Monroe’s Motivated Sequence

1. Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Five Steps to Persuading Your Audience

2. Creator… • Alan H. Monroe • Purdue University Professor • 1930’s • Tried and true psychologically based

3. The Steps • Attention • Need • Satisfaction • Visualization • Action

4. Step 1: Attention • Get your audience’s attention • Establish your credibility • Present the need/problem

5. Step 2: Establish the Need • Convince your audience there is a problem • The need will not go away by itself • Use statistics and examples • Convince your audience there is need for action • Build your case—prove there is a problem and relate it to the audience

6. Step 3: Satisfaction • Solve the issue • Provide a specific and viable plan of action • Use examples, testimonials and statistics to prove the effectiveness • Anticipate counterarguments to anticipated objections • Think outside the box! Not a logical answer anyone could come up with in a few minutes!

7. Step 4: Visualization • Help the audience visualize what will happen if the solution does or does not take place • Positive • Negative • Compare/Contrast • Include details/paint a picture • Make sure your vision is realistic and believable

8. Step 5: Action • Tell the audience what they can do personally to solve the problem • Motivate them to take action now • Don’t overwhelm them, give them options to increase their ownership in the solution • Make it easy for them to take action—write a legislator, give them a prewritten letter and an address; organ donor, give them a brochure and tell them about the Facebook campaign (show them the page)

9. Example: Blood Donation • Step 1: Scary story • Step 2:Stories/Stats/Facts to prove the need • Step 3:Blood banks guarantee a steady supply • Step 4:Without steady supply, needless deaths occur • Step 5: give them a card to fill out to become a donor; give them a brochure or phone number to call to donate; plan a time to drive people to donate.