Persuading Verified Test Bank Chapter 14

Chapter 14 Persuading

Multiple Choice

1. What is an ethical strategy of persuasion?

a. claiming that an issue is more urgent than it actually is

b. withholding information or arguments that do not support your point

c. “loading the deck” so as to give the illusion of choice to the listeners

d. presenting arguments with evidence and letting the audience decide if they agree with you

Learning Objective: 14.1 Identify differences between informative and persuasive strategies for speeches, including speech purposes achieved through persuasive strategies.

Topic: Purposes for Persuasive Strategies

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

2. Many people misunderstand the term “persuasion,” believing that it only applies to __________.

a. reversing an audience’s beliefs or behaviors

b. moving the audience from attitude to action

c. inducing a specific action

d. motivating listeners to pursue a higher level of needs

Learning Objective: 14.1 Identify differences between informative and persuasive strategies for speeches, including speech purposes achieved through persuasive strategies.

Topic: Purposes for Persuasive Strategies

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

3. Thomas knows that his audience members are aware of the tax referendum and he wants his speech to help them understand why it is important for the community schools. What is the purpose of his persuasive strategy?

a. take action

b. weaken commitment

c. conversion

d. strengthen commitment

Learning Objective: 14.1 Identify differences between informative and persuasive strategies for speeches, including speech purposes achieved through persuasive strategies.

Topic: Purposes for Persuasive Strategies

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

4. A hostile audience is best persuaded through which persuasive strategy?

a. strengthening commitment

b. conversion

c. weakening commitment

d. inducing specific action

Learning Objective: 14.1 Identify differences between informative and persuasive strategies for speeches, including speech purposes achieved through persuasive strategies.

Topic: Purposes for Persuasive Strategies

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

5. Millie and five of her neighbors attended the school board meeting to express their disagreement with the proposal to enlarge class sizes. Millie and her neighbors are an example of a(n) __________.

a. hostile audience

b. selective listener

c. target audience

d. conversion group

Learning Objective: 14.1 Identify differences between informative and persuasive strategies for speeches, including speech purposes achieved through persuasive strategies.

Topic: Purposes for Persuasive Strategies

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

6. When a speaker aims to reverse audience beliefs, which strategy should he or she use?

a. weakening commitment

b. strengthening commitment

c. conversion

d. manipulation

Learning Objective: 14.1 Identify differences between informative and persuasive strategies for speeches, including speech purposes achieved through persuasive strategies.

Topic: Purposes for Persuasive Strategies

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

7. The women’s suffrage movement in the 1920s is an example of a persuasive strategy with the purpose of __________.

a. conversion

b. strengthening commitment

c. weakening commitment

d. inducing a specific action

Learning Objective: 14.1 Identify differences between informative and persuasive strategies for speeches, including speech purposes achieved through persuasive strategies.

Topic: Purposes for Persuasive Strategies

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

8. Bill wants his classmates who complain about a lack of activities at the university to join student government and the student activity board. His persuasive strategy is __________.

a. conversion

b. strengthening commitment

c. weakening commitment

d. inducing a specific action

Learning Objective: 14.1 Identify differences between informative and persuasive strategies for speeches, including speech purposes achieved through persuasive strategies.

Topic: Purposes for Persuasive Strategies

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

9. Prita knows she can’t convince everyone in the audience to follow her on Instagram, so she focuses on the 20- to 30-year-olds who are more likely to use it. This group of people comprise Prita’s __________.

a. context

b. target audience

c. hostile audience

d. feedback

Learning Objective: 14.2 Describe how determining the target audience and analyzing the audience’s motivation and the speaker’s purpose can help the speaker plan for persuasion.

Topic: Plan Your Strategy

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

10. People seek to attain pleasure and avoid pain; this is the most basic theory of __________.

a. motivation

b. needs

c. resonance

d. persuasion

Learning Objective: 14.2 Describe how determining the target audience and analyzing the audience’s motivation and the speaker’s purpose can help the speaker plan for persuasion.

