Persuading with the Monroe method
Speaking for 8, 10 or 12 minutes, alone on stage and without notes, is not an easy exercise. In just a few minutes, you have to convince an audience that does not know your ideas, your project... and even who you are! And that's not all, very often, speakers want their audience to do something: finance their project, make a donation, join a movement... But how do you build a speech that leads to action?
In the 1930s, Alan Monroe, a professor at Purdue University, used his work in psychology to apply it to public speaking and persuasion. The method he developed, also known as the Monroe Motivational Sequence, allows you to present your ideas with the maximum possible impact and calls the audience to action.
This method, in 5 steps, is for example used by Elon Musk during his speeches presenting his new innovations such as his home battery (note the length of his speech... 18 minutes, which is the historical format developed by TED).
Gaining attention
The first step is to capture the audience's attention, to make them want to listen to you. To do this, you can make an inspiring promise that piques curiosity and thus provokes interest. Other hooks are possible with the help of :
From a figure or a statistic
From a quote
A personal or significant story
With a dash of humour
From a series of intriguing questions
A curious picture or object that you show to the audience
For example, in 2007, Steve Jobs began his speech by promising to reinvent the mobile phone... which at the time kept the whole world on its toes!
Expressing a need (which your speech addresses)
The second step aims to create a need, or to highlight an existing one, that prevents us from taking action or fulfilling ourselves. This need will be all the stronger if it corresponds to a psychological need of the audience: to be in better health, to improve sleep, to eat better... These essential needs are those that resonate within us to change our habits and preconceived ideas.
To express this need you can follow the following development:
State it clearly
Illustrate it with a concrete example
Develop it in more detail to better understand why it is a major problem
Link it directly to the audience (to their experiences)
Through the expression of a need, presented as an obstacle to overcome, you will naturally call for a solution... the one you have or the one of your project. Thus, by highlighting a lack, we immediately want to fill it. Nature, and Man, abhors a vacuum!
Fulfilling this need (the solution)
Once the need has been expressed, you must now respond to it. From then on, you take on the role of the saviour. You must therefore present viable and concrete solutions to the audience, for example following a scheme like this one:
Clearly state the solution
Explain it in detail
To show how an implementation of this solution will be (very) effective
Finally, illustrate it with examples or scientific data to ensure the credibility of your statements
At his keynote presentation, Steve Jobs' response to the inadequacy of mobile phones at the time was to offer the first true smartphone: the iPhone.
be concrete
Alan Monroe emphasised the need tobe very concrete in his explanations to help the audience visualise in their daily lives how your solution could be applied and have a significant impact .
To do this, you can use examples and images that can visualise the implementation of these solutions. When Elon Musk talked about the possibility of creating rockets that could be reused, he used visual aids and video simulations to prove that it was possible. Since then, he has carried out several launches with these new kinds of rockets!
The important thing here is to give details and images that are easy to understand (you are addressing as many people as possible) using comparisons, metaphors or anecdotes.
Taking action
Finally, don't forget that a speech is more than just words, it is a powerful way to call the audience to action. So, you should end by urging the audience to act, personally and collectively.
Here you are empowering and inspiring the audience to make a difference by showing that every initiative counts. And, to help the audience take action and inspire them, don't hesitate to describe the steps you have taken, or that you think are relevant, to maximise your impact.
These steps should be explicitly stated and described in a simple way. The clearer the audience is about what they need to do to help you, the more they will do it!