Real Communication An Introduction

488 Part 4  Public Speaking

Step 1: Attention. The attention step gets the audience interested in listening to

your speech. It often highlights how the speech will be relevant to them.

It’s two in the morning and you’re staring at a blank screen on your

computer. You’ve got a term paper for your history class and a lab report

to finish, but these aren’t what have you worried right now. It’s figuring

out your résumé—how to take your work, personal, and educational

experiences and cram them all onto one page.

Step 2: Need. This step allows you to identify a need or problem that matters to

your audience. You want to show that this issue should be addressed.

Each person in this room will be applying for internships and jobs; such

positions are highly competitive. Your résumé, for better or worse, will

make a first impression on your potential employer.

Step 3: Satisfaction. The satisfaction step allows you to show your audience the

solution that you have identified to meet the problem or need addressed in step

2. This step is crucial, as you are offering the audience members a proposal to
   reinforce or change their attitudes, beliefs, or behavior regarding the problem or
   need at hand.

Visiting our college’s Office of Career Services is a great way

to get help and direction for your résumé. The professionals

employed there will be able to help make your job applica-

tion materials stand out while making the process seem less

overwhelming.

Step 4: Visualization. As its name implies, the visualization step

helps your audience see how your proposed solution might play

out and how they might benefit.

Instead of sitting up at your computer at 2 a.m., you could be

sitting with Tamela, a career counselor, at 2 p.m. as she makes

suggestions for formatting your résumé or asks you ques-

tions about your past work experiences in order to highlight

achievements that you had never even thought to mention.

Step 5: Action. This final step clarifies what you want your

audience members to do. This may involve reconsidering their

attitudes, beliefs, or behavior.

Make an appointment with a career counselor today. Don’t

wait—you need those early-morning hours for that history

term paper, not your résumé!

Now that you’ve considered organizational patterns and you

have a solid grasp on how to handle persuasive speaking, let’s

WHEN PERSUADING
STUDENTS to utilize their
college’s career center, use
the visualization step in
Monroe’s motivated sequence
to help your audience
members picture themselves
discussing how to improve
their résumés with a college
counselor. Photodisc/Punchstock/
Getty Images