Topic: Plan Your Strategy

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

11. What are the two elements of audience analysis that a speaker must consider when preparing for persuasive speaking?

a. identification of the target audience and assessment of audience motivation

b. a raising of audience consciousness and anticipation of perceptual selection

c. evaluation of audience consciousness and anticipation of selective perception

d. assessment of audience commitment and an awareness of self-fulfilling prophecies

Learning Objective: 14.2 Describe how determining the target audience and analyzing the audience’s motivation and the speaker’s purpose can help the speaker plan for persuasion.

Topic: Plan Your Strategy

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

12. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, what is the first level of needs that people seek to satisfy?

a. relationship

b. safety

c. identity

d. biological

Learning Objective: 14.2 Describe how determining the target audience and analyzing the audience’s motivation and the speaker’s purpose can help the speaker plan for persuasion.

Topic: Plan Your Strategy

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

13. In speaking situations, elaboration refers to __________.

a. the process of audience members abandoning one belief for another

b. the incentive to do something that requires effort from the audience

c. the individuals the speaker wants to specifically target

d. how much or how little an audience thinks about what the speaker is saying

Learning Objective: 14.3 Explain the Elaboration Likelihood Model and what it implies for persuasion.

Topic: The Elaboration Likelihood Model

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

14. According to the Elaboration Likelihood Model, listeners who elaborate more will be more persuaded by __________.

a. shortcuts that simplify their thinking about the topic

b. evidence and arguments that support the speaker’s thesis

c. the speaker’s positive ethos

d. extended narratives that support the speaker’s position

Learning Objective: 14.3 Explain the Elaboration Likelihood Model and what it implies for persuasion.

Topic: The Elaboration Likelihood Model

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

15. Stephanie knew from the moment she walked into the presentation that she would like what the speaker had to say because he had on a great suit and tie. From this, you can say that Stephanie has __________.

a. high elaboration

b. low motivation

c. low elaboration

d. high motivation

Learning Objective: 14.3 Explain the Elaboration Likelihood Model and what it implies for persuasion.

Topic: The Elaboration Likelihood Model

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

16. One way in which listeners resist persuasion is to attend to and remember only the parts of a message that they already agree with and to interpret ambiguous messages in a way that supports what they already believe. When listeners engage in this process, they are resisting persuasion by __________.

a. ignoring the question

b. selective acceptance

c. selective listening

d. belittling the source

Learning Objective: 14.4 Describe how audiences resist persuasion and what resources help a speaker overcome resistance.

Topic: Constraints on Effective Persuasive Speaking

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

17. Carol argued with her professor that no matter what she said in her speech about the benefits of financial aid, her classmates wouldn’t accept it because they all had huge student loans. Carol is suggesting that __________ will play a role in the audience’s perception.

a. denial

b. compartmentalization

c. belittling the source

d. division

Learning Objective: 14.4 Describe how audiences resist persuasion and what resources help a speaker overcome resistance.

Topic: Constraints on Effective Persuasive Speaking

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

18. Phillip gave a persuasive speech about why people should not smoke. His classmate, Morris, refused to accept Phillip’s arguments, even though they were well supported, because he thought Phillip wanted to curtail individual freedom. Which act of selective perception did Morris exhibit?

a. compartmentalization

b. denial

c. dismissal

d. belittling the source

Learning Objective: 14.4 Describe how audiences resist persuasion and what resources help a speaker overcome resistance.

Topic: Constraints on Effective Persuasive Speaking

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

19. Sharelle’s speech about reducing juvenile delinquency was very convincing. She clearly defined the problem and proved that volunteering at a youth agency can have an impact. One audience member, Harlan, agreed that volunteering was a great solution, but he did not see the need to donate his own time to the cause. Harlan was resisting persuasion by __________.

a. dismissal

b. denial

c. belittling the source

d. selective listening

Learning Objective: 14.4 Describe how audiences resist persuasion and what resources help a speaker overcome resistance.

