we’ve explored what smart dust is, how smart dust could be utilized by the US military, and how smart dust could impact all of our lives in the near future.
• >Conclusion: While smart dust is quickly transferring from science fiction to science fact, experts agree that the full potential of smart dust will probably not occur until 2025. Smart dust is definitely in our near future, but swarms of smart dust eating people as was depicted in Michael Crichton’s 2002 novel, Prey, isn’t reality. However, as with any technological advance, there are definite ethical considerations and worries related to smart dust. Even Dr. Kris Pister’s smart dust project website admits that as smart dust becomes more readily available, one of the trade-offs will be privacy. Pister responds to these critiques by saying, “As an engineer, or a scientist, or a hair stylist, everyone needs to evaluate what they do in terms of its positive and negative effect. If I thought that the negatives of working on this project were greater than or even comparable to the positives, I wouldn’t be working on it. As it turns out, I think that the potential benefits of this technology far outweigh the risks to personal privacy.”

  References

• >Crichton, M. (2002). Prey. New York, NY: Harper Collins.
• >Dickson, S. (2007, April). Enabling battlespace persistent surveillance: the firm, function, and future of smart dust (Blue Horizons Paper, Center for Strategy and Technology, USAF Air War College). Retrieved from USAF Air War College website: www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/cst/bh_dickson.pdf
• >Griggs, J. (2010, February 6). Smart dust to provide solar early warning defense. New Scientist, 205(2746), 22.
• >Kahn, J. M., Katz, R. H., & Pister, K. S. J. (2000). Emerging challenges: Mobile networking for “smart dust.” Journal of Communications and Networks, 2, 188–196.
• >Vogelstein, F., Boyle, M., Lewis, P., Kirkpatrick, D., Lashinsky, A.,…Chen, C. (2004, February 23). 10 tech trends to bet on. Fortune, 149(4), 74–88.
• >Warneke, B., Last, M., Liebowitz, B., & Pister, K. S. J. (2001). Smart dust: Communicating with a cubic millimeter computer. Computer, 31, 44–51.

When preparing a full-sentence outline carefully, it may take as much as 1 ½ hours to complete the first part of the outline, from a title page through the introduction. When completed, take a break and do something else. Upon returning to the outline, the draft could be completed in another 1 ½ hours. After that, do a detailed check for completeness, accuracy, relevance, balance, omitted words, and consistency.

Notice that the various parts of a speech, for instance, the transition and main points, are labeled. There are compelling reasons for these labels. Labels help to quickly locate passages in the draft. Second, the labels work as a checklist to ensure everything is included. Third, it helps in preparing the peaking outline.

Notice the full references at the end of the outline; they match the citations within the outline. Sometimes while preparing a speech, a speaker finds it important to go back to an original source to be sure the message will be accurate. Don’t think of the references as busywork or drudgery. Although they’re more time consuming than text, they are good practice for the more advanced academic work that college students will eventually do.

Speaking Outline

The full-sentence outline is preparation for a well-organized message, but the speaking outline will include far less detail. Whenever possible, use key words and phrases only, but in some instances, an extended quotation will need to be fully written on the speaking outline.

Resist the temptation to use a full-sentence outline as a speaking outline. The temptation is real for at least two reasons. First, students want to ensure that they deliver a well-crafted speech, especially since so much time was spent preparing it. Second, students often want to use the full-sentence outline as a safety net. In our experience, however, if students have your full-sentence outline with them, they will end up reading, rather than speaking, to their audience.

Plan to use five cards. Use 4 × 6 cards. The smaller 3 × 5 cards are too small to provide space for a visually organized set of notes. With five cards, there will be one card for the introduction, one card for each of the three main points, and one card for the conclusion. Be sure to number the cards and write on one side only. Numbering is helpful if the cards are accidentally dropped. Each card should contain key words and key phrases but not full sentences.

Some speeches will include direct or extended quotations from expert sources. Some of these quotations might be highly technical or difficult to memorize for other reasons, but they must be presented correctly. This is an appropriate time to include an extra card in the sequence of notecards. This is the one time reading from a card is necessary. If the quotation is important and the exact wording is crucial, the audience will understand that.

The “trick” to selecting the phrases and quotations for notecards is to identify the labels that will trigger a recall sequence. For instance, if the phrase “more science fact” brings to mind the connection to science fiction and the differences between the real developments and the fictive events of Crichton’s novel Prey, that phrase on the card will support the speaker through a fairly extended part of an introduction.

