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Problem-Solution Speech [Topics, Outline, Examples]

Jim Peterson has over 20 years experience on speech writing. He wrote over 300 free speech topic ideas and how-to guides for any kind of public speaking and speech writing assignments at My Speech Class.

In this article:

Problem-Solution Outline

Problem-solution examples, criminal justice, environment, relationships, teen issues.

What to include in your problem-solution speech or essay?

Problem-solution papers employ a nonfiction text structure, and typically contain the following elements:

Introduction: Introduce the problem and explain why the audience should be concerned about it.

Cause/Effect : Inform the audience on what causes the problem. In some cases, you may also need to take time to dispel common misconceptions people have about the real cause.

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Thesis Statement: The thesis typically lays out the problem and solution in the form of a question and answer. See examples below.

Solution : Explain the solution clearly and in detail, your problem-solving strategy, and reasons why your solution will work. In this section, be sure to answer common objections, such as “there is a better solution,” “your solution is too costly,” and “there are more important problems to solve.”

Call to Action: Summarize the problem and solution, and paint a picture of what will happen if your final solution is adopted. Also, let the reader know what steps they should take to help solve the problem.

These are the most used methods of developing and arranging:

Problem Solution Method Recommended if you have to argue that there is a social and current issue at stake and you have convince the listeners that you have the best solution. Introduce and provide background information to show what is wrong now.

List the best and ideal conditions and situations. Show the options. Analyze the proper criteria. And present your plan to solve the not wanted situation.

Problem Cause Solution Method Use this pattern for developing and identifying the source and its causes.

Analyze the causes and propose elucidations to the causes.

Problem Cause-Effect Method Use this method to outline the effects of the quandary and what causes it all. Prove the connection between financial, political, social causes and their effects.

Comparative Advantage Method Use this organizational public speaking pattern as recommendation in case everyone knows of the impasse and the different fixes and agrees that something has to be done.

Here are some examples of problems you could write about, with a couple of potential solutions for each one:

Marriage Problem: How do we reduce the divorce rate?

Solution 1: Change the laws to make it more difficult for couples to divorce.

Solution 2: Impose a mandatory waiting period on couples before they can get married.

Environmental Problem: What should we do to reduce the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere?

Solution 1: Use renewable energy to fuel your home and vehicles.

Solution 2: Make recycling within local communities mandatory.

Technical Problem: How do we reduce Windows error reporting issues on PCs?

Solution 1: Learn to use dialogue boxes and other command prompt functions to keep your computer system clean.

Solution 2: Disable error reporting by making changes to the registry.

Some of the best problems to write about are those you have personal experience with. Think about your own world; the town you live in, schools you’ve attended, sports you’ve played, places you’ve worked, etc. You may find that you love problem-solution papers if you write them on a topic you identify with. To get your creativity flowing, feel free to browse our comprehensive list of problem-solution essay and paper topics and see if you can find one that interests you.

Problem-Solution Topics for Essays and Papers

How do we reduce murder rates in the inner cities?
How do we stop police brutality?
How do we prevent those who are innocent from receiving the death penalty?
How do we deal with the problem of gun violence?
How do we stop people from driving while intoxicated?
How do we prevent people from texting while driving?
How do we stop the growing child trafficking problem?
What is the best way to deal with domestic violence?
What is the best way to rehabilitate ex-cons?
How do we deal with the problem of overcrowded prisons?
How do we reduce binge drinking on college campuses?
How do we prevent sexual assaults on college campuses?
How do we make college tuition affordable?
What can students do to get better grades in college?
What is the best way for students to effectively balance their classes, studies, work, and social life?
What is the best way for college students to deal with a problem roommate?
How can college students overcome the problem of being homesick?
How can college students manage their finances more effectively?
What is the best way for college students to decide on a major?
What should be done about the problem of massive student loan debts?
How do we solve the global debt crisis?
How do we keep countries from employing child labor?
How do we reduce long-term unemployment?
How do we stop businesses from exploiting consumers?
How do we reduce inflation and bring down the cost of living?
How do we reduce the home foreclosure rate?
What should we do to discourage consumer debt?
What is the best way to stimulate economic growth?
How do we lower the prime cost of manufacturing raw materials?
How can book retailers deal with rising bookseller inventory costs and stay competitive with online sellers?
How do we prevent kids from cheating on exams?
How do we reduce the illiteracy rate?
How do we successfully integrate English as a Second Language (ESL) students into public schools?
How do we put an end to the problem of bullying in schools?
How do we effectively teach students life management skills?
How do we give everyone access to a quality education?
How do we develop a system to increase pay for good teachers and get rid of bad ones?
How do we teach kids to problem solve?
How should schools deal with the problem of disruptive students?
What can schools do to improve reading comprehension on standardized test scores?
What is the best way to teach sex education in public schools?
How do we teach students to recognize a noun clause?
How do we teach students the difference between average speed and average velocity?
How do we teach math students to use sign charts?
How can we make public education more like the Webspiration Classroom?
How do we stop pollution in major population centers?
How do we reduce the negative effects of climate change?
How do we encourage homeowners to lower their room temperature in the winter to reduce energy consumption?
What is the best way to preserve our precious natural resources?
How do we reduce our dependence on fossil fuels?
What is the best way to preserve the endangered wildlife?
What is the best way to ensure environmental justice?
How can we reduce the use of plastic?
How do we make alternative energy affordable?
How do we develop a sustainable transportation system?
How can we provide quality health care to all our citizens?
How do we incentivize people to stop smoking?
How do we address the growing doctor shortage?
How do we curb the growing obesity epidemic?
How do we reduce dependence on prescription drugs?
How do we reduce consumption of harmful substances like phosphoric acid and acetic acid?
How can we reduce the number of fatal hospital errors?
How do we handle the health costs of people living longer?
How can we encourage people to live healthier lifestyles?
How do we educate consumers on the risk of laxatives like magnesium hydroxide?
How do we end political corruption?
How do we address the problem of election fraud?
What is the best way to deal with rogue nations that threaten our survival?
What can our leaders do to bring about world peace?
How do we encourage students to become more active in the political process?
What can be done to encourage bipartisanship?
How can we prevent terrorism?
How do we protect individual privacy while keeping the country safe?
How can we encourage better candidates to run for office?
How do we force politicians to live by the rules they impose on everyone else?
What is the best way to get out of a bad relationship?
How do we prevent cyberbullying?
What is the best solution for depression?
How do you find out where you stand in a relationship?
What is the best way to help people who make bad life choices?
How can we learn to relate to people of different races and cultures?
How do we discourage humans from using robots as a substitute for relationships?
What is the best way to deal with a long-distance relationship?
How do we eliminate stereotypical thinking in relationships?
How do you successfully navigate the situation of dating a co-worker?
How do we deal with America’s growing drug problem?
How do we reduce food waste in restaurants?
How do we stop race and gender discrimination?
How do we stop animal cruelty?
How do we ensure that all citizens earn a livable wage?
How do we end sexual harassment in the workplace?
How do we deal with the water scarcity problem?
How do we effectively control the world’s population?
How can we put an end to homelessness?
How do we solve the world hunger crisis?
How do we address the shortage of parking spaces in downtown areas?
How can our cities be made more bike- and pedestrian-friendly?
How do we balance the right of free speech and the right not to be abused?
How can we encourage people to use public transportation?
How do we bring neighborhoods closer together?
How can we eliminate steroid use in sports?
How do we protect players from serious injuries?
What is the best way to motivate young athletes?
What can be done to drive interest in local sports?
How do players successfully prepare for a big game or match?
How should the revenue from professional sports be divided between owners and players?
What can be done to improve local sports venues?
What can be done to ensure parents and coaches are not pushing kids too hard in sports?
How can student athletes maintain high academic standards while playing sports?
What can athletes do to stay in shape during the off-season?
How do we reduce teen pregnancy?
How do we deal with the problem of teen suicide?
How do we keep teens from dropping out of high school?
How do we train teens to be safer drivers?
How do we prevent teens from accessing pornography on the Internet?
What is the best way to help teens with divorced parents?
How do we discourage teens from playing violent video games?
How should parents handle their teens’ cell phone and social media use?
How do we prepare teens to be better workers?
How do we provide a rational decision-making model for teens?
How do we keep companies from mining our private data online and selling it for profit?
How do we prevent artificial intelligence robots from taking over society?
How do we make high-speed internet accessible in rural areas?
How do we stop hackers from breaking into our systems and networks?
How do we make digital payments more secure?
How do we make self-driving vehicles safer?
What is the best way to improve the battery life of mobile devices?
How can we store energy gleaned from solar and wind power?
What is the best way to deal with information overload?
How do we stop computer makers from pre-installing Internet Explorer?

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Problem Solution Speech Topics, Outline & Examples

The problem solution speech is a type of informative speech that enumerates various problems and provides possible solutions to those problems.

If you have been asked to give such a speech, your goal should be to explain the problem and provide realistic and achievable suggestions to address it. In most cases, problem solution speeches are given with the hope that the audience will be inspired to do something about the problems that they are facing.

There are many pressing issues in society today that could be considered ripe material for a problem solution speech. For example, racism, sexism, homophobia, ableism, and ageism are all major social problems that need to be addressed.

Of course, you can’t just pick any old problem and start talking about it – you need to make sure that your topic is something that your audience will actually care about and be interested in hearing.

Problem-Solution Speech Outline

The key to delivering an effective problem-solution speech is to develop an outline and a step-by-step plan that will help focus on different parts of your speech.

Here is a basic outline that you can use for your problem-solution speech:

Introduction

Introduce yourself and give a brief overview of the problem that you will be discussing. This is also where you will need to state your thesis – that is, what solution you think is best for the problem.

Make sure that you are concise and to the point – you don’t want to give your audience too much information, as they will likely tune out if you do.

Thesis/Statement of the problem

Explain what the problem is that you will be discussing. This is where you will need to do your research and really dig into the details of the issue so it is interesting and your speech has gravity.

Also, make sure that your problem is something that can actually be solved – there is no point in discussing a problem if there is no possible solution.

