Objective: Student will classify examples from persuasive speeches into the correct step of Monroe’s Motivated Sequence. Student will use Monroe’s Motivated Sequence to write their own persuasive call to action speech.
Materials: PowerPoint Presentation on Monroe’s Motivated Sequence, Cards with examples from each step from various speeches, MMS Worksheet, Gym if it is available
Steps:
1. This activity will come at the beginning of a unit on persuasive speaking. You will need to introduce and explain Monroe’s Motivated Sequence pattern of organization for persuasive speeches. Monroe’s is a method of organizing persuasive speeches that seek immediate action. The five steps of the motivated sequence are attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and action.
2. Ask the students for ideas about topics that might call for immediate action. Choose one of these topics and use it as the illustration for explaining the sequence as you go through the PowerPoint presentation.
3. Use the PowerPoint presentation to explain the steps of the Sequence: attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and action.
• The Attention Step: The first thing to do is gain the attention of the audience. To gain favorable attention, you might use one or more of the following methods, which are similar to the attention getting methods you use in informative speeches.
• Relating to the audience
• Showing the importance of the topic
• Making a startling statement
• Arousing curiosity or suspense
• Using a quotation that is relevant to your topic
• Telling a humorous anecdote
• Telling a dramatic story
• Posing a question (maybe a rhetorical question)
• Using visual aids for illustration
• The Need Step: After you have gotten your audience’s attention, you need to convince them that something needs to be changed. In this step, you show the problems with the current situation. You will also need to demonstrate how the need directly affects your audience (their health, happiness, security or interests). Before you move to the next step the audience should be concerned about the problem and ready to hear about your proposed solution. The need should be stated clearly and illustrated with strong, credible supporting materials, such as the following:
• Detailed examples with illustrate the need
• Statistical data, but don’t overwhelm us with statistics!
• Testimonials or other forms of support to show the extent of the need
• The Satisfaction Step: After you have established a sense of need, you satisfy this need by providing a solution to the problem. This is the step where you present your plan or solution and show your audience how and why it will work. Charts and diagrams are often useful to explain the plan clearly. This step should make the audience wonder how this will work for them and what it will do for them. You might use the following methods:
• Briefly state the action or change you wish your audience to make
• Concisely and completely explain your plan
• Demonstrate how this plan will solve the problem
• Give examples showing that this plan has worked effectively and is a practical solution
• Use facts, figures, and the testimony of experts to support your claim.
• The Visualization Step: Now that the audience knows what your plan is, you will help to intensify their desire for it by helping them to visualize your plan. You want to help your audience look into the future and see the potential benefits of your plan. In this step, use vivid imagery to show how your audience will benefit if your plan is implemented. You may use one of the following methods, but whichever one you choose, you must be sure that the visualization step is realistic and that what you describe is attainable.
• The Positive Method: Describe the situation as it will be if your plan is implemented and carried out.
• The Negative Method: Describe the negative situation that will occur if your plan is not carried out. From the need step, select the most unpleasant aspects of the current situation and discuss how they will continue and worsen if your idea is rejected.
• The Contrast Method: Combine the positive and negative approaches. Use the negative method first to show the bad effects if the audience does not follow your plan, then use the positive method to show the benefits of doing as you recommend.
• The Action Step: The purpose of the action step is to translate the desire created in the visualization step into overt action. This is the step where you will make a call to action. Tell your audience what you want them to do TODAY, and then tell them how they can do it. Don’t make the action step too long or involved. Make it easy for them to take immediate action in one of the following ways:
• A challenge or appeal
• An illustration
• A quotation
• A statement of your personal intentions
• A summary is usually expected by your audience
4. After having completed the PowerPoint, tell the students that you are going to play a game. If the gym of your school is available, you might consider going there to play this game; otherwise use your room.
5. Establish five places in your room or the gym. Label them as the attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, action areas.
6. Draw a card and have the students move to the area of the room that they think the step fits into.
7. Continue the game until the students seem to understand how things fit into the steps.
8. Assign students to think of a topic that calls for immediate action. They will be working with this to write a call to action persuasive speech.
Results: Students will understand how to use Monroe’s Motivated Sequence to develop a call to action speech. They will begin working on writing a persuasive speech using this model. If you want to assign homework, or if you have time in the period, you can hand out this sample outline and have students fill it in. A good example to build off of can be found here: http://www.roch.edu/people/lhalverson/motivated.htm.
Another good resource for information on Monroe’s Motivated Sequence: http://faculty.ncu.edu.jm/salazar/Monooes.pdf
Elissa Martin
Summer 2007
Monroe’s Motivated Sequence
Objective: Students will understand each of the 5 steps of Monroe’s Motivated Sequence and, based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, will be able to identify a need and a “satisfier” for that need in a persuasive speech.
Materials: Old magazines that can be can be cut up and torn out of.
