Informative Speech

INTRODUCTION
1. ATTENTION GETTER: Currently less than 10% of our deep, blue oceans have been
explored. The vast waters spread over so much territory and travel down to unknown depths
that even our most advanced technology cannot reach. However, this changes overtime as
SCUBA divers begin to venture deeper into the ocean, obtaining new knowledge and
allowing recreational diving to rise to the surface of society.

2. AUDIENCE RELEVANCE: Though the abyss of the ocean may not spark interest in your
minds, we dip our feet into new waters everyday with our natural desire to learn new things
the same way that SCUBA divers desire to seek out the unknown.
3. SPEAKER CREDIBILITY: Though some may believe that you only need a straw and fins
to SCUBA dive, my personal experiences in the water and research show that this skill
requires plenty of focus, but it can also be an exhilarating sport.
4. THESIS STATEMENT: The art of SCUBA diving has advanced greatly over time, and this
entertaining activity has found its way into many people’s vacations and lives.

5. PREVIEW OF MAIN POINTS: In this speech, I will be explaining how humans found their
way to the ocean, the evolution of diving into recreational diving, and I will finish on a
positive note by sharing the different places you can visit and the specialty skills you can
practice there.
BODY
I. Many of you may be aware of the skill, but how exactly did we find our way to the
bottom of the ocean, and how did this lead to SCUBA diving?
A. According to [Link], a SCUBA diving training agency dedicated to
training people in SCUBA diving and freediving, the curiosity of man got the
better of the human race as ancient divers first attempted to enter the deep blue
by “holding their breath to dive underwater”. Now this wasn’t very efficient,
but it was the first step to exploring what was below the surface.
B. SSI revealed that after man’s desire to venture out into the ocean, the technology
needed to breathe underwater began to progress.
1. First, humans “began using hollow reeds to breathe while submerged”, but
this was a failed attempt due to their inability to travel very far underwater.
2. Later on, during the times of Ancient Greece, Aristotle designed the very
first diving bell, an “upside-down bucket with the bottom open to the
water", allowing divers to return to the bell when they needed another
breath. However, this failed because after some time, the bell would fill
with carbon dioxide, putting divers at risk of carbon dioxide poisoning.
3. The diving bell later advanced into diving suits and helmets, the latter
acting as a “miniature diving bell, with the wide opening… resting on the
diver's shoulders”. Both of these advancements used tubes connected to the
 surface, allowing air to be supplied to the diver from above.
C. Though these other inventions had their complications, Jacques Cousteau created a
way for man to “enter the sea untethered” in 1943. He invented the demand
regulator, a device “[enabling] a diver to breathe air at the proper pressure for his
depth and in the amount that he needed”. Along with the development of
high-pressure compressors and cylinders, these devices were assigned the acronym
we all can recognize: SCUBA—the Self-Contained Underwater Breathing
Apparatus.
Transition: As we can see, humans' desire to explore the depths of the ocean resulted in the
creation of SCUBA diving, but it is important to know how this newly discovered skill evolved
into a worldwide, recreational sport.
II. With the aid of technology, SCUBA diving developed into a recreational activity
quickly, and its popularity grew as people became more intrigued in what lay below the surface.
A. Every new activity requires a guinea pig and someone to go first, and these risk
takers began the road to modern-day SCUBA diving. According to Caitlin
McCall’s article, “The Sensational History of Scuba Diving”, on
[Link] the bravery of these first experimental divers helped them
“[pave] the way for generations of explorers to follow”. Without their
courageousness, “there is no way we could have explored even a fraction of what
we have seen”.
B. Additionally, McCall stated that the “determination and ingenuity” of divers like
Sylvia Earle, Lloyd Bridges, and Yves Paul Gaston Le Prieur inspired people all
around them. With the influence of these divers, “people began to want to
experience the depths for themselves”. This curiosity motivated “thousands of
people [to gear] up and [head] beneath the waves” making recreational diving a
new pastime.
Transition: To review, we now know how diving came to fame and transformed into a
well-known sport used by many people around the globe, but we don’t know much about the
different specialty dives and popular destinations.
III. As SCUBA diving gained popularity, people began discovering several different
ways to dive and exotic places all over the world where they could practice these
skills. Let’s take a trip shall we!
A. First, we will travel to the Land Down Under: Australia. Australia’s most
famous wreck, the Yongala, has become a very visited dive site over time
according to Robby Myers’ column, “History Of Australia's Yongala
Shipwreck”, on [Link]. The Yongala was a “luxury passenger
steamship” that sank during a hurricane in the early 1900s; no this is not the
Titanic. This dive is advanced “due to strong currents and its remote location”,
but it is a home for many forms of marine life including “sea turtles, sharks,
sea snakes, mantas and eagle rays”.
B. Next, we are navigating to the frigid waters of Russia. As stated by Sarah
Wormald in her article, “Why Ice Diving is So Special”, on
[Link] “ you genuinely are visiting a new world when you get
 in under the ice”. Ice divers get to experience an “otherworldly light” while
exploring “scenic shores and isolated and attractive islands”. Additionally, by
braving the cold waters, these specialized divers are sometimes lucky enough
to see a Beluga Whale!
C. The last stop on our trip is a place known for the famous Blue Hole and
Lighthouse Reef Atoll: Belize. According to [Link], a dive agency
and shop, established in 1994, dedicated to helping local divers, “The Great
Blue Hole is a large underwater sinkhole” that has been “declared…one of the
top ten best scuba diving sites in the world”. This is a great location for cavern
diving as divers get to venture down to a “depth of 120 ft [and] see the
stalactites which were [formed] from dripping water when the cave was above
sea level”.
CONCLUSION
1. TRANSITION TO CONCLUSION: In closing, I appreciate your attention, and I hope
through my speech you were able to learn something noteworthy about the recreational
sport SCUBA diving.

2. RESTATEMENT OF THESIS: As we can see, the art of SCUBA diving has come a long
way, allowing many tourists and families to incorporate it into their trips and everyday lives.

3. REVIEW OF MAIN POINTS: By learning how recreational diving and its technology has
grown from our original desire to explore the unknown, you can see how it has matured
beautifully from human curiosity into a beloved activity used by people of all ages. This
exciting sport has drawn in many over time, and it has allowed millions of people to explore
different types of diving at different exotic locations.

4. MEMORABLE CLOSE: It is important to truly understand how recreational diving has