In this video, we're going to talk about Monroe's Motivated Sequence. If you have
a persuasive or motivational speech coming up, then you want to check out this
next-level way to organize your presentation. Let's unpack the details.
If this is your first time tuning in to this channel, Communication Coach, we make
weekly videos about communication and leadership. And the question for this
video is what topics do you think fit best into Monroe's motivated sequence.
Not all topics in the persuasive area of speaking fit very well into this. Only
certain types. So I'd like to hear your comments and your thoughts on that in
the section below the video. I look forward to reading those. So in terms of
our preview here, we're going to do an overview, look at the five parts of the
model, explore the psychology of the framework, give some practical examples.
look at the ethical uses of this, and then look at how it compares to existing
persuasive frameworks. Allen Munroe developed this framework in the 1930s
while he was a speech professor at Purdue University.
It's a five-part framework designed specifically for persuasive
presentations and it's designed to prompt listeners to take immediate
action at the end of the presentation. There are five steps to it. We're going to
go over these in more detail as the video progresses. Attention. Need.
Satisfaction. Visualization. And Action. So let's explore the psychology of this
framework. So first you grab your audience's attention much the same way
you might in an ordinary informative presentation. You're using stories,
statistics. You're using nice quotations that grab people's attention. In a
regular introduction, though, you're going to have other things like a thesis and
preview, but really this whole step in Monroe's motivated sequence is
devoted to grabbing people's attention. so you're going to stack up a lot of
these techniques. You might use not just a story but (also) a quotation, some rhetorical
questions, some statistics, all stacked up and jammed into this attention step so
that you really grab people's attention. Then you transition to what's called the
need portion of the presentation framework. And here is where they're
starting to feel a little lower because you are showing them there's a great
need associated with the topic that you're talking about. So here again
you're sharing stories statistics and everything else but it's devoted to
convincing people that there is a need. Remember at the end of this you want
them to take some kind of action and they're not likely to do that unless
they're first convince that there is an actual need. So now you're going to help
them feel a little bit better. You're going to tell them there is a solution.
There's a way to satisfy the need that you have articulated and here's where
you explain in quite detail the exact steps that you want them to follow. And
by doing so you create a solution to the need that you have just articulated. So
now they're feeling a little bit better. The next step is visualization where
you're going to help them literally picture what life will look like if they
adopt the particular solution or satisfaction step that you are
recommending. And so now they're going to move up on the scale and feel a little
bit better about life because you're like hey I showed you what the
satisfaction step was and now I'm going to help you visualize it. so you're
telling stories showing photos, whatever it takes to show them all the benefits
that they will feel because they adopted your particular satisfaction step. The
last step is called the action step. Aome people call this literally the call to
action where you ask your audience to do something right there and then. You ask
them for their email address. You ask them to text a certain number, some type
of action that they are taking forward toward the solution step, the
satisfaction step that you have already outlined. And here they should be the
happiest so they're way up on the scale because they're actually taking part in
solving that need that you articulated earlier. They're starting to feel really
good about themselves because they're participating in this solution
personally. So I like to outline it this way to show you how first they're
feeling okay then they're not feeling so good in that need step but then they go
up up up toward the action step. So there's some psychology here first
you're making them feel that need and then you're helping satisfy that need.
There's that persuasive and motivating element to it and I think
that the magic of this model really is in that need step. If you can convince
your listeners that there's a strong enough why. Why should they care? Why
should they take action? Is this really in need in the first place? there'll be
that much more motivated to take the ultimate action that you're going to ask
them to. If you haven't convinced them that
there's a real need, they will not be as likely to adopt the solution that you're
proposing. So let's look at some concrete examples. So here we have a blank
framework and just imagine you're going to ultimately try to sell your listeners
a mattress. Well there are some steps that you need to follow before you ask
for that sale. The first thing you want to do is grab their attention by talking
about statistics involving sleep and how important sleep is and how crucial it is
to living your life. Next you're going to convince them that they have a
particular need by talking about the effects that a lack of sleep has on
their mood, their health, and their effectiveness at work. You're showing
them that they have a need for better sleep and you do this again statistics,
stories, quotations, any tool that you have in your toolbox to carve out this
need. And now you get to your pitch that you help them satisfy this need by
showing them this new type of mattress let's say that you are selling that you
want them to buy. And then you get them to picture what life would be like with
this mattress through photos, through stories, through statistics. Again any
tool that you have in your toolbox and when you get them to picture this the
visualization step you want to make sure you erase whatever needs you said they
had to begin with. So this is going to help their mood, their health, their
effectiveness at work. And once you do that, some of them will be ready to take
an action. This is where you make some kind of call to action have them text a
number, have them fill out a form, have them supply their email. Maybe if you're
right at the point of purchase, you're going to ask them for that sale. Ask them
if they're ready to go to the register and ring this up. Let's take another
example. This time let's assume you're going to ultimately ask your listeners
to buy or fund a goat for a small village. Well you can just jump to that.