Cause/Effect

Discuss the causes of the problem and the effects that it has on different people or groups. This is where you will really start to get into the nitty-gritty of your topic and show your audience that you understand the issue at hand.

Make sure to back up any claims that you make with research or data so that your speech is credible. Use attention getters to hook your audience and keep them interested.

Potential solutions

This is the meat of your problem-solution speech. Discuss different potential solutions to the problem and explain why you think they would be effective.

Again, make sure to back up your claims with research or data so that your audience knows that you have thoughtfully considered the issue and possible solutions. Keep it realistic – don’t propose a solution that is impossible to achieve.

Call to action

You have now armed your audience with the knowledge of the problem and potential solutions – now what? You will need to challenge your audience to actually do something about the issue.

This could be something as simple as signing a petition or donating to a cause, or it could be something more ambitious like starting a new organization or campaign. Whatever you choose, make sure it is achievable and that your audience knows how they can take action.

Use the outline above to tailor the specifics of your speech to fit your particular audience and situation and deliver an effective problem-solution speech.

Problem-Solution Presentation Techniques

Once you have your outline ready, it’s time to start working on your delivery. Here are some tips to keep in mind as you prepare your problem-solution speech:

Be passionate : This is not the time for a dry, academic approach. You need to be enthusiastic about the issue at hand and really sell your audience on why they should care.
Be clear : Make sure that your audience understands the problem and potential solutions. Use straightforward language and avoid jargon.
Be concise : Remember, you only have a limited amount of time to make your case. Get to the point and don’t ramble.
Use stories : A personal story or anecdote can be a powerful way to connect with your audience and make your speech more relatable.
Use visuals : Visual aids can be a great way to engage your audience and break up your speech. Just make sure that they are clear and easy to understand.
Practice, practice, practice : The only way to get comfortable with delivering a problem-solution speech is to practice it as much as you can. So get in front of a mirror, or even better, ask a friend or family member to listen to you and give feedback. The more you practice, the more confident you will be and overcome your fear of public speaking .

Problem-Solution Speech Topics

1. How can we make sure that all animals are treated humanely?

2. What are the most important things to keep in mind when it comes to animal welfare?

3. How can we make sure that all animals have access to proper care and shelter?

4. Why should we care about animal rights?

5. Why is wildlife conservation important?

6. Why animal testing is cruel?

7. Why should the exotic pet trade be stopped?

9. What can we do about the food industry and mass animal killing?

1. How can we make sure that our technology is accessible to everyone?

2. What are the most important things to keep in mind when using social media?

3. How can we make sure that our online information is safe and secure?

4. What should we do about cyberbullying?

6. How can we make sure that our technology is sustainable?

7. What are the most important things to keep in mind when using new technology?

8. How can we make sure that our technology is user-friendly?

9. What should we do about outdated technology?

10. How can we make sure that our technology is accessible to people with disabilities?

11. What are the most important things to keep in mind when using technology in the classroom?

12. How can we make sure that our technology is used for good and not for evil?

13. What should we do about the digital divide?

14. How can we make sure that our technology is used responsibly?

15. What should we do about the growing problem of e-waste?

16. What are the most important things to keep in mind when using technology in the workplace?

17. What should we do about the increasing dependence on technology?

Relationships

1. How can we improve communication in relationships?

2. What are the biggest problems faced by long-distance relationships?

3. How can we make sure that our relationships are built on trust?

4. What causes jealousy in relationships and how can it be overcome?

5. When is it time to end a relationship?

6. How can we deal with infidelity in a relationship?

7. How can we make sure that our relationships are healthy and balanced?

8. What causes arguments in relationships and how can they be resolved?

9. What are the most important things to keep in mind when raising a family?

10. How can single parents make sure that their children are getting the attention they need?

11. What effect does social media have on relationships?

12. How can we make sure that our relationship with our parents is healthy and supportive?

13. What should we do when our friends or family get into a toxic relationship?

14. How can we deal with envy or jealousy within our friendships?

15. How can we deal with a friend or family member who is going through a tough break-up?

16. How can new relationships be started off on the right foot?

17. What are the most important things to keep in mind when moving in with a partner?

18. What should we do when our relationship starts to fizzle out?

19. How can we deal with the death of a loved one?

20. How can therapy help us improve our relationships?

Social Issues

1. How can we make sure that everyone has access to clean water?

2. What are the most important things to keep in mind when it comes to food security?

3. How can we make sure that all children have access to education?

4. What are the most effective ways of helping people who are homeless?

5. How can we make sure that everyone has access to healthcare?

6. What are the most effective ways of combating climate change?

7. How can we make sure that our cities are sustainable?

8. What are the most important things to keep in mind when it comes to transportation?

9. How can we make sure that our economy is fair and just?

10. What are the most important things to keep in mind when it comes to social inequality?

11. How can we make sure that our government is effective and efficient?

12. What are the most important things to keep in mind when it comes to voting?

13. How can we make sure that our media is responsible and ethical?

14. What are the most important things to keep in mind when it comes to privacy?

15. How can we make sure that our technology is used responsibly?

16. What are the most important things to keep in mind when it comes to security?

17. How can we make sure that our world is peaceful?

18. What are the most important things to keep in mind when it comes to human rights?

19. How can we make sure that our world is sustainable?

20. What are the most important things to keep in mind when it comes to the environment?

80+ Problem Solution Speech Topics

A problem/solution speech takes the approach of highlighting an issue with the intent to provide solutions. It is a two-phase approach where first the speaker lays out the problem and explains the importance. Secondly, a variety of solutions are provided to tackle the said issue. The best solutions are those that can be actively applied.

The first problem to tackle is picking a topic. It is a good idea to pick something topical but then again, the world just supplies so many options that it can be overwhelming.

When you are assigned to write a problem-solution essay or research paper, choosing a good topic is the first dilemma you need to work out.

The world is full of issues that need to be resolved. However, it is not sufficient to simply pick a subject because it is topical. Ideally, you should pick a subject that is important to you on some level as well. Speaking about an issue you care about brings out an irreplicable passion that people are sure to respond to. If you’re still confused, we have included a wide variety of topics so that you can pick one that calls out to you.

Let’s get started!

Table of Contents

Introduction:
Thesis Statement:
Cause/Effect:
Call to Action:

Problem Solution Method

Comparative advantage method, social issues, environment, relationships, wrapping up, problem/solution speech outline.

Before we jump into the topics, it can be handy to understand the speech structure of a problem-solution speech. Understanding how to approach a speech script can have an effect on the topic you pick. Oftentimes, we are confident we can speak about a subject but once we begin the draft, we realize we don’t actually have that much to say.

So take a good look at what elements you need to include in your problem/solution speech:

Introduction:

The introduction is a key part of any speech. This is where you will try to grab the audience’s attention, establish the problem statement, and highlight your key points. It is in your introduction that you will need to explain why the presented issue is an issue. The objective is to convince the audience that the problem at hand is one that requires attention.

If you need help with effective attention-grabbers, you can browse our article on 12 Effective Attention-Grabbers for your speech .

Thesis Statement:

The thesis statement is where you will present the problem you are about to tackle. Typically the problem is laid out in the form of a question. You will also be talking about your stance on the presented problem.

Cause/Effect:

Before you launch into giving solutions after highlighting the problem, you need to explain the gravity of the problem at hand. You can do so by explaining what negative consequences occur due to said problem. The more you personalize the effects, the more likely you are to capture their attention.

Solution:

Once you talk about all the negative impacts of the presented problem, it is time to give the audience the solutions. Explain all the solutions step-by-step and talk about the evidence why the said solution will work. Make sure not to give solutions that are too vague. If there are common misconceptions about the solutions, address them as well. Discuss both pros and cons of the proposed solutions and explain why the pros outweigh the cons.

Call to Action:

The most important part of a problem/solution type speech is the call to action. This is when you encourage the audience to take the necessary steps to solve the problem. You can do so by painting a picture of the expected results of your proposed solutions. Don’t end on a vague note that sounds like “Together, we can.” Instead, give actionable steps, such as “I encourage each and every one of you to go home and separate your recycling trash.”

Problem/Solution Presentation Techniques

There is more than one way to present a problem/solution model. You might want to look into these techniques to switch up your speaking style.

The classic take is best used for taking a stance against a social or current issue. In such a case, you will highlight a known issue and suggest probable solutions for it. You can approach this method by informing the audience about the issue, a brief history, all geared to explain why the topic is a problem in the first place.

Follow that up by describing an ideal condition without the said issue. Once you create a tempting picture, offer up more than one solution that is applicable to the situation. Explain the hurdles and how they can be overcome. Make sure it is clear that you’ve thought about the problem from both sides of the issue.

Comparative advantage models are useful when tackling a problem that seems to be at an impasse. It is when an issue is well known and has multiple fixes with their own group of supporters. Here, you can take a comparative approach to show the pros and cons of all the different solutions. The key difference is that the general consensus is already there about the importance of tackling the problem, but only the correct solution needs to be selected.

