Informative Speech – Outline

Liam Erasmus

I. INTRODUCTION:
A. Attention Getter: Have you ever stopped to wonder how blue light has
an effect on you?
B. Why it’s relevant: If you’re not familiar with blue light, you might not
know why it affects you and just how often you expose yourself to it.
Well, you do it every day. In fact, right at this moment, while you’re
watching this speech, you are using a device which gives off blue light.
C. Speaker qualifications: The reason I decided to speak on this topic
today, is because it’s one that I’ve been looking into for awhile now. You
see, my sister has photosensitive epilepsy, but she only started to
recently have seizures, within the last three or so years now. Also, for
the last few months, I’ve been having trouble sleeping. A little while
back, I heard from a close friend about blue light, and some of its effects.
Based on that brief info, and given the challenges I just mentioned, I
decided to educate myself more on this topic.
D. Preview statement: So now, I’m going to be bringing you all up to date
on what I’ve found. What blue light is, what it is commonly found in, and
how it affects us.

Let’s get started.

II. BODY:

A. Main Point 1: So, what is Blue Light?

1: Well, it’s just like any other kind of light; it’s part of a spectrum.
Specifically, it is part of the visible light spectrum, along with other colors, such
as red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, and violet. One of the most common sources
of blue light, is something that we come into contact with every day: the sun.
 1) Sunlight is made up of all of the different colors I mentioned
and, when combined, it makes the white light that we see
when we look directly at the sun.

2. Now, each of these colors has a different energy and wavelength.

1) Rays from the red end of the visible spectrum, have longer
wavelengths, and therefore have less energy. On the other
end of the spectrum however, you have blue-rays (and I’m
not talking about Blu-Ray players, which you use to watch
movies). These blue-rays, opposed to red-rays, have
shorter wavelengths, but have high energy.

3. Some other common things that use blue light are:

- Fluorescent and compact fluorescent light bulbs.
- LED light.
- Flat screen LED televisions.
- Computer monitors, smart phones, and tablet screens.

4. Blue light exposure you receive from screens is small compared to

the amount of exposure from the sun. However, there is still concern
over the long-term effects of screen exposure because of the close
proximity of the screens and the amount of time spent looking at
them.
1) For those that have children, it is also important to note
that children’s eyes are much more sensitive to blue light
than adults.

5. Transitional sentence: Now that we’ve discussed what blue light is

and where it can be found, let’s find out what blue light can do to us.

B: Main Point 2: How does it affect us?

1: Eyes
1) Digital eyestrain is something that affects about roughly
50% of computer users. Now, blue light from computer
 screens and digital devices can decrease contrast which
leads to digital eyestrain.
2) Some studies suggest that long-term exposure to blue light
over time could lead to damaged retinal cells. This could
further complicate vision problems like age-related macular
degeneration.
3) Due to how recent flat-screen TV’s and smartphones are,
studies are still ongoing about the long-term effects of blue
light from screens on our eyes. But what is certain, is that
if we have any underlying conditions, such as
photosensitive epilepsy, or eyestrain conditions, blue light
from screens will further impact those conditions and
potentially make them worse.

2. Sleep
1) This is the one with the most concrete evidence for it: blue
light can affect our sleep by disrupting our sleep/wake
cycle, also known as our circadian rhythm.
2) Blue light exposure can be very beneficial for us during the
day, especially sunlight. But research has shown that
exposure to blue light close to our bedtime, can impact our
sleep schedule, because that light is sending signals to our
brain, that it needs to be awake.

3. Mental health
1) Likewise, blue light at night can also affect hormone
secretion, nerve signaling (neurotransmission) and the
brain's ability to adapt (plasticity) to changing situations.
Excessive blue light causes not just sleep, but also mood
disorders which could lead to depression.

III. CONCLUSION:
A. Summary: In summary, blue light has its purposes. It is beneficial for
us, in many ways, but over-exposure to it, for long periods of time,
especially at night can impact us in ways we don’t initially expect. Some
 of the professional recommended ways that you can curb some of that
exposure are:
- Taking more frequent breaks from screens, and just giving
your eyes and brain a rest.
- Screen filters, which you can get for computer screens,
phones, and other devices. These decrease the amount of
blue light given off, that could reach of retinas.
- And finally, computer glasses, which are specifically made
with a tinted glass, which can also help decrease the
amount of blue light our eyes take in.

B. Impact statement: I know that if we recognize just how powerful of an

effect screen-time has, and we educate ourselves on it. We’ll be better
able to protect ourselves and our families from the harmful effects of
blue light.