BY JEFF CORBETT

There is a tried-and-true formula that advertisers and marketers use to motivate you to purchase their products and services, and to persuade you to take a course of action that benefits them.

For decades, Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Pattern has been the backbone and template for some of the most effective and powerful radio and TV advertisements ever done. So let’s dig deeper.

Developed in the mid-1930s by American psychologist Alan H. Monroe, this strategy is successful because if follows the natural process of human thinking, guiding the listener step-by-step toward a desired action or purchase.

What I appreciate about Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Pattern is that it compels the listener to approach a problem with both an emotional and personal interest as well as a consideration of the facts.

Remember this: Logic makes you think, but emotion makes you act.

Simple Words Rule

When you are wanting to persuade someone to an action or a belief, use everyday language to make a connection with them.

Sonya Hamlin’s 772-page law school textbook, “What Makes Juries Listen Today,” advises budding attorneys to avoid “lawyer words.”

“When you use a word that’s unclear or unfamiliar to the jury, the next ten words you say goes unheard,” Hamlin argues. “Jurors mentally stop to figure out what was meant and miss what you are saying.” The same is true in your conversations.

Simple, understandable words are the order of the day.

A word of caution: Since Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Pattern is such a proven and powerful method of persuasion, it should always be used ethically, and not to manipulate others.

My main goal today is to familiarize you with this formula so you can prevent others from manipulating you – and prevent you from saying “yes” when you really want to say “no.”

Let’s look at each of the five steps, which must be done in order!

The Attention Step (Grab ‘Em)

Get the attention of your audience or conversational partner with a startling statement, a dramatic statistic, an unconventional proclamation, an outrageous (but true) claim, a rhetorical question, or a catchy quote that is relevant to what you are about to share.

This step tells them that what you are going to say is something they need to hear and puts them in a receptive frame of mind.

The Need Step

This is when your audience realizes there is a problem or challenge that needs action and won’t go away on its own. You can show how the current situation is unsatisfactory and demonstrate why a fix is needed. They may not have realized there was ever a problem in the first place, but thanks to you, they now know!

Remember to frame and explain the problem from the listener’s perspective. Give several detailed examples to illustrate the need. Make them think, “Something must be done about this!”

If you have done your job presenting this step, your listeners will be ready and willing to hear your solution.

The Satisfaction Step

This is where the fun begins. In the previous steps, you helped them see and feel the need for a change, you showed them the importance and extent of the problem, and why action is necessary.

While all of this is fresh in their mind, you now satisfy that need with a well-thought-out solution to their problem. If your competition can also bring in a solution, be sure your audience agrees that your plan of action is the correct or best choice.

Visuals are often greatly beneficial in this step. Don’t rely on listeners to put two-plus-two together. Illustrate how your plan logically solves the problem.

Offer real-life examples of how your plan has worked. Use stories, testimonials, facts, statistics, even expert opinions to support your claims.

The Visualization Step

This step holds the amazing magic of this formula.

An ad for a treatment for psoriasis that I saw on TV comes to mind as a shining example of how Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Pattern works so well..

In the Need Step, a lonely lady sits at home, unable to go dancing because of her shame due to unsightly and aggravating skin problems.

In the Satisfaction Step, her doctor finds a new and improved medication for her.

What’s the commercial’s next scene?

There she is, skin much better, out in public, dancing her heart out, confident and smiling, having a ball with a Brad Pitt look-a-like. A viewer with the same problem watching this commercial thinks, “That could be me!”

The person watching the TV ad actually sees a movie in their mind of that day where things are much better for them, and your solution will take them where they want their life to be, with their problems solved.

For best effect, also structure the visualization step to show what will happen if they don’t do something about the problem.

Be very graphic. Paint mental pictures. Show the unpleasantness or missed benefits of not doing as you propose.

Dr. Robert Cialdini says when making projections about the future, managers weigh potential losses more heavily than future gains. The same is true for you and your conversational partner.

As you are concluding the visualization step, you have both emotion and reason working overtime in their minds on your behalf, so now you’re teed up for the finale.

The Action Step

Here’s where you score. Tell ‘em what you want them to do and how to do it, with a challenge or call-to-action to do it now!

Conclude your presentation with an emotional appeal that summarizes the dangers of doing nothing and the promises of a better life, while motivating the audience to jump in with both feet!

Then you step aside and prepare to be amazed!

Jeff Corbett is an experienced public speaker, meeting facilitator and sales and marketing professional. He lives in Statesville. He can be reached at jeff@speak-well.com.