Problem-Solution Speech Topics

Here is our extensive list of problem/solution speech topics:

Adopting dogs is more ethical than getting a new puppy.
How education can solve generational poverty.
Tackling anxiety by adopting a pet.
Ebooks over books to save the environment.
One-child policy: unethical but effective.
Donating as a solution to fight global poverty.
Do your part, go vegan to fight world hunger.
Keep wikipedia alive for free information with donations.
Kindness can begin with a compliment.
What can we do to ensure government sanctions against companies using child labor?
Sorting out your waste and what it can do for the environment.
The necessary switch to bicycles to tackle pollution.
Why encouraging volunteering at an early age can produce better citizens.
High time to make the switch to solar and wind energy.
Self-driving cars are the future of road safety.
Bike lanes and bike laws enhance traffic safety.
Effective gun sales management can help reduce reckless deaths.
Normalize selling colored dolls in all shapes and sizes to promote confidence in children.
How data became the new oil?
How to stay private in an increasingly social world?
Why is high-speed internet still not considered a basic need for rural areas?
Ethical hacking and why is there a draw to it?
Digital payments and how to guarantee security.
Change your passwords. Why your data is in danger!
Self-driving vehicles, should we handover 100% of the control?
Have lithium batteries on mobile phones already reached their peak?
How can technology promote the use of renewable energy?
How to keep up with the overwhelming news cycle?
How can we destigmatize video game addiction?
How can we shift education to a virtual platform?
How to smoothen the transition from home-schooling to college.
What are some new methods to tackle the rampant cheating on exams?
How can we reduce the illiteracy rate?
It’s high time to end bullying in schools.
How to normalize homesickness as a problem and tackle it?
Education is not enough, students need life management skills.
Is accessibility to quality education sufficient currently?
How can we guarantee sufficient pay for quality teachers?
How can problem-solving be taught in schools?
Is detention an effective solution for disruptive students?
How you can help your suicidal friend.
Are we doing enough to improve standardized test score results?
Effective ways to increase attention in class.
How can we make sex education mandatory in public schools?
Creative ways to get students to love maths.
Does looking at the stars stimulate brain activity?
How can we tackle the growing obesity epidemic?
How spending time outdoors can boost your mood.
The Pomodoro Technique and why it works for productivity.
Can meditation be the answer to growing stress?
Can we incentivize smokers to give up smoking?
How to increase responsibility for fatal hospital errors?
Fitness apps and how it can benefit health.
How augmented reality glasses can be a gamechanger for people with disabilities.
How does taking baths reduce stress and anxiety?
Burnout: the need to go offline.
Better posture to tackle back pain.
Does reading out loud help improve critical thinking?
Child obesity: a preventable evil.
Encouraging more greens to help children improve their memory.
How global pollution can be tackled locally.
Climate change. Why it is too late and what can still be done.
Does lower room temperature really help reduce energy consumption?
How to do our part in preserving natural resources?
Is it time to stop depending on fossil fuels?
How to preserve wildlife from going extinct?
Are current environmental laws sufficient to keep it protected?
Improving public transport to reduce the number of private cars.
How can we upgrade our transportation to be more sustainable?
Why hunting should be illegal in any circumstances.
It is high time to replace plastic. What are our options?
Is it enough to make alternative energy affordable?
Signs of a toxic relationship.
How to pull yourself out of an emotionally abusive relationship.
Should parents be allowed to control teens’ social media accounts?
How to manage expectations in a relationship?
Recognize negative people and take active steps to avoid them.
How to help domestic violence victims?
Why it is pointless to try changing someone.
How to say “no” in a way that they listen?
How to maintain a work-life balance in today’s world.
Why couples counseling needs to stop being taboo.
Is it possible to bridge the gap across different races and cultures?
How technology is capitalizing on the growing need for human contact.
Long-distance relationships. Can you make it work?
Modern-day relationships and how expectations have changed.

A problem/solution speech is a great topic as it falls under the informational category. As such, it is much easier to capture the audience’s attention. In terms of delivery, make sure you sell the problem before handing out the solution. Following the above outline and tips paired with your amazing content, we are sure you will be able to win over any audience with ease. Make sure you do your research well and triple-check your sources. All that is left to do is practice. See you on the stage!

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17.3 Organizing Persuasive Speeches

Learning objectives.

Understand three common organizational patterns for persuasive speeches.
Explain the steps utilized in Monroe’s motivated sequence.
Explain the parts of a problem-cause-solution speech.
Explain the process utilized in a comparative advantage persuasive speech.

Steven Lilley – Engaged – CC BY-SA 2.0.

Previously in this text we discussed general guidelines for organizing speeches. In this section, we are going to look at three organizational patterns ideally suited for persuasive speeches: Monroe’s motivated sequence, problem-cause-solution, and comparative advantages.

Monroe’s Motivated Sequence

One of the most commonly cited and discussed organizational patterns for persuasive speeches is Alan H. Monroe’s motivated sequence. The purpose of Monroe’s motivated sequence is to help speakers “sequence supporting materials and motivational appeals to form a useful organizational pattern for speeches as a whole” (German et al., 2010).

While Monroe’s motivated sequence is commonly discussed in most public speaking textbooks, we do want to provide one minor caution. Thus far, almost no research has been conducted that has demonstrated that Monroe’s motivated sequence is any more persuasive than other structural patterns. In the only study conducted experimentally examining Monroe’s motivated sequence, the researchers did not find the method more persuasive, but did note that audience members found the pattern more organized than other methods (Micciche, Pryor, & Butler, 2000). We wanted to add this sidenote because we don’t want you to think that Monroe’s motivated sequence is a kind of magic persuasive bullet; the research simply doesn’t support this notion. At the same time, research does support that organized messages are perceived as more persuasive as a whole, so using Monroe’s motivated sequence to think through one’s persuasive argument could still be very beneficial.

Table 17.1 “Monroe’s Motivated Sequence” lists the basic steps of Monroe’s motivated sequence and the subsequent reaction a speaker desires from his or her audience.

Table 17.1 Monroe’s Motivated Sequence

The first step in Monroe’s motivated sequence is the attention step , in which a speaker attempts to get the audience’s attention. To gain an audience’s attention, we recommend that you think through three specific parts of the attention step. First, you need to have a strong attention-getting device. As previously discussed in Chapter 9 “Introductions Matter: How to Begin a Speech Effectively” , a strong attention getter at the beginning of your speech is very important. Second, you need to make sure you introduce your topic clearly. If your audience doesn’t know what your topic is quickly, they are more likely to stop listening. Lastly, you need to explain to your audience why they should care about your topic.

In the need step of Monroe’s motivated sequence, the speaker establishes that there is a specific need or problem. In Monroe’s conceptualization of need, he talks about four specific parts of the need: statement, illustration, ramification, and pointing. First, a speaker needs to give a clear and concise statement of the problem. This part of a speech should be crystal clear for an audience. Second, the speaker needs to provide one or more examples to illustrate the need. The illustration is an attempt to make the problem concrete for the audience. Next, a speaker needs to provide some kind of evidence (e.g., statistics, examples, testimony) that shows the ramifications or consequences of the problem. Lastly, a speaker needs to point to the audience and show exactly how the problem relates to them personally.

Satisfaction

In the third step of Monroe’s motivated sequence, the satisfaction step , the speaker sets out to satisfy the need or solve the problem. Within this step, Monroe (1935) proposed a five-step plan for satisfying a need:

Explanation
Theoretical demonstration
Reference to practical experience
Meeting objections

First, you need to clearly state the attitude, value, belief, or action you want your audience to accept. The purpose of this statement is to clearly tell your audience what your ultimate goal is.

Second, you want to make sure that you clearly explain to your audience why they should accept the attitude, value, belief, or action you proposed. Just telling your audience they should do something isn’t strong enough to actually get them to change. Instead, you really need to provide a solid argument for why they should accept your proposed solution.

Third, you need to show how the solution you have proposed meets the need or problem. Monroe calls this link between your solution and the need a theoretical demonstration because you cannot prove that your solution will work. Instead, you theorize based on research and good judgment that your solution will meet the need or solve the problem.

Fourth, to help with this theoretical demonstration, you need to reference practical experience, which should include examples demonstrating that your proposal has worked elsewhere. Research, statistics, and expert testimony are all great ways of referencing practical experience.

Lastly, Monroe recommends that a speaker respond to possible objections. As a persuasive speaker, one of your jobs is to think through your speech and see what counterarguments could be made against your speech and then rebut those arguments within your speech. When you offer rebuttals for arguments against your speech, it shows your audience that you’ve done your homework and educated yourself about multiple sides of the issue.

Visualization

The next step of Monroe’s motivated sequence is the visualization step , in which you ask the audience to visualize a future where the need has been met or the problem solved. In essence, the visualization stage is where a speaker can show the audience why accepting a specific attitude, value, belief, or behavior can positively affect the future. When helping people to picture the future, the more concrete your visualization is, the easier it will be for your audience to see the possible future and be persuaded by it. You also need to make sure that you clearly show how accepting your solution will directly benefit your audience.

According to Monroe, visualization can be conducted in one of three ways: positive, negative, or contrast (Monroe, 1935). The positive method of visualization is where a speaker shows how adopting a proposal leads to a better future (e.g., recycle, and we’ll have a cleaner and safer planet). Conversely, the negative method of visualization is where a speaker shows how not adopting the proposal will lead to a worse future (e.g., don’t recycle, and our world will become polluted and uninhabitable). Monroe also acknowledged that visualization can include a combination of both positive and negative visualization. In essence, you show your audience both possible outcomes and have them decide which one they would rather have.

The final step in Monroe’s motivated sequence is the action step , in which a speaker asks an audience to approve the speaker’s proposal. For understanding purposes, we break action into two distinct parts: audience action and approval. Audience action refers to direct physical behaviors a speaker wants from an audience (e.g., flossing their teeth twice a day, signing a petition, wearing seat belts). Approval, on the other hand, involves an audience’s consent or agreement with a speaker’s proposed attitude, value, or belief.

When preparing an action step, it is important to make sure that the action, whether audience action or approval, is realistic for your audience. Asking your peers in a college classroom to donate one thousand dollars to charity isn’t realistic. Asking your peers to donate one dollar is considerably more realistic. In a persuasive speech based on Monroe’s motivated sequence, the action step will end with the speech’s concluding device. As discussed elsewhere in this text, you need to make sure that you conclude in a vivid way so that the speech ends on a high point and the audience has a sense of energy as well as a sense of closure.

Now that we’ve walked through Monroe’s motivated sequence, let’s look at how you could use Monroe’s motivated sequence to outline a persuasive speech:

Specific Purpose: To persuade my classroom peers that the United States should have stronger laws governing the use of for-profit medical experiments.

Main Points:

Attention: Want to make nine thousand dollars for just three weeks of work lying around and not doing much? Then be a human guinea pig. Admittedly, you’ll have to have a tube down your throat most of those three weeks, but you’ll earn three thousand dollars a week.
Need: Every day many uneducated and lower socioeconomic-status citizens are preyed on by medical and pharmaceutical companies for use in for-profit medical and drug experiments. Do you want one of your family members to fall prey to this evil scheme?
Satisfaction: The United States should have stronger laws governing the use of for-profit medical experiments to ensure that uneducated and lower-socioeconomic-status citizens are protected.
Visualization: If we enact tougher experiment oversight, we can ensure that medical and pharmaceutical research is conducted in a way that adheres to basic values of American decency. If we do not enact tougher experiment oversight, we could find ourselves in a world where the lines between research subject, guinea pig, and patient become increasingly blurred.
Action: In order to prevent the atrocities associated with for-profit medical and pharmaceutical experiments, please sign this petition asking the US Department of Health and Human Services to pass stricter regulations on this preying industry that is out of control.

