Effectively organize messages using Monroe’s Motivated Sequence.

Persuasion occurs when a speaker convinces his or her audience to accept a claim that would have
previously been rejected; to like something that was previously disliked, to believe something was
previously thought to be false, to judge something as right that was previously thought to be wrong; etc.

Motivated Sequence. Cheryl Hamilton (2006, pp. 298-299) introduces this approach:
Developed by communication professor Alan Monroe more than 50 years ago, [Motivated Sequence] is
similar to the problem-solution-action pattern and is especially effective with speeches to actuate using a
statement of policy….The motivated sequence includes the introduction and conclusion as well as your
main points. It has five steps: attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and action. Let’s take a brief look at
each step.

1. Attention step. Grab your listener’s attention…and build a desire in them to continue listening.
2. Need step. Direct the audience’s attention to a specific problem. Describe the problem using credible,
   logical, and emotional appeals, and show how the problem affects your listeners.
3. Satisfaction step. Satisfy the need described in the previous step by presenting a solution. The following
   framework is suggested: “(a) briefly state what you propose to do, (b) explain it clearly, (c) show how it
   remedies the problem, (d) demonstrate its workability, and (e) [refute] objections”…In demonstrating the
   feasibility of the solution as well as [refuting] objections of audience members, be sure to use supporting
   materials that will add proof to your statements [e.g., statistics and expert testimony].
4. Visualization step. Vividly picture the future for your audience, using the positive, the negative, or the
   contrast method. With the positive method, you picture the improved future the audience can expect when
   your solution is implemented. With the negative method, you picture the undesirable conditions that will
   continue to exist or will develop if your solution is not adopted. The contrast method begins with the
   negative and ends with the positive. The purpose of visualization is to “intensify audience desire or
   willingness to act—to motivate your listeners to believe, to feel, or to act in a certain way” (Gronbeck et al.,
   1994, p. 211).