ABSTRACT

This chapter considers best practices in communication proficiency with a focus on persuasion utilizing Monroe’s Motivated Sequence. Readers will discover not just how to arrange a message per the sequence but why the arrangement matters. The chapter begins with a rehabilitation of Monroe’s early theories of persuasive speaking before concluding with a novel integration of contemporary theories, with particular emphasis on the work of social psychologist Robert Cialdini and his “Six-principles of Persuasion.”