This example shows how you can take a basic speech topic and use Monroe’s motivated sequence to clearly and easily outline your speech efficiently and effectively.

Table 17.2 “Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Checklist” also contains a simple checklist to help you make sure you hit all the important components of Monroe’s motivated sequence.

Table 17.2 Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Checklist

Problem-Cause-Solution

Another format for organizing a persuasive speech is the problem-cause-solution format. In this specific format, you discuss what a problem is, what you believe is causing the problem, and then what the solution should be to correct the problem.

Specific Purpose: To persuade my classroom peers that our campus should adopt a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech.

Demonstrate that there is distrust among different groups on campus that has led to unnecessary confrontations and violence.
Show that the confrontations and violence are a result of hate speech that occurred prior to the events.
Explain how instituting a campus-wide zero-tolerance policy against hate speech could stop the unnecessary confrontations and violence.

In this speech, you want to persuade people to support a new campus-wide policy calling for zero-tolerance of hate speech. Once you have shown the problem, you then explain to your audience that the cause of the unnecessary confrontations and violence is prior incidents of hate speech. Lastly, you argue that a campus-wide zero-tolerance policy could help prevent future unnecessary confrontations and violence. Again, this method of organizing a speech is as simple as its name: problem-cause-solution.

Comparative Advantages

The final method for organizing a persuasive speech is called the comparative advantages speech format. The goal of this speech is to compare items side-by-side and show why one of them is more advantageous than the other. For example, let’s say that you’re giving a speech on which e-book reader is better: Amazon.com’s Kindle or Barnes and Nobles’ Nook. Here’s how you could organize this speech:

Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that the Nook is more advantageous than the Kindle.

The Nook allows owners to trade and loan books to other owners or people who have downloaded the Nook software, while the Kindle does not.
The Nook has a color-touch screen, while the Kindle’s screen is black and grey and noninteractive.
The Nook’s memory can be expanded through microSD, while the Kindle’s memory cannot be upgraded.

As you can see from this speech’s organization, the simple goal of this speech is to show why one thing has more positives than something else. Obviously, when you are demonstrating comparative advantages, the items you are comparing need to be functional equivalents—or, as the saying goes, you cannot compare apples to oranges.

Key Takeaways

There are three common patterns that persuaders can utilize to help organize their speeches effectively: Monroe’s motivated sequence, problem-cause-solution, and comparative advantage. Each of these patterns can effectively help a speaker think through his or her thoughts and organize them in a manner that will be more likely to persuade an audience.
Alan H. Monroe’s (1935) motivated sequence is a commonly used speech format that is used by many people to effectively organize persuasive messages. The pattern consists of five basic stages: attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and action. In the first stage, a speaker gets an audience’s attention. In the second stage, the speaker shows an audience that a need exists. In the third stage, the speaker shows how his or her persuasive proposal could satisfy the need. The fourth stage shows how the future could be if the persuasive proposal is or is not adopted. Lastly, the speaker urges the audience to take some kind of action to help enact the speaker’s persuasive proposal.
The problem-cause-solution proposal is a three-pronged speech pattern. The speaker starts by explaining the problem the speaker sees. The speaker then explains what he or she sees as the underlying causes of the problem. Lastly, the speaker proposes a solution to the problem that corrects the underlying causes.
The comparative advantages speech format is utilized when a speaker is comparing two or more things or ideas and shows why one of the things or ideas has more advantages than the other(s).
Create a speech using Monroe’s motivated sequence to persuade people to recycle.
Create a speech using the problem-cause-solution method for a problem you see on your college or university campus.
Create a comparative advantages speech comparing two brands of toothpaste.

German, K. M., Gronbeck, B. E., Ehninger, D., & Monroe, A. H. (2010). Principles of public speaking (17th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon, p. 236.

Micciche, T., Pryor, B., & Butler, J. (2000). A test of Monroe’s motivated sequence for its effects on ratings of message organization and attitude change. Psychological Reports, 86 , 1135–1138.

Monroe, A. H. (1935). Principles and types of speech . Chicago, IL: Scott Foresman.

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Problem Solution Speech Topics Ideas

Problem solution speech topics ideas should be aimed at fulfilling two aims of problem-solving:

To convey a specific problem you have chosen to reflect on;
To provide persuasive solutions to it.

How to Choose a Problem and Make the Essay Interesting

The matter of selecting a problem for discussion and critical analysis directly depends on the type of target audience you will present a paper. For instance, if the audience consists of people belonging to a specific profession or research area, then, before designing a problem-solution speech outline, it would be logical to come up with a topic connected with their area of research or the scope of their interest. There are also cases when the audience selects the topic of presentation or speech for you beforehand. If it is a general audience, then it is prudent to select topics that are controversial, appealing to the general public, or that are rather challenging, such as environmental concerns and threats, ethical dilemmas, financial aspects, crime rates in the community, international problems and challenges, and so on. With these tips in mind, you will definitely provide the best proposal speech ever.

Another method to come up with the right entertainment speech ideas is to ask the event organizer to gather ideas from the audience regarding what topics they would love to hear about and further discuss.

On the whole, whatever method of topic selection you choose, the most important thing is to make sure you have sufficient evidence and clear illustrative examples to reflect on the topic in-depth and provide convincing arguments. In any case, if you are lost among the ideas for the topic discussion, opt for one of your personal experience speech ideas.

Whatever method you use to select your problem topic, ensure that you have clear examples, convincing facts, or credible data that supports your position on the matter.

How to Find Solutions

The solutions and recommendations that you put forward should be practical and resourceful. Besides, it should be clear how exactly they can be applied to the real case you are discussing. As you are contemplating how the solution will be effective, keep in mind that your audience will be involved in their own reflection on the topic as well. So, make sure you are persuasive enough.

How to Provide Proper Support for Your Argument

Supporting examples can be related to your personal experience with the help of which you can make the argument stronger and more convincing. When critically analyzing the topic, make sure you know how much the audience knows about it. If much information is left to be explained, interpreted, and so on, make sure you do it. If there is a need to provide background information to make everything clear, then do it as well.

On the contrary, if the audience comprises experts in the scope of research you have focused on, they will surely expect more originality and novelty from you. Therefore, make sure you provide adequate problem-solving examples for your proposal paper. Generally known standard information won’t be the best option.

If the listeners are complete novices to the topic, then try to introduce them to the topic gradually. When it comes to solutions, make sure they are more related to tried and tested principles and approaches. If you are delivering a speech to an audience that is not well-versed in the topic of your proposal essay, then it is recommended to provide a detailed and clear discussion wherein you provide a solution right after each problem you mention.

Problem-solution articles can also have such a structure where you provide the causes of the issue prior to the discussion of solutions. This strategy comes in handy as concentrating on the underlying cause assists in providing more solid support for the explanations, thus providing more reliability and credibility to the solutions.

Moreover, your personal viewpoint on the central issue should be presented in the process of proposing a solution. This way, your speech will be more convincing in that you will share your experience with the people who listen to you.

Concluding your problem/solution speech, make sure you provide a brief synopsis of the core issues, particularly solutions as your audience should remember them particularly well.

The Best Problem Solution Speech Topics for College Students

Professors frequently assign problem-solution speech topics for college students either for written assignments or oral presentations. Regardless of the type of speech topics for college that you have been assigned, you need to select a topic that is of particular interest to you and your target audience. Only when you demonstrate originality in the choice of your topic will you stand out as an original speaker/ writer and will thus be more appreciated by your professor and the audience. When you want just to provide an overview of the problem, then you have to search among the list of good informative speech topics for college students. Still, when you need to demonstrate your skills in critical and analytical writing, it is recommended to organize the essay as a persuasive one.

From the persuasive writing prompts enlisted below, try to select the one that you are well versed in and that aroused the greatest deal of interest in you. Only with these two basic criteria kept in mind will you be able to provide a successfully written problem-solution persuasive paper.

A List of Problem Cause Solution Persuasive Speech Topics for College Students

The list of problem-cause solution persuasive speech topics provided below will help you come up with interesting research ideas for your speech. Take a look at the numerous options for social issues and other problems in society to write about.