Topic: Constraints on Effective Persuasive Speaking

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

20. Sometimes listeners are willing to accept the general truth of an argument, but they resist being persuaded by refusing to accept that the argument applies to them specifically. In this case, they are using a resistance technique called __________.

a. compartmentalization

b. delusion

c. dismissal

d. the boomerang effect

Learning Objective: 14.4 Describe how audiences resist persuasion and what resources help a speaker overcome resistance.

Topic: Constraints on Effective Persuasive Speaking

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

21. Exposing listeners’ inconsistencies is a good way to combat the resistance strategy of __________.

a. dismissal

b. denial

c. belittling the source

d. compartmentalization

Learning Objective: 14.4 Describe how audiences resist persuasion and what resources help a speaker overcome resistance.

Topic: Constraints on Effective Persuasive Speaking

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

22. Chip gave an impassioned speech about legalizing marijuana with a fair amount of evidence and reasoning to back up his argument. Rather than refute Chip’s arguments; however, his classmate Charlie simply responded by calling Chip a “whacked-out stoner.” Charlie was resisting persuasion by __________.

a. denial

b. dismissal

c. belittling the source

d. labeling

Learning Objective: 14.4 Describe how audiences resist persuasion and what resources help a speaker overcome resistance.

Topic: Constraints on Effective Persuasive Speaking

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

23. Selective influence can be prompted by which two conditions?

a. compartmentalization and belittling

b. boomerang effect and polysemy

c. consciousness raising and refutation

d. ethos and pathos

Learning Objective: 14.4 Describe how audiences resist persuasion and what resources help a speaker overcome resistance.

Topic: Constraints on Effective Persuasive Speaking

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

24. When the speaker placed an American flag next to her on the podium, some audience members felt it symbolized freedom of choice while others saw it as a constraining device used to keep immigrants out. In this situation, selective influence has been prompted by __________.

a. compartmentalization

b. ethos

c. the boomerang effect

d. polysemy

Learning Objective: 14.4 Describe how audiences resist persuasion and what resources help a speaker overcome resistance.

Topic: Constraints on Effective Persuasive Speaking

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

25. When his professor shared some ideas to improve memorization, Jon decided it didn’t matter what he did because his memory was terrible and just scribbled in his notebook. This is an example of __________.

a. compartmentalization

b. belittling the source

c. the boomerang effect

d. polysemy

Learning Objective: 14.4 Describe how audiences resist persuasion and what resources help a speaker overcome resistance.

Topic: Constraints on Effective Persuasive Speaking

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

26. Consciousness raising is a strategy used to __________.

a. strengthen commitment

b. weaken commitment

c. induce a specific action

d. explain

Learning Objective: 14.5 Identify strategies that speakers can use for each specific purpose and in general.

Topic: Strategic Resources for Specific and General Purposes

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

27. The #MeToo movement in 2018, a grassroots protest movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault, is an example of how _________ can strengthen commitment to a message.

a. refutation

b. a self-fulfilling prophecy

c. self-actualization

d. consciousness raising

Learning Objective: 14.5 Identify strategies that speakers can use for each specific purpose and in general.

Topic: Strategic Resources for Specific and General Purposes

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

28. The candidate worried that her youthfulness might cause voters not to take her seriously. So instead of trying to hide her age, she focused on selling herself as a "fresh voice " and making listeners believe their support was crucial to change. By increasing listeners' urgency, this speaker is trying to avoid __________.

a. the boomerang effect

b. a self-fulfilling prophecy

c. moving from education to commitment

d. self-actualization

Learning Objective: 14.5 Identify strategies that speakers can use for each specific purpose and in general.

