Requirements for Speech #2: Monroe's Motivated Sequence Speech

Review the general requirements for speeches found in this module before reading the specific requirements for Speech #2 listed below.

You are required to use Monroe's motivated sequence outline format for your second speech. The use of this format is discussed in the lesson Organizing your Speech: Patterns as well as in the lesson Organizing Your Speech: Outlining. There is also a worksheet where you will be learning about this format (The Monroe's motivated sequence worksheet).

For this speech, your goal should be to motivate the audience to take some action. It might be to motivate them to change a behavior such as increasing the vegetable servings they eat each day or trying some new food such as eating venison. It could be to get your audience to support a change in a policy such as getting them to support "Casual Fridays" at your place of work or encouraging people to join a support group or your club to sponsor a trip to a museum or conference.

Review the instructions and tips for preparing and organizing your speech before creating and presenting your speech. Remember, like all speeches, you should keep your specific audience in mind. You want to communicate significant, valuable, and well-researched information that will inspire the audience to take action.

Below are steps to take while you are preparing for your presentation.

Step One: Knowing your audience

With all speeches you must first know who is in your audience. Be sure you secure you audience and analyze their demographics before you plan your speech.

Tailor your speech to that specific audience. You wouldn't give a persuasive speech as to why your family needs to plan a vacation to a group of your college friends nor would you convince your parents to join Greek Life at Cal U. Similarly, convincing a group of non-smokers not to smoke (yes, I've heard this before) is also ineffective.

Think about what your audience would genuinely care about and what affects their lives. Always make your speech relevant to your audience. For example, maybe you will convince a group of your college friends to limit their time on social media.

Step Two: Knowing your goal

After assessing your audience and choosing a topic, you will need to have a goal in mind. You want the audience to take some type of action, but what is your overarching goal of the speech? If your speech is to convince the audience to be more healthy, is your goal to ask them to eat more proportionately? Be realistic in the goals you wish to achieve.

Next, you are going to want to think about the steps of Monroe's Motivated Sequence and how you can effectively navigate through the five steps during your speech.

Below is a review of the five steps of Monroe's Motivated Sequence and what to keep in mind while preparing for each step. These five steps will also be your outline. Review the outline for MMS from the Arrangement lesson.

Attention

The first is to gain the audience's attention regarding your topic. There are many options to gaining an audience's attention; use the one that will be the most effective. You may begin with a touching personal story, startling statistic, powerful, short video, among other techniques. For instance, if you want to convince your audience to check their skin regularly for signs of potential cancer, you might begin by saying "One in ten people will experience skin cancer in their lifetime." You may relate that to your audience and state that you want to help prevent them from becoming a statistic. Short videos can also be very powerful, but only if they are relevant. I find that many students don't want to think of an effective attention getter, so they search YouTube for a video of their topic and begin with that, no matter how uninteresting it may be. It is important to keep in mind that whatever attention-getting method you choose to use, it should do just that: get the audience's attention.

Need

The second step is to show the need for change. This is where you will introduce the problem to the audience and show that there is a significant need for change. Relate the problem to the audience. How does this issue impact the audience? For a speech on social media habits, you may present statistics on the problem that occurs when people spend too much time online. Other supporting material could also be used in the need section, such as examples, expert testimony, stories, and visual aids. This section should be well-researched as opposed to you simply stating something is a problem because it is your opinion.

Satisfaction

The third step is satisfaction. Simply put, this is where you provide a solution to the problem. You just discussed the problem and the need for change, now you need to provide a plan for solving the problem. The plan should be detailed; never should you say, "something needs to be done," and let the audience figure it out. Do the work for the audience and show them you have a well-thought out plan that could work. The plan should be realistic and can come from your own ideas, or from ideas you've found with research that work.

Visualization

The fourth step is Visualization. In the previous steps, you showed a clear need for change and presented your plan. Now, you will talk about the benefits of the plan. During the Visualization Step you will 1) show the audience the benefits of your plan and possibly also, 2) share negative outcomes that would occur if the plan was not implemented. For instance, if your speech is about exercising, you may discuss the positive outcomes of incorporating a ten minute jog into your everyday life. The benefits might include having more energy, losing some weight, and being less susceptible to certain diseases. You may also want to discuss what would happen if no changes were made. If the audience does not implement this plan, they may continue to gain weight, feel sluggish, etc.

Action

The fifth and final step is to ask for action. You should ask the audience to take a specific action at the end of your speech. The action should be realistic. You probably won't convince people who never exercise to sign up for a 5K run next week, but you may be able to persuade them to take a ten minute walk three days a week. When asking for action, be specific. Sometimes the audience may be on board with your plan, but if they aren't sure how to execute it, they will likely not follow through. For example, if you want them to donate to a particular charity, ask them to "Donate $10 to the battered women's shelter," and show them how to do so (i.e. pull up the website, go through the steps, etc.).