Steps:
1. First, pass out the hand out on Monroe’s Motivated Sequence and go over it with the class.
2. After discussing each of the 5 steps on the handout, pass out the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs handout and go over that as well.
3. Now that the students should have a better idea of what a motivational persuasive speech really is and, most importantly, how to identify and satisfy a need, have them select a magazine to look through.
4. Instruct them to select an advertisement that appeals to them and then cut it out.
5. With their chosen advertisement, have the students determine which of Maslow’s needs it is satisfying.
6. Have the students then make a graphic organizer for the 5 different steps of Monroe’s Motivated Sequence using that advertisement / need as a “topic”.
Results: After doing this activity, the students should have a bit more experience with identifying a need and how to satisfy it. They should also be able to take a topic and then organize a persuasive speech using the steps of Monroe’s Motivated Sequence.
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 H. Monroe. It consists of five steps:
Attention
• Get the attention of your audience using a detailed story, shocking example, dramatic statistic, quotations, etc.
Need (Maslow’s Five Basic Needs)
• Show that the problem about which you are speaking exists, that it is significant, and that it won’t go away by itself. Use statistics, examples, etc. Convince your audience that there is a need for action to be taken.
Satisfy
• 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.
For instance, a more generalized format may be:
Monroe’s Motivation Sequence
1. Attention: Hey! Listen to me, I have a PROBLEM!
2. Need: Let me EXPLAIN the problem.
3. Satisfy: But, I have a SOLUTION!
4. Visualization: If we IMPLEMENT my solution, this is what will happen.
5. Action: You can help me in this specific way. Are YOU willing to help me?
The advantage of 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.
Source: Wikipedia
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Click to enlarge
Kit Mentzer
Fall 2009
The Great Pyramid Built by Maslow!
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Objective: The students will work as a group to place Maslow’s Needs in the correct order after learning about each one. The students will need to be prepared to defend their reasoning, as well as to express concerns or doubts. A handout with the correct order and class discussion will allow them to compare their answers and understand what they may have done right or wrong.
Materials: A copy of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs for each student.
Steps:
1. Before the beginning of class, draw a pyramid with 8 sections in it on the marker/chalk board. Next to it, write out Maslow’s Needs, in a jumbled order. The correct order is: Physiological, Safety, Love, Esteem, Cognitive, Aesthetic, Self-Actualization, and Transcendence Needs.
2. Discuss the different needs with the students. Describe each one, but try not to allude to an order. They will need to figure this out themselves. Give examples of each need, such as these, taken from the website, http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/regsys/maslow.html:
– Physiological: Hunger, thirst, etc.
– Safety: Protection from danger, feeling secure.
– Love: Accepted by others, feeling wanted.
– Esteem: Gain approval and recognition.
– Cognitive: Knowing/understanding.
– Aesthetic: Appreciating beauty.
– Self-Actualization: Self-fulfillment, acceptance of self.
– Transcendence: Helping others become fulfilled.
3. Engage the students in a discussion by asking them what order they believe the different needs should fit into the pyramid. Make sure to tell them that the most basic needs are at the bottom, while less basic are towards the top.
4. After some discussion amongst the class, take a vote to make sure that the majority feels a certain need should go into a certain spot. Write in the students’ answers, even if they are not correct.
5. When the pyramid is full, ask the students if they think they selected the correct order. Have them defend their choices and address any doubts that some might have.
6. Hand each student a piece of paper with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs on it. If any part of their pyramid on the board is incorrect, make sure to point out the reasons and explain why the hierarchy is set up the way it is. For example, a person needs to feel accepted by others before they can aspire for recognition.
7. For homework, ask them to write a 1-1½ page response paper, discussing how the Hierarchy might fit into speech class, due the next day.
Results: Students will be able to explain the various needs that people have and how the needs all have an impact on one another by requiring one to be fulfilled before moving up the pyramid. They will understand that having the various needs fulfilled applies to every aspect of life; whether it is in class, at home, or anywhere else.
Summer 2005
Six Steps to Motivating Your Audience
Monroe’s motivated sequence
Objective: After completing this activity the student will be able to recognize and employ Monroe’s motivated sequence when composing a persuasive speech.
Materials: Creative thinking and a pen and paper.
Steps:
1. Ask students to write down a statement that interests them and where they think a change needs to occur.
2. Write down some statements that would be attention grabbers regarding the statement that was chosen
3. Now write down the “need step”. This would be statements that would convince the audience that something is wrong.
4. Next write down the “satisfaction step”; here it is important to be specific about how a person can go about making the change that has been suggested.
5. The “visualization step” is next. Have students create a vision of what it will look like if the change is made.
6. Finally, the “action step”. This is where the speaker asks that audience to change a behavior, sign a petition, write to senators, etc.
Results: The student should incorporate Monroe’s motivated sequence when writing their next persuasive speech.
Patti Bomgaars
Fall 2007