Monroe’s Motivated Sequence is a framework for persuasive speeches

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On June 13, 2025 I blogged about how The Four Part Close for a speech is also known as “The Lehrman Landing”. In that post I linked to an article by David Murray at Pro Rhetoric on May 25, 2025 titled “The Lehrman Landing” – and Other Jargon Speechwriters Should Use Constantly. He said another jargon item was:

 

“Monroe’s Motivated Sequence is an all-purpose speech structure codified in the 1950s by a Purdue University engineer geek named Alan Monroe. Or, if you want to mesmerize a gullible marketing executive, you could say the structure is inspired by the breathy oratorical style of Marilyn Monroe.”

 

There is a Wikipedia page for it. A paraphrase for its five steps is:

 

Attention

Capture audience interest with a compelling opening.

 

Need

Show there is a problem affecting the audience.

 

Satisfaction

Offer a practical and believable solution.

 

Visualization

Help the audience see benefits for the solution.

 

Action

Directly tell the audience what to do next.    

 

A succinct description is in a University of South Carolina UPSTATE Library Guide web page titled SPCH 201 H: Honors Public Speaking: Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Outline. Also, there is a recent article by Nazli Turken and Steven D. Cohen at ORMS TODAY informs on December 6, 2024 titled The science of effective presentations: Using Monroe’s Motivated Sequence to convey analytical findings.