Monroe's Motivated Sequence

Monroe's motivated sequence is a technique for organizing persuasive speeches that inspire people to take action. It was developed in the mid-1930s by Alan Monroe at Purdue University. It consists of the steps below.

Attention
Get the attention of your audience using a detailed story, shocking example, dramatic statistic, quotations, etc.
Need
Show how the topic applies to the psychological need of the audience members. The premise here is that audience needs are what motivates action. Go beyond establishing that there is a significant problem. There are many problems that are not particularly relevant to your audience. Show that the need will not go away by itself. Use statistics, examples, etc. Convince your audience that they each have a personal need to take action.
Satisfaction
You need to solve the issue. Provide specific and viable solutions that the government or communities can implement to solve the problem.
Visualization
Tell the audience what will happen if the solution is implemented or does not take place. Be visual and detailed.
Action
Tell the audience what action they can take personally to solve the problem.

There are many descriptions of Monroe's Motivated Sequence. Here is one by Karisa Workman, an instructor at the University of Central Florida in 2011

  1. Attention: Hey! Listen to me, you have a PROBLEM!
  2. Need: Let me EXPLAIN the problem.
  3. Satisfaction: But, I have a SOLUTION!
  4. Visualization: If we IMPLEMENT my solution, this is what will happen. Or, if we don't implement my solution, this is what will happen.
  5. Action: You can help me in this specific way. Can you help me?

The advantage of Monroe's Motivated Sequence is that it emphasizes what the audience can do. Too often the audience feels like a situation is hopeless; Monroe's motivated sequence emphasizes the action the audience can take.

Famous quotes containing the words monroe, motivated and/or sequence:

    “Unfortunately, I am involved in a freedom ride protesting the loss of the minority rights belonging to the few remaining earthbound stars. All we demanded was our right to twinkle.”
    —Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962)

    “All good music resembles something. Good music stirs by its mysterious resemblance to the objects and feelings which motivated it.”
    —Jean Cocteau (1889–1963)

    “Reminiscences, even extensive ones, do not always amount to an autobiography.... For autobiography has to do with time, with sequence and what makes up the continuous flow of life. Here, I am talking of a space, of moments and discontinuities. For even if months and years appear here, it is in the form they have in the moment of recollection. This strange form—it may be called fleeting or eternal—is in neither case the stuff that life is made of.”
    —Walter Benjamin (1892–1940)