Having identified what works, make a preliminary set of no more than five cards written on one side only, and practice with them. Revise and refine as needed.

The following is a hypothetical set of cards for the smart dust speech:

Card 1.

• >Introduction: 2002, Prey, swarm nanomachines feed on living tissue.
• >Kahn, Katz, and Pister, U C Berkeley engineering and computer sci. profs. hyp.
• >Microelectromechanical (MEMS) devices could detect light, temp, or vib.
• >Thesis Statement: Researchers hyp that s.d. could track patients, warn of natural disaster, act as defense against bioterrorism.
• >Prev.: What smart dust is and how it works, military aps, nonmilitary aps.
• >Transition: To help understand, first, what smart dust is.

Card 2.

• >I. Dr. Kris Pister, prof robotics lab UC Berkeley conceived the idea in 1998 in a proj. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
  1. 2001 article by Bret Warneke et al titled “Smart Dust: Communicating with a Cubic-Millimeter Computer” publ. in Computer, Pister wanted sensors, comm. devices, and computer in a cubic millimeter package.
  2. Doug Steel of CT Bauer College of Bus at Houston noted grain of rice = 5 cm.
     1. Each mote could interact w/ others.
     2. (see extended quotation, next card)

Card 3.

• >Quotation: Steve Lohr, NYT Jan 30 2005, “Smart Dust? Not Quite, but We’re Getting There.” Smart dust could eventually consist of “Tiny digital sensors, strewn around the globe, gathering all sorts of information and communicating with powerful computer networks to monitor, measure, and understand the physical world in new ways.”

  Card 4.

• >II. Orig conceptualized under DARPA, military uses theor. and examined.
  1. Smart Dust website, battlefield surveill., treaty monitor., transp. monitor., + scud hunting.
     1. benefit, surveill.
        1. Maj. Scott Dickson, Blue Horizons Paper for Ctr for Strat and Tech for USAF air war college, sees s.d. as help for battlespace awareness, homeland security, and WMD ID.
        2. could also defeat comm. jamming equipt by communicating among itself and w/ civilians in combat zones.
  2. 2010 article Jessica Griggs New Scientist, early defense, storms and debris.
• >Transition: Switch gears to daily lives.

Card 5.

• >III. s.d. project website: s.d. could become common in daily life.
  1. Pasting particles for virtual computer keyboard to inventory control poss.
     1. Steve Lohr, 2010, NYT, “The applications for sensor-based computing, experts say, include buildings that manage their own energy use, bridges that sense motion and metal fatigue to tell engineers they need repairs, cars that track traffic patterns and report potholes, and fruit and vegetable shipments that tell grocers when they ripen and begin to spoil.”
  2. Medically, accdng to SD project website, help disabled.
     1. interface w/ computers
     2. injected, cd. relay info to docs and detect body changes instantly
        1. cancer cells, bacteria or virus, speed up treatment, and so on.
• >Transition: We expl. What SD is, how SD cd be used military, and how SD cd impact our lives.

Card 6.

• >Conclusion: Transf fiction to fact, experts agree potential 2025. Michael Crichton’s Prey isn’t reality, but in developing SD as fact, there are ethical considerations. Pister: privacy.
• >Dr. Kris Pister: “As an engineer, or a scientist, or a hair stylist, everyone needs to evaluate what they do in terms of its positive and negative effect. If I thought that the negatives of working on this project were larger or even comparable to the positives, I wouldn’t be working on it. As it turns out, I think that the potential benefits of this technology far far outweigh the risks to personal privacy.”

Using a set of cards similar to this could help us get through an impressive set of specialized information. But what if we lose our place during a speech? With a set of cards, it will take less time to re-find it than with a full-sentence outline. We will not be rustling sheets of paper, and because our cards are written on one side only, we can keep them in order without flipping them back and forth to check both sides.

Under no circumstances should we ever put our entire speech on cards in tiny writing. We will end up reading a sequence of words to our audience instead of telling them our message.

Key Takeaways

• Working outlines help with speech logic, development, and planning.
• The full-sentence outline develops the full detail of the message.
• The speaking outline helps speakers stay organized in front of the audience without reading to them.
• Using notecards for a speaking outline helps with delivery and makes it easier to find information.

Exercises

1. With respect to your speech topic, what words need to be defined?
2. Define what you mean by the terms you will use.
3. How does your definition compare with those of experts?