Informative Speech: The Controversy Over the Use of Polygraph Tests

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Title: The Polygraph

Thesis: To inform my audience about polygraphs, the polygraph tests, and the controversy of them.

Introduction

I. Attention Getter: For more than 15 years, Robert Hanssen had led a double life. In one life he was a 25-year veteran with the FBI who had access to some of the nation’s most-classified information. In his other life, he was a spy for the Russian government. Hannssen’s deception was finally discovered, and in February 2001 he was arrested, and then took a polygraph test which forced him to plead guilty to 15 espionage-related charges.

II. Thesis Statement: Today, I am here to talk to you about Polygraphs, the polygraph tests, and the controversy of them.

III. Credibility: My brother-in-law had to take a polygraph test for his job. And he was forced to prepare for it a year in advance, ever since I saw his preparation for this one test; I have forever been fascinated by this invention

IV. Preview: First of all I will give you a bit of background information on polygraphs, and then I will talk about the actual test you take. Finally, I will discuss the controversy behind a polygraph test.

(Transition: How did the Polygraph test come about?)

Body

I. Background information

A. John A. Larson, a medical student at the University of California, was the inventor of the polygraph.

B. John invented this machine based on the theory that when a person tells a lie, he/she will have a fear of bein...

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