Motivated Sequence

Monroe's motivated sequence is a technique for organizing persuasion that inspires people to take action. Alan H. Monroe developed this sequence in the mid-1930s. This sequence is unique because it strategically places these strategies to arouse the audience's attention and motivate them toward a specific goal or action. Motivated sequence aligns with Edmund Burke's ideas on proper speech form and John Dewey's ideas on qualitative unity.

Alan H. Monroe

Alan H. Monroe was born in 1903. Monroe earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Northwestern University and taught at Purdue University. By 1926, Monroe shifted his focus from English to Public Speaking and by 1927, he was promoted to assistant professor of Public Speaking. Throughout his time teaching at Purdue University, Monroe continued his education at Northwestern University, earning his master's degree in 1927 and his Doctorate in 1937. In 1963, Monroe retired from Purdue University. He died in 1975.

Steps

Monroe's motivated sequence states that on the first step is to state the problem the customer is having, then explain it if one cannot solidify the need and give a representation of the situation that may occur.
;Attention: The attention step is audience-focused and uses an attention-getter to catch the audience's attention.
;Need: The topic is applied to the psychological needs of the audience members. Monroe believed that it was most effective to convince the audience that they had specific needs tailored to the topic of the presentation.
;Satisfaction: Specific and viable solutions to the problems raised in the previous step are presented to the audience.
;Visualization: The solution is then described in such a way that the audience can visualize both the solution and its positive effects in a detailed manner.
;Action: The audience is then told how to solve the problem using the solution(s) previously presented.

Benefits

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. It also helps the audience feel like the speaker knows the problem at hand and is listening to them instead of just tuning them out.

With its sequential model, Monroe's motivated sequence engages an audience with a psychologically satisfying speech order. The industries of sales and advertising use Monroe's step-by-step sequence to motivate potential buyers to take action (purchase a product). Monroe's Motivated sequence presents itself as a core model in communication theory because there is otherwise little guidance for presenters in organizing ideas in persuasive speech.

Research

Researcher, Tracy Micciche, conducted a study on 21, 23, and 24-year-old college students, with the 22-year-olds being the control group. Participants were told that they would receive better parking for an extra $50. The study used three different versions explaining the $50 for parking. One version used Monroe's motivated sequence. They explained the parking fee in the order of attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and call to action. Other variations used Monroe's motivated sequence in different orders. Micciche found that the explanation using Monroe's motivated sequence's original order was significantly higher for the college students to understand.

A study conducted by Bernadette Peter Lidadun and Nancy Chiuh examined the use of Monroe's motivated sequence. In the study, Lidadun and Chiuh used reading assignments and gave them to a group of aspirants for the Catholic priesthood in a Formation House in Malaysia. The research was conducted with ten participants from February 2019 to June 2019. The research indicates that participants engage more in the five-step approach of Monroe's motivated sequence during extensive reading online. The study also found that refining each step of Monroe's motivated sequence is essential for people using English as a second language.

Seriaznita Mat Said, Ali Salman Hummadi, and Amerrudin Abd Manan conducted research on President Donald Trump's Policy Speech in Jerusalem. Said, Hummadi, and Manan used Monroe's motivated sequence steps to analyze Trump's speech. This study used the five steps of the sequence and found that President Trump was successful in his use of persuasion on four of the five steps of Monroe's motivated sequence. Results indicate that President Trump did not entirely complete the satisfaction step.

References

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Public speaking
Persuasion techniques
Selling techniques