Topic: Strategic Resources for Specific and General Purposes

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

29. When the speaker attempts to disprove or dispute arguments or appeals made by others, the goal is __________.

a. refutation

b. conversion

c. conviction

d. denial

Learning Objective: 14.5 Identify strategies that speakers can use for each specific purpose and in general.

Topic: Strategic Resources for Specific and General Purposes

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

30. Reluctant testimony is the opposite of __________.

a. biased evidence

b. opinion testimony

c. subjective evidence

d. peer testimony

Learning Objective: 14.5 Identify strategies that speakers can use for each specific purpose and in general.

Topic: Strategic Resources for Specific and General Purposes

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

31. Jeremy knew that his listeners had heard several messages warning them against getting into the stock market. However, he wanted to weaken their commitment by arguing that this is the right time to buy stocks for long-term investments. Jeremy’s persuasive strategy is __________.

a. assimilation

b. elaboration

c. conversion

d. refutation

Learning Objective: 14.5 Identify strategies that speakers can use for each specific purpose and in general.

Topic: Strategic Resources for Specific and General Purposes

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

32. Shalene knew she could convince many of her audience members to vote for her because while they had voted for her opponent in the last election, they felt the senator hadn’t kept his promises and they were looking for new representation. What is the goal of Shalene’s speech?

a. conversion

b. weaken commitment

c. strengthen commitment

d. dismissal

Learning Objective: 14.5 Identify strategies that speakers can use for each specific purpose and in general.

Topic: Strategic Resources for Specific and General Purposes

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

33. The audience wasn’t very receptive when Colleen said she had personally asked twenty people about their opinions on the issue and they all sided with Colleen. This is an example of __________.

a. reluctant testimony

b. self-fulfilling prophecy

c. biased evidence

d. self-actualization

Learning Objective: 14.5 Identify strategies that speakers can use for each specific purpose and in general.

Topic: Strategic Resources for Specific and General Purposes

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

34. Identification is important to persuasion because __________.

a. audiences respond more favorably to a speaker they know and with whom they can identify

b. audiences are more likely to be persuaded when they can identify the speaker’s reasoning

c. when audiences can identify the structure of the speech, they tend to agree with the speaker’s conclusions

d. audiences respond more favorably when they identify with the speaker based on some common bonds

Learning Objective: 14.5 Identify strategies that speakers can use for each specific purpose and in general.

Topic: Strategic Resources for Specific and General Purposes

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

35. What are the two most common organizational patterns for persuasive speeches?

a. problem‒solution and motivated sequence

b. cause‒effect and residues

c. comparison‒contrast and cause‒effect

d. conversion‒aversion and analogy

Learning Objective: 14.6 Use two basic structures for persuasive speeches: the problem‒solution structure and the motivated sequence.

Topic: Organizing Persuasive Speeches

Difficulty Level: Easy

Skill Level: Remember the Facts

36. Kwame began his speech by talking about the excessive amount of food waste in the dormitory food court and then presented some possible ways to eliminate this waste. His speech uses the __________ organizational pattern.

a. motivated sequence

b. topical

c. problem‒solution

d. chronological

Learning Objective: 14.6 Use two basic structures for persuasive speeches: the problem‒solution structure and the motivated sequence.

Topic: Organizing Persuasive Speeches

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

37. Barb reminded the audience that by donating just $10 a month to the program, foster children in Indonesia would receive more nutritious food and necessary vaccinations. Which step in the motivated sequence does this represent?

a. satisfaction

b. need

c. attention

d. visualization

Learning Objective: 14.6 Use two basic structures for persuasive speeches: the problem‒solution structure and the motivated sequence.

Topic: Organizing Persuasive Speeches

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

38. In a persuasive speech organized according to the motivated sequence, the conclusion is known as the __________.

a. attention step

b. action step

c. need step

d. satisfaction step

Learning Objective: 14.6 Use two basic structures for persuasive speeches: the problem‒solution structure and the motivated sequence.

