What is a motivated sequence speech?

By Indeed Editorial Team

Updated June 29, 2022 | Published February 8, 2021

Updated June 29, 2022

Published February 8, 2021

What is a motivated sequence speech?

Image description

Person stands before an audience in a darkened theater and delivers a presentation, talk or speech.

When delivering a presentation, following an organized and structured method can help you feel more confident in what you’re speaking about and how you interact with your audience. Monroe’s motivated sequence is a presentation technique you can use to deliver a convincing speech to prospective or current customers, one that may motivate them to take action—either by purchasing or learning more about the product you're selling.

In this article, we explain what Monroe’s motivated sequence is, the benefits this presentation technique provides you when interacting with customers and the five basic steps in a motivated sequence speech or pitch.

What is Monroe’s motivated sequence?

Monroe's motivated sequence is a technique professionals may use when preparing and delivering persuasive speeches or presentations. Alan H. Monroe developed this presentation technique in the mid-1930s, which centers on inspiring the audience to take a certain action.

The core elements of a motivated sequence speech consist of grabbing the audience's attention, addressing their needs, presenting solutions to the problem, helping the audience visualize the solution and convincing customers to take action.

Related: 6 Tips for Crafting a Great Presentation Introduction (With Examples)

Benefits of the motivated sequence method

Applying Monroe’s motivated sequence to your speeches can help you feel more confident, organized and convincing when speaking to clients or potential new customers. Using Monroe’s five-step progressive method of persuasion allows you to:

  • Plan speeches more easily. Since you're following a clear and structured technique, you can plan your speech quickly by simply inserting specific talking points within their designated sections. This organized and progressive method allows you to smoothly transition from one point to the next, with your topics carefully inserted into the areas of your speech where they're the most convincing and compelling.

  • Persuade the audience to take action. This technique is great to follow when you're delivering a product demonstration or persuading an audience to learn more about a product or service as the end of the speech encourages them to take action to solve a problem they're facing in their personal or professional life.

  • Connect with your audience. Using Monroe’smotivated sequence to organize and present your speech allows you to grab the audience's attention, show them you understand their needs and demonstrate how you care about helping them overcome these challenges. This progressive five-step method builds an initial trust with customers and can lead to a strong relationship if they choose to take action from you.

Related: 13 Main Types of Speeches (With Examples and Tips)

5 steps of Monroe’s motivated sequence

There are many different situations where you can use the motivated sequence method to deliver a compelling, persuasive speech, especially when presenting to customers. Here are the five steps of Monroe’s motivated sequence:

1. Grab the audience's attention

As you begin your speech, find a way to grab the attention of your audience and encourage them to continue listening. You could open with a statistic, rhetorical question, joke or a story to make your audience notice you and feel interested to learn more.

After using an attention-grabbing opening sentence, transition into the rest of your speech’s introduction by stating your purpose, establishing your credibility through data or statistics and describing what audience members should expect to learn from you for the rest of the speech.

Related: 10 Impactful Ways To Start a Speech

2. Identify the problem

Step two of Monroe’s motivated sequence is to identify the problem. Do so by addressing the customers' potential problems or challenges. This could be an obvious problem, depending on the situation. For example, if the topic of your presentation is, "how to improve sales numbers," it should be clear that the audience's challenge is to find new strategies to increase sales revenue. In other instances, however, the audience may not even be aware they're experiencing a problem.

This phase of the speech is where you can help them realize that there is a problem and that they need a solution to resolve it before it worsens. In a motivated sequence presentation, you can use statistics to support your statements. It's also best to explain to the audience how the problem directly affects audience members and the potential consequences that could occur if they do nothing to fix the issue.

Related: How To Give a Memorable Speech

3. Introduce your solution

After making the audience aware of their challenge, the third step in a motivated sequence speech is to present your solution for helping them overcome it. This is a key section of your presentation, as it's the stage where you introduce the product or service you're selling and convince the audience how they would benefit from purchasing it.

You should first share the facts of the solution you're offering and then elaborate further to help the audience better understand what the potential solution is and share any additional descriptive details about it. Introduce your solution by:

  • Stating what you'd like the audience to believe and the action you think they should take.

  • Providing brief summaries of the information you share and making sure it's clear, comprehensive and easy for your audience to understand.

  • Offering testimonials, statistics and examples to prove that your solution is effective and delivers positive results to current customers.

This may also be the stage of the motivated sequence where audience members could have questions or potential objections to your solution. You should anticipate this by making a list of potential concerns or comments audience members may have about this product. Prepare responses to these claims to strengthen your argument and the effectiveness of your solution.

Related: 10 Tips for Giving a Great Presentation

4. Help the audience visualize the solution

Once you've presented the solution, you can now describe what the audience's future will look like if they do or don't use it. In a motivated sequence speech, you should first detail what their lives will be like if they choose not to use the solution, then carefully describe the benefits and positive effects of applying the solution toward their personal or professional lives. Be sure to clearly emphasize the positive aspects.

When talking to audience members about what would happen if they didn't adopt the solution, focus on the dangers and additional challenges that may face as a result. It's best to present the potentially negative aspects first, then explain the benefits of using the solution to end this section of the motivated sequence on a more positive, hopeful and inspirational note.

Related: 15 Visualization Techniques To Help You Achieve Your Goals

5. Convince the audience to take action

Conclude your motivated sequence presentation by encouraging your audience to take action by sharing specific steps they can take to solve the identified problem. Try to provide them with usable and simple options to allow them to take ownership for the situation themselves, rather than making them feel like you're demanding them to take action through you. Make it easy for them to follow through with taking action when they’re ready by inviting them to speak with you after the presentation to learn more or encouraging them to ask additional questions.

Related: 51 Effective Call-To-Action Examples (And Why They Work)

Monroe’s motivated sequence example outline

Here is an example outline of Monroe’s motivated sequence, which you might reference when preparing and delivering your own presentation using this progressive method of persuasion:

Presentation topic: Importance of using security monitoring tools to protect your network

Attention: Your company's computer network, filing systems and passwords run the risk of theft, sabotage and data loss.

Problem: Many companies prefer not to spend additional money or effort on implementing a computer network system, resulting in several crashes, data loss and password vulnerabilities. 

Consequences: 60% of companies that lose their computer or software data will experience bankruptcies or shut downs less than 6 months after the disaster.

Solution: Adopting a computer network system can strengthen your cybersecurity efforts and reduce the likelihood of losing important company data.

Position statement: Building a budget for a computer network system and a company to install and monitor your data allows you to worry less about cyber attacks and spend more time completing big-picture tasks.

Potential argument: Network security systems can often be expensive and take extensive time to adopt and implement.

Counterargument: Investing in a network security system prevents you from losing a significant amount of money due to data loss. Our network security company handles the installation, monitoring and updating of the system, leaving you more time to stay productive and complete organizational tasks.

Visualization: Picture a work environment where the private information of both the company and employees remains safe and secure.

Negative method: Continue neglecting to adopt a computer security system and risk losing a significant amount of your data and passwords. Paying to recover this information could be costly and may result in losing the business altogether.

Positive method: Consider the opposite outcome: imagine your information stays secure. Your employees feel confident and safe knowing you have a security measure in place to prevent or react to any potential loss of information. You'll gain stronger employee retention and can thrive as a successful and growing business with limited risks.

Action: Review your current network security system process and determine how effective it is at securing your information.

Invitation: I'm available after this presentation to discuss our network security system and its features. I can also answer any questions you may have about your own system to inform you of how successful it is at keeping your company's data safe.