The problem of spying and media leaks in international and domestic communications.
How to ensure local food movement support? Will it have a positive impact on the local entrepreneurship?
The restrictions on the exploitation of the Antarctic resources should be maintained and the Antarctic should be viewed as a preserved place merely devoted to science.
Media marketed for youths and teens convey immoral and unethical ideas.
The FBI should keep the self-proclaimed militia under scrutiny.
Tax incentives should be introduced for adopting children internationally.
Foreign help to dictatorships should be eradicated by the government.
Online learning can be equaled to classroom education in terms of its effectiveness and accessibility.
In-vitro fertilization should be prohibited.
The issue of minors getting tattoos should be more controlled by legal institutions: minors should either be accompanied by their guardians or be given written consent from them.
Dependence on ACT and SAT scores during admissions should be abolished.
Surveillance cameras should record all trials in court.
Student-athletes representing their educational establishment in competitions should be given scholarships to cover at least partial college expenses.
All students should be encouraged to enroll in foreign language courses and speaking clubs.
Usage of technological advancement in teaching.
Beauty contests in schools and colleges should be banned.
Staffed flights into space are far more expensive than unstaffed research missions.
Students should not be harshly encouraged or pushed to participate in sports competitions.
The federal government should adopt a law that standardizes trunk release systems in new transport.
Race, ethnicity, and gender equality should be supported in politics.
Mobile phone usage, texting, and Internet use in the classroom prevent students from being involved in the studying process and lower their attention span.
The usage of paperback textbooks should be eradicated and changed into e-book usage.
College students should be more cautious and prudent when posting controversial or personal information online.
The acute immigration problem will hardly ever be solved by constructing the border fence.
Cyber-attacks pose threats internationally.
Recycling should be encouraged worldwide.
The contemporary taxation system does not fairly treat lower-income and middle-income population groups.
Media advertisements targeted at children population should be banned by the government.
Oil companies should get disaster control before engaging in offshore drilling.
Feminists’ standpoint devalues family and motherhood.
The problem of identity theft is extremely aggravated and the community should pay attention to it.
Girls should be prohibited from participating in football and wrestling competitions.
Social networks do not interfere with school education.
Networks in educational establishments should have special filters to prevent students from accessing inappropriate material.
The pressing need for school system reform.
Advertisements engaging children should be restricted at the government level.
Fast food restaurants should initiate the campaign of publicly displaying calories next to each meal.
The government should release churches from tax incentives.
Patients suffering from chronic mental diseases should be preserved in “halfway houses” instead of mental hospitals.
The government should not allow the allocation of billboards on interstate highways.
Weapons should not be sold internationally across the countries.
Marriage should not be allowed before school graduation.
The role of the United Nations internationally.
The role of art and music therapy in patients’ rehabilitation.
Educated people should work as tutors of literacy on a voluntary basis in third-world countries.
People molesting children should be restricted from the right to adopt.
Psychologists and psychiatrists should witness and testify in the court of law representing the non-guilty-by-reason-of-insanity.
Security should be increased in motels and hotels as a means to guarantee security for all its residents regardless of their income.
The National Health Insurance Program is supposed to provide basic health care for all US citizens independent of their income.
The construction and building of venues before the Olympic Games should be banned by UNESCO as it harms a lot.

Evidently, the argument topics list entails current issues that are taking place in the contemporary world. To submit a successful paper, make sure to conduct in-depth research on your selected topic and create an impressive paper that will last in memory for a long.

Problem Solution Speech on the Topic of Policy Advocacy

The question of policy persuasive speech topics remains extremely acute for students because frequently they do not know where to start after they have read numerous essay samples. Particularly, students may be confused about the way of organizing information for a speech. To ease the task of writing a properly structured speech paper, check out the following recommended way of paper organization for a policy advocacy speech.

I. Introduction

Attention-grabber: you might provide some controversial fact, relate to personal experience, provide shocking/ impressive statistics, use a rhetorical question or a dramatic quote, etc. (all these devices are used for capturing attention from the target audience);

Relation to the audience: Pinpoint to how the issue under discussion relates to the target audience. Do it either implicitly or explicitly, but regardless of the option you choose, make sure the listeners understand their relation to the topic. If you have chosen to focus on a problem seriously affecting people, express your point of view on how exactly the problem influences the audience.

Credibility of the problem: Emphasize the problem’s significance and why it is worth others’ attention. Provide one or more reasons to make the audience understand why you have decided to speak on this subject area.

Preview: Provide a brief synopsis (overview) of the paper. You need to provide sufficient background information on the topic, especially if the audience is not well-versed in it. For example, you might briefly describe the problem in a few words and then switch over to focusing on the possible solutions.

II. Body: The Problem Identification and Solution Proposal

Identify the problem: Develop a paragraph where you provide an overview of the central problem. Appeal to ratio and emotion, as it is preferable to engage the reader both on an intellectual and emotional level. There are two recommended ways of problem identification and development – qualitative and quantitative.

According to the qualitative approach, you have to present argumentation for the claims that answer the following questions:

What makes me indifferent about the problem? Or why should I actually care?
How am I affected by the problem?
How serious is the issue under discussion?

To help readers understand the problem in depth, make sure to provide examples from your personal experience or provide real-life examples related to other people. This data will not make the statistics too narrow but will add more appealing details to demonstrate how serious the issue is.

According to the quantitative approach, the arguments and support you provide should be related to such questions:

How large is the problem?
How much is it widespread and what is the problem scope?

When a writer investigates the scope of the problem, the larger it is – the less detailed evidence is required.

Focus on the causes: The causes of the problem should be closely examined: provide ample evidence, examples, and recent study results. Keep in mind that not every topic requires developing the problem’s causes. Still, if you think that the causes you provide will make the audience more susceptible to trusting your viewpoint. Such an approach is used when there exist multiple opinions on causes.

Put forward the solution: When investigating the possible solution(s), make sure to organize the information in the following way:

Provide a plan: First and foremost, pinpoint the exact change in policy, law, or campaign you are suggesting. Briefly describe the step (the introduction of the new law, implementation of the new program, short synopsis of the program, etc.). The main aim at this point is to make the audience understand the kind of change you are suggesting.
Provide supporting argumentation and evidence for the suggested solutions: You should clearly pinpoint how the solution will eliminate the ongoing risks or threats caused by the pending problem. Make sure that you link supporting evidence to the plan.

Provide credible expert evidence that clearly highlights the ways the solution would reduce the burning issue: When citing outside sources and specific examples/ materials researched by scholars, make sure you tell the audience about the credentials of the researchers. Your target audience should be sure that the information you rely on can be trusted and that is it believable overall. If you provide information that even you don’t know by whom it was put forward, then your paper will have no expert value.

Results of the study: If the research included some experimental study that aimed at supporting your solution, make sure you discuss the results and interpret them properly. Provide a brief synopsis of how many people took part in the experiment/ interview/ sociological study and what the results indicate.

Empirical evidence and pilot studies: With the help of such supporting evidence, you will emphasize that the problem has solutions related to real-life events and experiences. You might also pinpoint how small changes in the localities might affect the problem in a large-scale area. Such supporting evidence is really beneficial as it indicates that the effects happened in real surroundings with real people rather than in a laboratory environment.

Personal or peer testimony: It is not recommended to use this evidence as a priority as it is rather weak on its own. Still, if you add this evidence together with the other aforementioned types, it can significantly add up to the paper’s credibility.

Address general disadvantages: When coming up with a policy change, keep in mind that it can solve the existing problem as well as create a new one. Therefore, it is advisable to outline the potential disadvantages of the problem after you have discussed its benefits and positive effects. To make your position strong, make sure to refute the counter-arguments because when you just ignore the negative aspects, the audience will not accept or perceive your solution.

III. Conclusion

Provide a short review of the persisting problem and suggested ways out. Make sure you provide a call for action at the end of the conclusive paragraph, where you provide encouraging information that will make the audience remember your paper.

Review of the problem and solution
Closing thought to encourage the audience to remember the speech.

Problem Solution Topics for Your Perfect Speech

The problem solution speech topics that you will find below will help you choose, identify, and organize the way of presenting your essay. As you select the topic, you will research it properly in order to persuade the audience that a particular problem exists and that it is possible to come up with solutions to it. Moreover, you will learn how to convince the audience and make them accept your viewpoint and maybe even change their previously existing biases regarding the issue. Before you start the topic selection process, make sure you are well aware of the core elements that are necessary in such a type of writing. Check them out:

Indicate the problem and mention specifically what factors make it an actual problem. Provide sufficient background information, pinpoint to the problem’s significance, and let the audience understand the scope of the problem and its overall effect. Make sure you appeal to reasoning and emotion: let the audience understand the needs so that it is convinced by the information you provide.
Advocate for a solution and provide a detailed plan on how it can be applied in practice.
Visualize the practical aspect of your solution. Demonstrate how the solutions will come in handy in improving the situation. Emphasize on their practical aspect and general effectiveness. Pay attention to a brief discussion of alternatives with which you do not agree. State how they are impractical and problematic. To put it briefly, you need to highlight the counterarguments and refute them.
Call to action. Convince the audience to accept your position on the change implementation of the proposed policy or campaign. Or provide an implicit call to action, wherein you make a hint on the policy change.

How to Choose a Proper Problem Solution Speech Topic

If you have been invited to deliver a speech to the public, first of all, find out who your target audience comprises in terms of professional and personal interests. Despite the solid experience you might have about the research area, the audience may not find interest in your topic if it is not adjacent to their scope of interest. Therefore, be cautious when coming up with the topic of your speech or presentation. If the type of your speech has to be structured in the form of a problem-solution paper, then make sure to identify the burning issue, investigate questions and opinions concerning it, and also identify the controversy behind the issue.

When thinking of which topic might be interested in writing about, ask yourself the following questions:

What would you like to talk about (here choose more than one option).
How do you think – will your potential audience like the topic of your choice? Explain your viewpoint.
How long do you plan to talk? Is your chosen topic sufficient for this type of presentation?
What are your personal opinions and biases regarding the problem?
Which topic are you most interested in? Which topic would be easy to talk about?
After you have explored the professional realms of your listeners, think of the most topical problems pertaining to the topic.
Think of whether you can provide personal experience examples or share your personal goals.

List of Speech Topics for Problem-Solution Presentation

Business area: work surroundings; career goals; bankruptcy; corporate ethics; abuse in marketing.

Teaching and education: peer pressure at school; cheating during exams; online learning versus classroom learning; education at home; sex education at school; internship opportunities.

Environmental aspects: climate change; global warming; alternative sources of energy; depletion of natural resources.

Nourishment and health: food labeling; diets and how to maintain healthy eating; problems of mentally ill people; health care in third-world countries; being vegetarian.

Politics and global issues: spying; international threats; problems with overpopulation.

Legislation and issues in the court of law: punishment for child molesters; drunk driving; frequency of juvenile aggression and delinquency; immigration and fence borders; tax incentives on church property.

Social problems: dealing with the homeless; sexual abuse; domestic violence; the effect of divorce on families; peer pressure; bullying; self-esteem; wage levels; teen drinking; gambling; discrimination on racial, ethnic, and gender backgrounds.

So far, you have a brief list of possible problem-solving essay topics. You may choose some of them for discussion or maybe they will inspire you to choose some other topic to reflect on. To properly develop the topics, make sure to examine them more closely and find some adjacent areas to them. Also thoroughly examine the dimensions of each topic investigation.

