Help me with my persuasive speech!

[whatsleftofj]

I'm taking Speech 101 at my local community college, and this Wednesday night is our final speech, which must be persuasive. Since I enjoy a challenge, I'm doing my persuasive speech on, of course, minidisc. The goal of my speech is "To persuade the audience to use minidiscs instead of any other portable music device." Below is what I have so far. Please, as fellow md users, I would love your input. Specifically, I need some really strong reasons why people should use minidisc. I can simply avoid the negatives all I want, so this should be an outstanding speech--making mindisc sound awesome isn't too hard. Here's what I have so far...

Introduction: Nowadays, everyone has an ipod. I have to admit that if I am to give this speech, because people treat them as some kind of new limb, an attachment that may end their lives if severed. I’m sure if I took a poll, I would find that more than half the class owns one. Well about three years ago, I thought they were the greatest thing ever… and then I bought one. Without getting into too many details, it was less than a year later when I found myself looking for a new portable music player. And then I stumbled across Sony’s minidisc, a format I had been always been interested in, but in my younger years never had the money to purchase. So the decision was made, the unit was bought, and I have been trying to convert people to minidisc users ever since.

I. Minidiscs are known for their versatility.

A. Minidiscs come in 60, 74, and 80 minute varieties, as well as 1gb. These descriptions are a bit deceptive, though, as reformatted 60 minute discs can hold 10 hours of music, and 1gb discs can hold up to 45 hours of music.

B. In addition to playing music, discs can also be used for data storage. At $6 for a 1gb disc, it is one of the cheapest, smallest, most durable data storage devices in the world.

II. Which brings me to my next point, the durability of minidiscs and players alike.

A. On minidisc.org, several users report accidentally leaving discs in their pants while they went through the washing machine, and they ended up working fine once dried off.

B. One user, Guido Gabriele, spoke of his minidisc player being dropped out of his pocket on a balcony, sliding down an ice-and-snow-covered roof, and landing on the driveway below. Aside from a scratch on one of the corners, it escaped unharmed and in perfect working order.

III. One of the key features of minidisc units is their ability to record.

A. Nowadays, most people simply rip their cd’s to a computer, or download music illegally, and then transfer it to their mp3 player. Minidiscs can do that.

B. Additionally, however, minidiscs can be used with an auxiliary cable to record from any source that has a headphone or speaker jack. If you ever wanted to record an exclusive song off a band’s MySpace, or if you just want to preserve your old LPs in the best quality you can, mindisc is perfect.

C. On top of that, minidiscs support microphone inputs, which is why it has long been the favorite choice of bootleggers for recording concerts. It can also be used to record lecture classes, perform an interview, or even record your band’s practices.

IV. It may seem superficial, but the amazing designs of mindisc players, recorders, and the discs themselves, are absolutely unmatched anywhere else in the portable audio world

A. Sony alone makes hundreds of different colors and styles of minidisc units, with colors including black, white, silver, red, blue, green, yellow, orange, purple, and pink, in bodies that are generally plastic or aluminum.

B. Most units rely on a backlit remote control for track information, but there are several units that have backlist displays as well

C. As for the discs themselves, there are hundreds and hundreds of different designs out there, ranging from solid or translucent colored or patterned to designs of animals, famous paintings, and hello kitty.

V. The best reason I can give to any true music lover is, of course, the audio quality.

A. The July 1996 issue of the German Magazine Stereo stated that “Considering noise, ATRAC3.5 has already reached CD level, so that minidisc can now only go beyond the CD standard. It is not a secret that this is possible.” Since then Sony’s ATRAC compression technology has only gotten better, with newer versions. ATRAC3Plus is now the standard for the latest generation of minidisc players and recorders.

Conclusion: Being a minidisc user for three years this Christmas, I feel confident saying that mindisc is the best: in terms of sound quality, in terms of versatility, in terms of durability, and definitely in terms of stylishness. If you’ve ever been dissatisfied with your mp3 player, or you’re just not sure which one to buy, go with minidisc. You won’t regret it.

Please feel free to add anything you think would be a good selling point. Thanks for reading!!

[bobt]

Howdy,

If I were me I would change the line in mics and bootlegging to just using it for live recording, other than that, looks pretty good. I would also bring a unit or two to the presentation and show how easy it is to swap between the two. Actually that is a good item to add to your thesis, how easy it is to swap music across continents, try that with a pod!!

Bob

[whatsleftofj]

Definitely! I forgot that I wanted to talk about how versatile it is for exchanging music. Thanks for the reminder!

[MusicBringer]

Hello whatsleftofj, just an idea I came accrross a while ago was this:

Tell them what they are NOT getting by not using a minidisc.

Tell them the things they are missing out on, coz they do not use a mindisc.

Tell them what will happen to them if they use something other than a mindisc.

Do you get my drift?

It's not so much why you should use a minidisc, but the pitfalls of NOT having a mindisc.

It's not the benefits of a minidisc, but the dangers/downside/failings/pain they will experience by NOT using a minidisc.

Just a thought

[whatsleftofj]

Oh, I've got a very nice slideshow lined up so far: 15 pictures of blanks, 15 pictures of units. Most of them are borrowed from this board, but I'm hoping that people won't mind their pictures being used for the benefit of minidisc

[bobt]

Hey whatsleftofj, we are all wondering how yout talk went, did you have any converts? Hope you used the source!!

TTFN

Bob

[pata2001]

Never mind, looks like an old post.

Edited December 16, 2007 by pata2001

[whatsleftofj]

I got an 'A' on the speech, but sadly, nobody in my class seemed impressed tough sell, minidiscs are

[Strungup]

Nope MD isnt a "Tough sell" what you witnessed , is the Sheep syndrome in which the programming of the public to only be impressed by the "Newest " or latest greatest , thing is what is fashionable and desirable . the idea of actually thinking for oneself is blase' and out of date .

I am glad you got an A .

[bobt]

Congratulations on your presentation, just keep your MD at hand, you'll be noticed now.

TTFN

Bob