Page 250 - Essentials of Human Communication

Step 6: Organize Your Speech Materials 229

(2) effects. Highway accidents, illnesses, or low self-esteem, for example, could be explained
using a cause-effect pattern. An outline of the causes and effects of low self-esteem might
look something like this:

General Purpose: To inform
Specific Purpose: To inform my audience of the causes and effects of low self-esteem
Thesis: Low self-esteem is caused by a history of criticism and unrealistic goals, which
lead to depression and an unwillingness to socialize.
I. Low self-esteem often has two main causes.
A. A history of criticism can contribute to low self-esteem.
B. Unrealistic goals can contribute to low self-esteem.
II. Low self-esteem often has two main effects.
A. Depression is one frequent effect.
B. An unwillingness to socialize with others is another frequent effect.
You can also organize your persuasive speeches around causes and effects. For example,
you might organize a persuasive speech around persuading your audience that, say, a history
of criticism does in fact contribute to low self-esteem as do unrealistic goals. Here you would
have two major points:

I. A history of criticism leads to low self-esteem.
A. Double blind studies show. . . .
B. A recent survey . . .
C. Psychologist, John Smith of Harvard University, has said . . .
II. Unrealistic goals lead to low self-esteem.
A. My own experience illustrates . . .
B. A study conducted . . .
C. Educational theorists have long. . . .

the MOtivated seQuence
The motivated sequence, useful for organizing both informative
and persuasive speeches, is a pattern in which you organize your
information in five steps: (1) attention, (2) need, (3) satisfaction,
(4) visualization, and (5) action (German, Gronbeck, Ehninger,
& Monroe, 2013).

1. attention Persuade the audience to give you their undivided
attention. If you execute this step effectively, your audience should
be eager to hear what you have to say. You can gain audience atten-
tion by, for example, asking a rhetorical question, referring to spe-
cific audience members, or using a dramatic or humorous story.
These and other ways of gaining attention are discussed more fully
in Chapter 13.

2. need Prove to the audience that they need to learn or do some-
thing. You can establish need in three ways: VieWPOints

● State the need or problem as it exists or will exist. Organizing a speech
● Illustrate the need with specific examples, illustrations, statistics, Sean wants to give a speech on how to find a date on the
testimony, and other forms of support. Internet. What would be appropriate main points for such a
● Point to how this need affects your specific listeners—for exam- speech? What organizational pattern would be best to use,
given the main points you identified?
ple, their financial status, career goals, or individual happiness.