Ask yourself the following questions:

What aspects of the problem have already been researched? Why have some been omitted?
How could one describe the existing obstacles to solving the problem?
How long does the problem persist?
What are the costs needed for problem-solving?
Will the problem aggravate if no measures are taken?
Should the problem be immediately addressed?
Has your target audience in particular been affected by your selected problem? In what way?
What supporting evidence could you provide to emphasize the importance of the problem?
What argumentation can you provide to demonstrate that your solutions are right and worth attention?
What facts/ figures/ supporting evidence could help the target audience understand the issue more comprehensively?

Working on the Solution

Write down all potential and alternative solutions. Keep in mind various aspects, merits, and features that could convince the audience to accept your standpoint. Investigate figures and facts; provide illustrations and real-life examples as support for your solutions. Do it consistently, step-by-step for each of the proposed solutions.
Choose the most important and effective solution to the existing problem. Pinpoint to how your solution plan can be applied in practice. Refer to outside sources; cite credible sources; consult sources written by experts in their field of study.
Devise a step-by-step implementation plan for each of the suggested solutions. Recommend specific procedures. Investigate the cost, effect, and necessary actions.
Call to action; time and place.
Other required constituents for the implementation of the plan.

If your listeners comprise people from different educational backgrounds or various professional spheres, then the decisive factor for choosing the topic should lie in choosing the topic that is most topical for the majority. Another option is to come up with a topic that presumably meets the needs of the bulk of the audience. If all of your listeners are well aware of the problem, then pay more attention to the fact of how much the topic is workable and reasonable. If you want to provide counter-arguments for the change policy campaign, then focus on the probable limitations and drawbacks of the policy.

How to Provide an Outline for a Problem Solution Speech

Below you will find the most appropriate methods for developing problem-solution topics:

Problem Solution Method

This strategy is advisable if you have chosen a contemporary social problem and have to convince the audience that your solution is the best one among those that have been previously provided. As such, provide a proper introduction where you entail sufficient background information in order to pinpoint the problem’s significance. Afterward, list the most appropriate situations and conditions that might serve as supporting evidence for justifying your position. Present a clearly defined plan for solving the problem.

Problem Cause Solution Method

This strategy is the most appropriate for solution topics. Here you need to single out the problem and investigate its causes. Further, you have to provide a critical analysis of the causes and put forward adequate solutions.

Problem Cause-Effect Method

This strategy comes in handy when outlining the aftermath of your problem-cause topic.

Comparative Advantage Method

You need to compare and contrast the identified solutions to the problem outlined.

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M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
B.A., History, Armstrong State University

The purpose of a persuasive speech is to convince your audience to agree with an idea or opinion that you present. First, you'll need to choose a side on a controversial topic, then you will write a speech to explain your position, and convince the audience to agree with you.

You can produce an effective persuasive speech if you structure your argument as a solution to a problem. Your first job as a speaker is to convince your audience that a particular problem is important to them, and then you must convince them that you have the solution to make things better.

Note: You don't have to address a real problem. Any need can work as the problem. For example, you could consider the lack of a pet, the need to wash one's hands, or the need to pick a particular sport to play as the "problem."

As an example, let's imagine that you have chosen "Getting Up Early" as your persuasion topic. Your goal will be to persuade classmates to get themselves out of bed an hour earlier every morning. In this instance, the problem could be summed up as "morning chaos."

A standard speech format has an introduction with a great hook statement, three main points, and a summary. Your persuasive speech will be a tailored version of this format.

Before you write the text of your speech, you should sketch an outline that includes your hook statement and three main points.

Writing the Text

The introduction of your speech must be compelling because your audience will make up their minds within a few minutes whether or not they are interested in your topic.

Before you write the full body you should come up with a greeting. Your greeting can be as simple as "Good morning everyone. My name is Frank."

After your greeting, you will offer a hook to capture attention. A hook sentence for the "morning chaos" speech could be a question:

How many times have you been late for school?
Does your day begin with shouts and arguments?
Have you ever missed the bus?

Or your hook could be a statistic or surprising statement:

More than 50 percent of high school students skip breakfast because they just don't have time to eat.
Tardy kids drop out of school more often than punctual kids.

Once you have the attention of your audience, follow through to define the topic/problem and introduce your solution. Here's an example of what you might have so far:

Good afternoon, class. Some of you know me, but some of you may not. My name is Frank Godfrey, and I have a question for you. Does your day begin with shouts and arguments? Do you go to school in a bad mood because you've been yelled at, or because you argued with your parent? The chaos you experience in the morning can bring you down and affect your performance at school.

Add the solution:

You can improve your mood and your school performance by adding more time to your morning schedule. You can accomplish this by setting your alarm clock to go off one hour earlier.

Your next task will be to write the body, which will contain the three main points you've come up with to argue your position. Each point will be followed by supporting evidence or anecdotes, and each body paragraph will need to end with a transition statement that leads to the next segment. Here is a sample of three main statements:

Bad moods caused by morning chaos will affect your workday performance.
If you skip breakfast to buy time, you're making a harmful health decision.
(Ending on a cheerful note) You'll enjoy a boost to your self-esteem when you reduce the morning chaos.

After you write three body paragraphs with strong transition statements that make your speech flow, you are ready to work on your summary.

Your summary will re-emphasize your argument and restate your points in slightly different language. This can be a little tricky. You don't want to sound repetitive but will need to repeat what you have said. Find a way to reword the same main points.

Finally, you must make sure to write a clear final sentence or passage to keep yourself from stammering at the end or fading off in an awkward moment. A few examples of graceful exits:

We all like to sleep. It's hard to get up some mornings, but rest assured that the reward is well worth the effort.
If you follow these guidelines and make the effort to get up a little bit earlier every day, you'll reap rewards in your home life and on your report card.

Tips for Writing Your Speech

Don't be confrontational in your argument. You don't need to put down the other side; just convince your audience that your position is correct by using positive assertions.
Use simple statistics. Don't overwhelm your audience with confusing numbers.
Don't complicate your speech by going outside the standard "three points" format. While it might seem simplistic, it is a tried and true method for presenting to an audience who is listening as opposed to reading.
How to Write a Persuasive Essay
5 Tips on How to Write a Speech Essay
Tips on How to Write an Argumentative Essay
Writing an Opinion Essay
How To Write an Essay
5 Steps to Writing a Position Paper
How to Structure an Essay
Ethos, Logos, Pathos for Persuasion
What Is Expository Writing?
Audience Analysis in Speech and Composition
Definition and Examples of Analysis in Composition
100 Persuasive Speech Topics for Students
What an Essay Is and How to Write One
How to Write a Good Thesis Statement
100 Persuasive Essay Topics
How to Write a Graduation Speech as Valedictorian

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Writing a persuasive speech
Persuasive speech outline

Persuasive speech outline example

-an outline using Monroe's 5 step Motivated Sequence

By: Susan Dugdale

This persuasive speech outline example uses Monroe's Motivated Sequence (MMS) - a 5 step structural pattern for organizing material focusing on, as its name suggests, motivational appeals.

The sequence forms the basis of many of the successful political, public awareness or advertising campaigns you see and hear around you on a daily basis.

For example: campaigns to raise awareness of health issues: The Heart Truth, NDAFW - National Drugs and Alcohol Facts Week, or STOMP Out Bullying. *

Why is the framework so popular? Because it faithfully follows the psychology of persuasion. In a nutshell, it works. Exceedingly well.

Use the quick links to get around this very long page efficiently. Each of the five steps is fully explained and illustrated in an example speech outline. There's a printable MMS speech outline document for your own use too!

Page quick links

Step overview
Step 1 - Attention
Step 2 - Need
Step 3 - Satisfaction
Step 4 - Visualization
Step 5 - Action
Download blank outline template

More persuasive speech resources

Image: A diagram showing the 5 steps of Monroe's Motivated Sequence.

About Monroe's Motivated Sequence

Alan H Monroe - originator of Monroe's Motivated Sequence

The pattern, or steps, of the sequence mirror those identified as being the normal thinking processes that occur whenever a person is confronted by a problem.

Because the steps are perceived as reasonable and logical using them prepares and motivates an audience to respond positively to the speaker's message.

The sequence is named after Dr Alan H Monroe who, after graduating from Northwestern University in 1924, joined the staff at Purdue University (USA) as an Instructor in English. Two years later he became Instructor in Public Speaking and was subsequently promoted to Assistant Professor and head of the speech section of the English department. He retired from the role in 1963.

Overview of Monroe's 5 step motivation sequence

In developing your persuasive speech outline you will follow these 5 steps:

Attention Grab the audience's attention
Need Establish there is a problem (need) demanding their attention
Satisfaction Outline a solution to the problem
Visualization Show the audience how they will benefit from your solution
Action Provide the impetus and means to act

Monroe's five steps in more detail

Now let's examine those steps more closely.

To make the process easier to follow I've prepared a simple example speech illustrating each step and the transitions between them. That's the text in the green boxes.

As you read start thinking about your audience and your topic. Jot any ideas down for later use.

About this sample speech - topic, purpose and audience

The subject is fear of public speaking.

The specific purpose of the speech is to persuade and encourage people in the audience to take a course to overcome their fear of public speaking.

The central idea of the speech is that the ability to speak in public opens doors to many opportunities.

The audience is drawn from the local community. They range in age from late teens to forties plus.

The 5 steps of Monroe's motivation sequence

Getting attention - step 1.

Monroes Motived Sequence -Step 1 Attention

This step is your introductory "listen up" call. To make it effective it needs to grab the audience. It could be any of the following:

a startling statement
a rhetorical question
a quotation
a funny story
a dramatic story
a photograph or other visual aid

Put yourself in the position of your audience when deciding how to hook and hold their attention. Why should they listen to you? How does what you have to say benefit them? Is it relevant to them? How?

Step one - attention

Do you know the real costs of public speaking fear?

The price is high.

Research reveals that a person with public speaking fear is 10% less likely to graduate from college, is likely to receive 10% less in wages and is 15% less likely to take on management or leadership positions.

Who pays? You. Me. Us. Anybody who allows fear to govern their decision making. We pay by sacrificing our potential selves, putting our dreams away and settling for less.

Establishing credibility

As well as getting their attention you also need to establish your credibility or right to talk on the subject. Your audience needs to know that they can believe what you're telling them. If they feel they can trust your expertise and experience they will be much more likely to follow your lead.