Topic: Organizing Persuasive Speeches

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

39. Which steps of the motivated sequence resemble the problem and the solution in a problem‒solution speech?

a. attention and visualization

b. need and satisfaction

c. need and action

d. satisfaction and action

Learning Objective: 14.6 Use two basic structures for persuasive speeches: the problem‒solution structure and the motivated sequence.

Topic: Organizing Persuasive Speeches

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

40. What is a criticism to Alan H. Monroe’s motivated sequence?

a. Different listeners may follow the steps toward persuasion in a different order.

b. They are difficult to support with evidence.

c. We do not really know what motivates listeners, so these patterns are speculative.

d. They lack logical development.

Learning Objective: 14.6 Use two basic structures for persuasive speeches: the problem‒solution structure and the motivated sequence.

Topic: Organizing Persuasive Speeches

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

Essay Questions

41. Discuss the four degrees of commitment within a persuasive strategy.

• The speaker might want to strengthen commitment to a belief.
  • Listeners might be vaguely familiar with the topic but had not carefully considered all the points associated with it.
• The speaker might want to weaken commitment to a belief.
  • This might be necessary when confronting a hostile audience. The speaker is not trying to have the listeners abandon their beliefs, but adjust them.
• The speaker might want to change the listeners’ minds on a subject.
  • This process of conversion rarely results from a single speech.
• The speaker might want to get the listeners to take a specific action.
  • Moving from belief to action can sometimes be difficult.

Learning Objective: 14.1 Identify differences between informative and persuasive strategies for speeches, including speech purposes achieved through persuasive strategies.

Topic: Purposes for Persuasive Strategies

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

42. Strategic planning for persuasive speeches requires which two audience analysis activities? Describe each and how they are different, and give an example of each from your class.

• The two activities involved in planning for persuasive speeches are determining the target audience and assessing the audience’s motivation.
• Determining the target audience identifies the audience but not their motivation.
• Assessing the audience’s motivation identifies what motivates an audience but not who the audience is.
• The answer should include a description of the student’s classmates and a description of their motivations.
• Student examples will vary.

Learning Objective: 14.2 Describe how determining the target audience and analyzing the audience’s motivation and the speaker’s purpose can help the speaker plan for persuasion.

Topic: Plan Your Strategy

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

43. What are the levels within Maslow’s hierarchy of needs? Why are these important to a speaker?

• There are five levels within the hierarchy of needs.
• The first level that people seek to satisfy is biological needs, such as food and water.
• The next level addresses safety needs, which includes protection from harm.
• The next level is identity needs, followed by relationship needs.
• The highest level of needs is self-actualization, which is the ultimate fulfillment of needs.
• Maslow believed that higher order needs do not come into play until lower-order needs are met.
• The speaker’s task is to determine approximately where in the hierarchy listeners are and then arouse the appropriate motive and show how it can be satisfied.

Learning Objective: 14.2 Describe how determining the target audience and analyzing the audience’s motivation and the speaker’s purpose can help the speaker plan for persuasion.

Topic: Plan Your Strategy

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Analyze It

44. Discuss the effects of low elaboration and high elaboration on the speaker’s message.

• Elaboration refers to the listener’s tendency to think about information related to the speech topic.
• Listeners that have relatively high elaboration (or the tendency to think more about the information) will be persuaded as a result of systematic thinking about the message.
• Listeners with relatively low elaboration (or the tendency to dismiss information and think less about it) will be persuaded through “shortcuts” such as how the speaker is dressed.

Learning Objective: 14.3 Explain the Elaboration Likelihood Model and what it implies for persuasion.

Topic: The Elaboration Likelihood Model

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

45. What two conditions allow listeners to resist persuasion? Give examples of ways that those conditions might be overcome.

• Two conditions allow listeners to resist persuasion: a message’s multiple meanings (polysemy) and the boomerang effect of a message that is so powerful that it turns back on the speaker.
• Polysemy enhances persuasion by allowing the audience to focus on an interpretation of the message with which they agree.
• But they also can foster selective acceptance, if people understand the symbol-laden message in different and conflicting ways.
• Under the boomerang effect, a speaker must carefully assess how much audience arousal is appropriate.
• Student examples will vary.

