Monroe’s Motivated Sequence is a suggested structure for organizing your thoughts or words to persuade  or inspire folks to take action. Developed by Alan Monroe during the Great Depression, the technique is a 5-step process.

– Attention: There is a PROBLEM

– Need: Let me EXPLAIN the problem and how it impacts/concerns you. Use stories, related to the audience.

– Satisfaction: There is a SOLUTION, here it is.

– Visualization: If we EXECUTE the solution, this is the “good” outcome, if we don’t this is the “bad” outcome.

– Action: This is the specific (visual, detailed) steps we need to take; will you help?

Closing quotes:

“Monroe’s Motivated Sequence (MMS) is an organizational pattern used to develop a sense of want or need in the audience, satisfy that want or need, and to help the audience get enthused about the advantages of that solution. The advantage of Monroe’s 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.”  — Wikipedia

“How soon ‘not now’ becomes ‘never’.”  — Martin Luther; 1483-1546