Credibility statement

That’s a question I asked myself a long time ago. As a teacher with many years of experience I saw far too many students who would do anything they could to avoid public speaking. To answer it I researched.

Then I used those answers to devise public speaking programs that were effective and fun.

Transition - the link from step 1 to step 2

Can you imagine the positive impact feeling OK about speaking up would have? On individuals? On families? On our community?

E stablish the need - step 2

This step develops the need for change. Now that you have your audience's attention you will clearly show them what the problem is and the extent of it.

To be effective use:

examples to illustrate how it impacts on them - their happiness, future, health, family, neighborhood...
statistics - facts, figures, graphs, diagrams... Remember to cite your sources and remember too that some are more credible than others. You need recognized sources to give your speech the credibility you want.
expert witness testimony - the more authoritative, the better

Your goal at the conclusion of this step is to have your audience eager to hear your solution. They agree with you that there is a problem and want the answer.

Step two – Need

A. According to frequently cited statistics 75% of people suffer from some degree of glossophobia - fear of speaking in public. Source: Hamilton, C. (2008) [2005]. Communicating for Results, a Guide for Business and the Professions (eighth edition)

At the extreme upper end of this very large group are the people who would literally run a mile rather than speak. For example, they will not apply for promotions if the new position means giving presentations. They will not give a speech at a special family occasion - a wedding, birthday or funeral. Public speaking makes them ill, literally. There maybe quite a few of you here, so you’ll know exactly what I mean.
At the other end of the scale are the people who have one or two butterflies fluttering around – enough to make them register they’re a little nervous about speaking but it’s nothing to worry about. There’s likely not so many of you here. If you have come along, it’s probably to support someone who needs it! Thank you.
The majority of us are somewhere in the middle where it’s neither all fine nor all bad. Some days are OK. We manage. And some days it’s definitely not OK. We just hang in there by the skin of our chattering teeth.

B. Bad public speaking experiences often lead to more of the same. History repeats.

We focus on the criticism we received and interpret it as a criticism of ourselves. Our speech is bad therefore I am bad. This makes a shaky platform to build public speaking skills and confidence on.
When given a presentation to prepare we procrastinate because we don’t feel confident or competent. That means we don’t put the work in which in turn leads to another bad experience. It becomes a vicious circle.
When we feel ashamed about ourselves we often close off. We don’t ask for help and it becomes easier to expect less of ourselves and our lives.
Here's those stats again. According to Franklin Schneier, MD, s omeone with public speaking fear is likely to receive 10% less in wages, be 10% more likely to drop out of college and be 15% less likely to apply for leadership or management roles.

C. Begins in youth.

“The fear of public speaking is more common in younger patients as compared to older ones and may be more prevalent in females as compared to males,” says Jeffrey R. Strawn, MD, FAACAP, associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics and director of the Anxiety Disorders Research Program in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Cincinnati.
More than 75% of people experience their first symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder which often includes fear of public speaking during their childhood or early teenage years - American Psychiatric Association. (2014). Understanding Mental Disorders
Let’s conduct a quick informal survey to test that– raise your hand if any anxiety you feel about public speaking began when you were young.

Transition - the link between step 2 and step 3

However there is a way to break this pattern of anxiety. It can be stopped, and everyone who wants to can learn to speak in public confidently.

S atisfy the need - step 3

Monroes Motived Sequence -Step 3 Satisfaction

Now you outline your answer or solution and show the audience how it will work.

To do this well:

outline your solution succinctly
demonstrate how it meets the problem
use examples to show how effective it is
support with facts, figures, graphs, diagrams, statistics, testimony...
if there is known opposition to your solution, acknowledge and counteract showing how your plan overturns it

The ideal outcome of this step is the audience nodding and saying to themselves: " Yes. This is possible, practical and sensible." Your answer satisfies them. It gives them "satisfaction".

Step three - Satisfaction

A. Come along to an introductory course

It's free, led by experienced teachers and especially designed for people with a history of being nervous about speaking in public.
Once a week for 4 weeks you'll have 2 hours of practical public speaking training and practice.
You'll learn tips and tricks to manage your anxiety, to give varying types of presentations, to effectively structure a speech, and to confidently deliver a speech.

B. When people overcome fear of public speaking there are so many things they can do:

Complete their college education and go on to further study if they wanted to
Apply for the positions they know would give them greater work satisfaction
Speak up when they need to about issues concerning themselves, their family and their community
Inspire others to follow their example

C. Exchanging public speaking fear for confidence will help people to:

Communicate more effectively
Listen more carefully to others
Understand the power of the spoken word and what it can achieve

Transition - the link between step 3 and step 4

Can you imagine the positive impact that would have on people’s lives? Maybe yours?

S ee the future - step 4

Monroes Motived Sequence -Step 4 Visualization

In this step the audience "experiences" the solution. They see (feel, hear, taste...) what will happen if they do as you are suggesting contrasted against what will happen if they don't do as you are suggesting.

This step relies on your use of vivid imagery to portray the outcome of their action, or inaction. They see and feel the pleasure, or pain, in their imagination. To bring it home to your audience the pictures you provide, the stories you tell, need to be relevant and believable.

What you want folk thinking as you conclude this step is: "I can see that this would be good for me."

Step four - Visualization

A. Imagine what society would be like if everyone took full advantage of the educational opportunities that best fitted their interests and abilities. How would that feel?

There would be much less personal dissatisfaction and social unrest caused by people working in positions that do not pay very well or extend their skills and well being. That would be much more healthy: physically, emotionally and mentally, for everybody. You could ask for a raise! Apply for that job you always wanted! Give a presentation! Toast your bride!
It would generate a ripple effect. People who speak up confidently and competently encourage others to do likewise. People would feel empowered – free to become the best of themselves - shoulders back, head up, standing tall, looking the world straight in the eye!

B. What disadvantages could there possibly be?

Perhaps it could uncomfortable for those who have got used to assuming the right to talk for others without consultation. Is that really a bad thing?
Perhaps it could lead to robust conversations where there are differing opinions over issues? Again, is that a bad thing? It could be an opportunity to polish debating skills.
There are no real disadvantages! Overcoming public speaking fear is good for everyone. A win-win.

Transition - the link from step 4 to step 5

Let’s do more than imagine speaking in public freely and competently. Let’s take the steps towards making it happen.

T ake action - step 5

In this last step you present your call to action.

The call to action can be embedded in any combination of the following:

a challenge or appeal
a personal statement of intent

To be effective the action step must be readily doable and executed as soon as possible. Make it as easy as you can for your audience. If you want them to sign up for something, have the forms available. If you wish them to lodge a personal protest in writing to your local government have stock letters and envelopes ready. In other words do the leg work for them!

Action steps that are delayed even for 48 hours are less likely to be acted on. We're human - life goes on. Other things intervene and the initial urgency is lost.

Step five – Action

A. (Summary) Apparently 3/4 of us – 75%, are nervous about public speaking – often the result of a bad experience when were young. That has a direct impact on our adult lives. If we allow it to continue it is likely we will be paid less, fall out of college without graduating and settle for less-challenging jobs. In short – live a lesser life. However it doesn’t have to be like that. We could choose to change. We could become our bigger and best selves.

B. (Call to Immediate Action)

We could, in the famous words of Susan Jeffers, "Feel the fear and do it anyway!"

I’ve got enrollment forms here for that free introductory public speaking course. That’s four two hour sessions over the next four weeks using tried, tested and proven methods of teaching with experienced instructors. You’ll learn how to prepare and deliver speeches. And you'll swap fear for confidence and competence while having fun!

C. (Memorable Close) Who knows what magic may happen once you speak up!

There are 15 places available. Make one of them yours.

Sources/references

Rosemary Black. (2018, June 4) Glossophobia (Fear of Public Speaking): Are You Glossophobic? Retrieved from https://www.psycom.net/glossophobia-fear-of-public-speaking
Franklin Schneier. (2005) Social Anxiety Disorder. Retrieved from: http://www.columbia.edu/itc/hs/medical/psychmed2/3_2005/Schneier-SocialAnxietyDisorderBW.pdf
Author and date of publication unknown. Social Anxiety Disorder. Retrieved from: http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/conditions/social-anxiety-disorder
Doug Staneart. (2018, March). Podcast 29 - How to Scare the Gooey Out of a Nervous Public Speaker. Retrieved from: https://www.fearlesspresentations.com/how-to-scare-the-gooey-out-of-a-new-public-speaker/

F itting the standard speech format

If you are wondering how these 5 steps of Monroe's Motivated Sequence fit into the standard 3 part speech format , they go like this:

Step 1 ( Attention ) forms the Introduction.
Steps 2, 3 and 4 ( Need, Satisfaction and Visualization ) form the Body.
Step 5 ( Action ) is the Conclusion.

Download a persuasive speech outline template

And now download printable blank ready-to-complete Monroe's Motivated Sequence persuasive speech outline template . You'll find the entire 5 step process laid out clearly, ready for you to fill in the gaps.

A sample persuasive speech

Round image - drawing of a child holding a balloon with the word hope inside it.

Want to read a persuasive speech example ?

This example speech ("After they're gone") follows the sequence outlined on this page.

Before you click through to it you should know the topic is somber; the impact of suicide on family and friends. I wrote it to persuade those in need to seek and accept help and to raise awareness of the issues around suicide.

Persuasive speech topics

Maybe you haven't found the persuasive speech topic you want yet? Check these pages:

- 100 great persuasive speech ideas

- 50 good persuasive speech topics

- 205 fun persuasive speech topics

- 309 'easy' persuasive speech topics

- 310 persuasive speech topics for college

- 108 feminist persuasive speech topics

Communication coach Alex Lyon explains

If you'd like more on Monroe's Motivated Sequence here's a great video with excellent examples from communication coach Alex Lyons.

And lastly, here's the links to those campaigns I mentioned at the top of the page: The Heart Truth , National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week (NDAFW) and STOMP Out Bullying .

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253 Easy Problem Solution Speech Topics for 2024

Well, here’s the good news: those pesky problem and solution essays can be way better. All you need is an easy topic.