Learning Objective: 14.4 Describe how audiences resist persuasion and what resources help a speaker overcome resistance.

Topic: Constraints on Effective Persuasive Speaking

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Apply What You Know

46. What are some forms of selective perception that can affect a speaker’s message?

• Denial: some audience members refuse to accept a claim no matter how strongly it is justified.
• Dismissal: some audience members will disregard a message, even if it’s generally true, because they don’t believe it can happen to them or affects them.
• Belittling the source: listeners might discredit a speaker who relies on a single source.
• Compartmentalization: if a message challenges what audience members believe, they might keep it separate from their conflicting belief, so that the two ideas are not at odds.

Learning Objective: 14.4 Describe how audiences resist persuasion and what resources help a speaker overcome resistance.

Topic: Constraints on Effective Persuasive Speaking

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

47. Describe how the boomerang effect can hamper the speaker.

• With the boomerang effect, the message turns back on the speaker.
• This might occur when an appeal is so powerful that it overwhelms the audience who conclude that they can’t do anything to help.
• The audience response of “What I do won’t matter anyway” demonstrates the boomerang effect.
• To avoid this effect, a speaker must carefully assess just how much to arouse the audience on an issue.

Learning Objective: 14.4 Describe how audiences resist persuasion and what resources help a speaker overcome resistance.

Topic: Constraints on Effective Persuasive Speaking

Difficulty Level: Moderate

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts

48. What are the five strategies a speaker can use to promote the purpose of conversion? How do they differ from strategies used for other purposes?

• Four strategies for promoting conversion are (1) chip away at the edges of beliefs, (2) identify a pattern of anomalies, (3) employ consciousness raising, (4) seek incremental changes, and (5) use reluctant testimony.
• The answer should explore patterns of difference across strategies—for example, it might be noted that conversion strategies draw on linking existing beliefs to new beliefs while strategies to strengthen commitment simply seek to strengthen existing beliefs.

Learning Objective: 14.5 Identify strategies that speakers can use for each specific purpose and in general.

Topic: Strategic Resources for Specific and General Purposes

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Analyze It

49. Discuss the general strategic resources available for persuasive speakers. How does each resource promote persuasive purposes?

• Appropriate supporting materials are persuasive because carefully chosen relevant evidence adds to logos.
• Sound reasoning tends to impress even skeptics.
• Appropriate organizational patterns are persuasive because listeners follow, anticipate, and participate in the development of ideas.
• Positive ethos enhances credibility.
• If listeners trust you, they will be more inclined to give your ideas a fair hearing.
• Reinforcement aids retention and acceptance of the thesis.
• Identification is establishing common bonds between speaker and audience to motivate listeners to associate the speaker’s concerns with their own.
• The more that listeners believe themselves to be basically like the speaker and to share the same values or experiences, the more willing they are to be influenced by what the speaker says.
• Commitment to a belief or action is not just a logical exercise; it also involves arousing emotion or pathos.

Learning Objective: 14.5 Identify strategies that speakers can use for each specific purpose and in general.

Topic: Strategic Resources for Specific and General Purposes

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Analyze It

50. What is the motivated sequence, and what are the steps in this sequence? How does its structure differ from that of a typical problem‒solution speech?

• The motivated sequence is a sequential scheme for achieving persuasion in a speech.
• The sequence includes five steps: attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and action.
• The overall structure of the sequence focuses on audience motivations rather than on the specific topic, a focus of a problem‒solution speech.

Learning Objective: 14.6 Use two basic structures for persuasive speeches: the problem‒solution structure and the motivated sequence.

Topic: Organizing Persuasive Speeches

Difficulty Level: Difficult

Skill Level: Understand the Concepts