You've got to go through the motivated sequence so they're actually motivated
to do this by the end. In the attention step, you might tell them a
story about a particular village that has a lot of problems and a lot of
poverty. then you go into your needs step where you talk about how there's little
food, few jobs, no hope. Then you get to your satisfaction where you talk about
how much money were required to donate a goat to this kind of village that would
make a real difference. In the visualization step, you're going to help
them picture it through actual photos, before-and-after photos, for example,
about how well the village is doing or other villages like it. You tell
stories about lives that were changed in this village because of the goat. And the
last action step is where you ask them to donate a small portion, or however
much you're asking for in that particular presentation, to purchase a goat,
to donate a goat. Let's take a look at the psychology of the framework in terms
of the village and the goat presentation. So you tell them a story about the
village and you might do other things here to grab their attention like
statistics and quotations. Then you have to show them there's a need. This is
where the "why" comes in. Otherwise they're not going to be very motivated. So no
jobs, no food, no hope. Then they're feeling a little bit better because now
you're telling them oh there's a solution here. You can donate a goat or a
portion of a goat. When you get them to picture it, and this is really crucial,
any kind of visualization step should involve erasing whatever need that you
showed that there existed in the first place, like no jobs, food, or hope. Well
these goats, donating to these goats, better create more jobs, more food, and
more hope. Otherwise, you haven't really delivered on your promise. And then once
you do that they'll be much more willing to donate. So there's a lot of psychology
to this extremely powerful framework. Now clearly, if you have been following this
channel at all you know that I'm not all about closing sales. In fact, I don't even
really do sales and marketing type videos. So there are some ethical uses to
this and I believe that we should only use this presentation format for ethical
purposes. You must have the listeners best interests in mind when you're
crafting your presentation or any kind of communication. If it's all self
centered and all about what you're trying to get from people, that's not a
very good starting place. You must support listeners right to make a free
and informed choice and to me that means no manipulation. You need to be genuine.
In other words, whatever you're talking about that should be coming from your
heart. You shouldn't have some hidden agenda beneath the surface that you're
trying to conceal. You want of course use true and factual information at all
times. And this is one of the ways that you can use this framework in an ethical way.
Let's look at how this compares to other frameworks. Let's take the
example of buying the goat for the village.
If we were to compare that to a normal kind of persuasive speech, you would have
an introduction, problem, solution, benefits, which are your three main
points in the body of the presentation and a conclusion. I actually like to
picture presentations and even this Monroes motivate sequence like this. You
have an introduction and you have your three main body points across, usually
it's three main points. And then you have a conclusion. I think that's a more
helpful way for me to visually remember. And the problem, solution, benefit is
really the classic persuasive framework for a presentation. And that's I believe
what Monroe used as a basis for his motivated sequence. they line up almost
exactly except that what Monroe did was he tailored each step even more for the
kind of presentation where by the end you were going to ask them for a
specific action. So question of the day. What topics do you think fits best into
this framework? Not all topics are equal and they don't all fit into Monroe's
motivated sequence. But I would love to hear your suggestions in that comment
section below. I look forward to reading those there hope you got something out
of this look at Monroe's motivated sequence. I encourage you to use it in
your next presentation if you have that opportunity. And if you have not yet
subscribed to this channel, Communication Coach, I encourage you to do that. So
thanks. God bless and I'll see you in the next video.