Ronald Reagan had a successful career as both an actor and politician. As an actor, he starred in many films in the 1930s and 1940s which helped him develop skills like being a people pleaser and having patience that served him well as president. Reagan also learned about different people and listening to them during his travels. These experiences from his early acting career influenced his leadership style and presidency, where he served as the 40th U.S. President from 1981 to 1989.

1. Informational Speech Outline: Ronald Reagan
Jess Heetland
I. Introduction
A. Attention Getter: Can you guess which president started eating
jellybeans in order to stop smoking? Could you guess what his favorite
flavor was? (Source) According to Waxman’s article, his favorite was
licorice.
B. Introduce Topic/State Thesis: Ronald Reagan was a great actor, and it
really influenced his role as the President of the United States.
C. Refer to Audience: I suppose all of you have heard that having one
skill can help you with another skill. That is exactly what happened in
Reagan’s life.
D. Establish Credibility: (Source) Timothy Raphael’s book, The President
Electric, is all about how Ronald Reagan’s acting career affected his
presidency, and it really helped me to learn more about this topic.
E. Preview of Main Points: I think it would be impossible to tell about
Ronald Reagan’s life without starting at the beginning, so first I will
tell you about his childhood, then his acting career, and finally his
career as the President of the United States.
II. Body
A. Main Point #1: Ronald Reagan spent his younger years as an
ambitious young adult.
1. Subpoint #1: He recalled wandering around in the forest
looking for adventure and making sure he was back by
noon to see his dad. His mother also taught him how to
read before he was five years old.
a. Supporting Evidence: (Source) According to
Sullivan’s book, Ronald Reagan: A Life in Pictures
1911-2004, little Ronald waited for his dad to push
him around on his brother’s old bicycle every day at
noon.
b. Supporting Evidence: He remembers playing pickup
football, even though he was scrawny and would be
covered in bruises after every game.
2. Subpoint #2: While growing up, his nickname was Dutch,
even though he wasn’t a Dutchman. After he grew out of
his scrawny stage, he was a lifeguard and played varsity
football in college for three years.
a. Supporting Evidence: Reagan saved 77 lives as a
lifeguard. He carved a notch into a log for each life
that he saved.
b. Supporting Evidence: According to Sullivan’s book,
Ronald Reagan: A Life in Pictures 1911-2004, He
played varsity football for three years at Eureka

2. College, starred in swimming, was the president of
the Boosters Club and the student senate, wrote for
the school paper and was a features editor of the
yearbook. He also got the lead in most plays.
Transition: Reagan moved from college onto bigger and better things.
B. Main Point #2: Reagan was immune to the economic troubles of his
family while he was at college, but he soon became interested in
acting.
1. Subpoint #1: Hollywood did not introduce new stars
quickly because they wanted to gradually break them in.
a. Supporting Evidence: Reagan started out being on
the radio as an announcer for baseball. He soon
signed with Warner Bros., and in his first three films,
he barely even had a part.
b. Supporting Evidence: In his first film, Love Is On The
Air, he played a radio announcer.
2. Subpoint #2: The two films that made Reagan a household
name, his favorites, were Knute Rockne and Kings Row.
a. Supporting Evidence: Everyone started to recall
lines from the movies that he was in, and it became a
part of Reagan. One of his most famous lines comes
from Kings Row where he plays a man whose legs
are needlessly amputated, and he wakes up after
surgery and cries out, “Where’s the rest of me?”. This
line would challenge Reagan himself within the
years to come.
b. Supporting Evidence: He was looked up to as a
loving father and husband, which needed no role-
playing to portray.
Transition: Ronald Reagan’s acting career affected his career as President,
even though he might not have known it at the time.
C. Main Point #3: Ronald Reagan became President in 1981.
1. Subpoint #1: Reagan learned various skills from his acting
career.
a. Supporting Evidence: He learned how to be a
people-pleaser, which might not be looked at as an
important trait to have, but it certainly is if you’re
the President.
b. Supporting Evidence: Another skill Reagan acquired
from his acting career was patience. From being an
actor, he learned that you wouldn’t get exactly what

3. you want from the beginning; you have to be patient
and wait for it.
2. Subpoint #2: (Source) According to Gibbs’ article, “The All-
American President”, Reagan learned his listening skills
from his travels.
a. Supporting Evidence: Reagan learned about what
the people wanted, hoped, and thought from his
travels. He got to actually listen to people.
III. Conclusion
A. Brakelight: Reagan was a great President, and some of his main
attributes came from his acting career.
B. Restate Thesis: Reagan learned a lot from his acting career, and it
really showed through in his position as the President.
C. Review (Summarize Main Points): I’ve talked about Reagan’s
childhood, his acting career, and his career as the President.
D. Refer to Audience: I hope you all learned a little more about Ronald
Reagan, and that you know more about how his acting career
influenced his presidency.
E. Closure/Clincher: Someday, you might need to break away from a
bad habit, and I hope you remember this speech and think of trying
jelly beans.
References
Gibbs, N. (2014, June 6). The all-american president: Ronald Wilson Reagan
(1911-2004). Time.com, p. 1.
Raphael, T. (2009). The president electric: Ronald Reagan and the politics of
performance. Ann Arbor, MI: The University of Michigan Press.
Sullivan, R. (2000). Ronald Reagan: A life in pictures 1911-2004. The editors of
LIFE (Ed.). Andrew Blau.
Waxman, O. B. (2014). 10 things you might not know about Ronald Reagan.
Time.com, 1.