Tips for Success:

1. Be sure your speech is persuasive.
   1. Pattern. This may seem like an obvious tip, but I find that many students give informative speeches, and then include an action at the end and call it persuasive. An easy way to avoid this is to follow the required pattern for this speech: Monroe's Motivated Sequence. This pattern will allow you to show the audience there is a serious problem that needs to be recognized, a solution that can be implemented, the benefits of that plan, and the action they should take.
   2. Topics. Many topics can be informative or persuasive (e.g. I can inform you about how a flat tax policy works or I can persuade you to vote for a flat tax). Have a clear goal in mind beforehand to avoid turning your speech in to an informative one.
   3. Language. I find that many students use language that is more common in an informative speech: "Today I'd like to discuss exercising with you," and "I'm informing you on teens' social media habits," both would be ineffective for a persuasive speech. Better choices would be, "Today I will be convincing you why you should incorporate exercise in to your life," and "I will persuade you to spend less time on social media." Second, some students are wishy-washy and not confident in their words. "Maybe you should donate some money to the Animal Rescue League if you'd like," is not very convincing. "I implore you to make a difference in animals' lives and donate $10 to the Animal Rescue League this month," is much more persuasive.
2. Strengthen your ethos, pathos, and logos.
   1. Ethos: Before someone considers coming on board for your plan of action, they must see you as a credible and ethical speaker.
      1. Research.
         1. You may not be an expert on the topic, but you should do enough research to show you have credibility. Did you thoroughly research the topic, or did you Google the topic and use the first three hits?
         2. Are you only presenting one side of the story? Is this ethical?
         3. Are you generalizing the information? For instance, if one suggests that violent TV leads to real life violence we cannot claim that this is the end all be all truth all the time.
         4. Next, are you using credible sources (Wikipedia versus scholarly journals)?
         5. Be specific when presenting your research. Instead of saying "All the research I did led me to believe..." say "According to a 2015 study published in the Journal of Media Studies, 80% of teens binge watch television."
      2. Dress. You should dress appropriately for the occasion. You probably would not see your professor as being credible if she wore pajamas to class. The same applies to your presentation. Many students present in their house and feel very comfortable and that shows in their choice of informal dress and often bare feet. Always dress the part, but especially for a persuasive speech. You are more believable and credible in business casual than your hoodie and gym shorts.
      3. Delivery. You might have a great persuasive message, but if you cannot deliver it well, the audience may dismiss your speech.
         1. Eye contact. If you read off of a paper, your audience will likely not be convinced that you are credible. I would not be persuaded by someone who is reading their speech, because it says to me that he or she does not sufficiently know the material. Eye contact can help you gain credibility and trust from the audience. They will be more likely to listen and possibly take action if you are speaking to them and not reading to them.
         2. Volume. First, speak loud enough so the audience can hear you. Too often, students begin their speeches very shy and quietly. This does not communicate confidence about the presentation. Second, volume can be used to emphasize certain important points. If you want the audience to really remember a certain point or statistic, say it more loudly.
         3. Pauses. If something is very important for the audience to remember, take a moment and pause so that the audience can absorb your message for a few seconds. To combine this with the last point, if you say, "Five million people die each year in the United States from cancer," you will want to use volume for that statement and pause afterward to let that point set in with the audience.
         4. Overall Delivery. Review overall delivery tips and think about what you can improve from your first speech. Be comfortable, yet professional. If you are too stiff you may not be as persuasive as if you were more comfortable with the audience.
   2. Pathos: Emotional appeals will be very important to a persuasive message. Think about these two aspects:
      1. Your message. You can communicate emotions in various ways. A personal story, powerful, short video, or statistic can elicit emotions from the audience. In order to do this most effectively, be sure to communicate some type of emotion to the audience. It may be sadness, anger, or joy, but there should be emotions in a persuasive speech. Be sure you match your nonverbals and emotions to the seriousness of the speech. In the past, I've had students be "nervously laughing" during a serious part of their persuasive speech. This obviously was ineffective.
      2. The audience's response. If you follow the tips from above, you have a good chance of having an emotional response from your audience. If an audience is emotionally involved, they may be more likely to take action. Remember, though, always use pathos in addition to logos and ethos; it is unethical to only use emotional appeals in a persuasive speech.
   3. Logos: Presenting a logical speech and using sound reasoning is necessary for a successful persuasive speech.
      1. Reasoning. You should provide sound reasoning and arguments in your speech. Again, don't generalize information. If you read a few studies that suggest binge watching Netflix can lead to depression, you cannot say "My research proves that Netflix is bad for you." Similarly, we cannot say, I've asked all my friends, and they all drink; therefore everyone at Cal U drinks. Be sure you present your information in a reasonable manner.
      2. Organization. MMS is an excellent pattern to use for a persuasive speech and is required for your second speech in this class. Using this organizational pattern can help you to enhance your logos. If you transition throughout the five steps, your speech can be very logical and powerful.