Here’s even better news: we’ve already compiled a list of 253 simple problem solution speech and essay topics for you.

🎓 Topics for College Students
🗣 Speech Topics
📝 Essay Topics
💊 Solutions

✅ Problem Solution Speech Examples

📍 problem-solution speech topics 2024.

How to deal with school bullying?
Air pollution: sources, effects, and prevention measures.
What are the efficient ways of dealing with cyberbullying?
Google’s corporate strategy, problems, and solutions.
Better education for special needs children.
What measures can be implemented to tame the problem of homelessness?
How to incorporate healthy eating habits into your daily routine?
How to improve teacher’s performance and development?
Steps to improve healthcare organizations.
Best methods to educate the public about the most common health issues.
Ways to improve communication between schools and the community .
How can child obesity in the United States be solved?
How can lean project management improve developmental activities?
Climate change: impact and possible solutions .
How to reduce drunk driving incidents to a minimum.

🔧 Problem-Solution Speech. Manual

You might be wondering what a problem-solution is?

If you have never heard of such a term before, it should still be pretty straightforward that it deals with solving problems.

This article is created specifically for people who need a little extra inspiration and guidance in creating a problem solution speech or essay.

We will start with an overview of several vital aspects. 👇

Challenges of Problem Solution Speech Topics

What do we have to deal with when talking about problem solution topics in the first place?

Problem-solution scenario appears to play an essential role in the modern world. It finds application in various areas of our lives, especially in business, education, and government-related fields.
It is more than just sharing the view. The main aim of any problem-solution speech is to encourage the audience to take some action or support a particular idea.

Turn off the tap while brushing your teeth!

Defining the problem clearly. You should gather enough evidence to prove that the issue is quite severe and needs attendance immediately.
Everyone should be able to understand the details. Your speech needs to be comprehensive, and its central idea – easy to grasp.
Are people aware of your problem? Do they all realize its seriousness? There should be a short introduction if your target audience doesn’t understand the relevance of the topic.
Research your listeners. Your main goal is to gain audience support – be aware of all the biases they are susceptible to. Find counterarguments to their opposing arguments.
Creating convincing arguments. However, this issue should be discussed separately since every topic needs a personalized approach.
Don’t forget to use a reasonable tone and respect your audience. Being polite and open to criticism is essential for your reputation as a serious author.

Strategies for Creative Problem Solving

You already picked a problem?

Here are helpful solution options you need to know.

The most important thing is to make the solution practical and effective.

Suggest adding something to the existing problem . For example, many social and cultural issues would be resolved if they received additional funding or staff. The opposite approach might be as practical – removing the source of the problem. So, it’s not an issue anymore.
Creating and enforcing specific rules or laws. It might be applied in various areas, especially in the governmental field of work and education.
Educate and motivate people. Some of the main reasons for existing social and health problems are that people are not aware of what they should do or simply lack motivation. It appears to be the focus of campaigns against drugs, smoking, and alcohol.
Offer to make some changes in the method . It sometimes happens that a specific instrument does not work for everyone, so it should be changed. Another example is implementing successful marketing campaigns for various products.
Probably the current leadership and strategy do not work. In human resources, education, and any area that needs a problem solution, this strategy might be the most effective.

Problem and Solution Text Structure

The structure of any problem-solution speech or presentation is relatively universal. Even though there are two main types of outline used, the components tend to stay the same.

You should always introduce the situation , helping your listeners understand the problem’s background. Then, you should define the issue itself , explaining its urgency and significance. After that, it is time to present your solution . In the end, there is usually a quick overview of the speech and a call for action .

The methods for outlining your problem solution speech are known for those who have experience in writing essays:

The block method divides your speech into sections according to the categories. That is, first, you state all problems you have to address. Then make a short transition paragraph. Only then explain the solutions for the issues you discussed previously.

Block Method structure of a problem-solution speech.

The chain method has the same main components but is different in structure. Each time you talk about a problem, you need to discuss a solution. Therefore, if you want to address three issues, there should be three parts of the main body solving each problem at a time.

Chain Method structure of a problem-solution speech.

🎓 Problem Solution Speech Topics for College Students

Now, let’s get to the examples of the most relevant issues of today:

How to prevent the increase in temperatures predicted to reach a dangerous point by the year 2100?
How poverty causes crime, and is there a way to deal with it?
What are the causes and possible solutions to India’s increasing death toll related to low air quality?
How to take China out of the risk of losing the economy’s growth in the next several decades?
How can the problem of posing education be solved?
Total factor productivity: the issues with evaluating India’s output that shows productivity growth.
Stagnating productivity as the cause of the unequal distribution of the world’s wealth. What are the solutions?
Green Construction as an answer to environmental challenges.
How to prevent the unemployment rates from increasing due to artificial intelligence development?
How to achieve team cohesion?
Technology as a threat to privacy and ways to deal with the problem?
Best ways to address the health needs of an aging population.
Webster University’s problems and solutions.
How to protect societies from health issues related to overeating and low physical activity?
The causes of air pollution and possible solutions.
Practical solutions for the rising demand for talented employees in the STEM areas and lack of candidates.
Is the driverless vehicle a solution to the high rates of death in the crushes on the roadways?
Architecture and urbanism: how can more ecological and equitable cities be built with the latest technologies?
How to improve your teamwork performance?
What are the ways to reduce the cases of domestic violence in our society?
Human genomes : how to avoid mistakes made while implementing any intelligence and lifespan enhancement tools?
What are the most effective strategies suitable for diagnosing, treating, and preventing drug-resistant infections from becoming a threat?
A step towards resolving financial issues facing U.S. higher education.
Global development: how should the latest technologies in health, education, and nutrition be distributed among societies?
Which strategies for dealing with epidemics and preparation methods can help prevent future global outbreaks?
Technical urban planning : how should it be improved so that developing cities can find better solutions to increased global carbon emissions?

🎤 Easy Problem Solution Speech Topics

Someone may find these issues trifling, but try to solve them 😊

How the lack of self-confidence affects your life and ways to deal with it.
The problem of fast fashion and ways to deal with it.
The problem of sexual assault and possible solutions.
Mental health problems: how can an open discussion be encouraged in our society?
The challenges of consumerism culture and ways to solve them.
Why do so many people face an existential crisis , and are there any ways to deal with the issue?
What are the right ways to resolve the ethical issue of advertising a harmful product?
How has texting affected face-to-face communication, and what are the possible solutions to the problem?
How can music prevent insomnia and improve your sleeping habits?
How informal organization creates problems for managers, and how can these issues be redressed?
Is including sex education in the program as a complete course can help to prevent early pregnancy?
Can becoming a volunteer solve the self-confidence problem?
Gender-specific bathrooms: what is a better way to prevent sexual assaults?
Excluding all the personal information details from the CV to reduce job market discrimination.
How does donating and recycling clothes help with the world poverty issue?
Student parking problem and ways to deal with it .
What are the best ways to reduce stress and anxiety?
Open discussions and effective communication at the workplace as the ultimate problem-solving approach .
Some universities are not as diverse as others. How can a college attract students from various backgrounds?
Social fatigue: how can spending some time alone help fight it?
Best ways to address various academic and learning challenges.
Educating couples about proper budgeting as the way to prevent money-related conflicts.
Reducing stress from social activity by planning daily routine.
Legalizing medical marijuana : issues and solutions.
The effect of social media on adolescents and possible interventions to limit the negative outcomes .
Why is implementing a vegetarian diet one of the best ways to fight obesity?
Psychological and physiological reasons why chewing gum helps with smoking addiction .
Risks of medical tourism and some possible solutions .
Consumption of a specific amount of red wine as a way to help with stomach ulcers.
Contradictory but effective solution: taking selfies to boost self-confidence .
How well does online video chatting help sustain an excellent long-distance relationship ?
How can online fundraising campaigns help even more people in need?
Do newspapers switching to online bases helps to reduce waste?
Paper and reusable bags as an easy way to help reduce plastic waste.
How strict should be water filtration rules to reduce water pollution?
Planting trees as a way to deal with deforestation.
Walking as the means of solving both pollution and health issues.
How to better prepare students for adult life in the USA.
How does setting up more drinking fountains help with reducing plastic pollution ?
What are the ways to increase attendance at sports events?

🍭 Problem Solution Persuasive Speech Topics

The persuasive approach is mainly different from the other with the tone of your speech. It needs to be encouraging and trustworthy enough so that your audience accepts your idea. In case you wonder what are the best problem solution persuasive speech topics, here are some examples:

How to get at least eight hours of sleep every day, and why is it an issue?
The strategies to stop the increased consumption of sugar that leads to obesity.
The problem of school counseling: why do Professional School Counselors Need to Pay Attention to Ethics?
The ways to avoid the negative influence of hate towards religions on societies.
How to introduce more gender-neutral concepts to the job market.
Teaching gender and equal rights at schools to help decrease gender-related social issues .
Paper recycling as a way to deal with environmental issues.
Internships for all college students as the solution to high unemployment rates.
More frequent evaluation of teachers as the way to fix educational issues.
Social media regulated by university administration: putting an end to suicides .
Resistance to change in organizations: problems and solutions .
Introducing intercultural studies and foreign language classes at school to fight biases.
New technologies: the ways to encourage people to start reading books .
The problem of expensive education: why should community colleges be free?
The necessity to implement cyber courts to help with the issue of cyberbullying.
The ways that science and religion can co-exist to reduce worldwide conflicts.
Allowing students to make jokes in class as a way to make education more engaging.
Can going online improve the existing education system?
Saving endangered species: can the government’s involvement help to solve the problem?
Having a pet as a way to deal with emotional stress and anxiety for college students.
How can cultural diversity benefit the business?
How do we prevent job discrimination related to race and religion?
Free professional help for divorced people as a means to prevent serious psychological issues .
How can listening to sad songs help people release their emotions when they are upset?
The difficulties of learning: how can music improve your academic performance?
Radical solutions: legalizing marijuana as a way of preventing crimes related to drugs.
Allowing people with tattoos to get any job helps increase tolerance and empathy.
Psychology: the art of being happy as a mandatory class in colleges for increasing mental health.
Learning a second language as a way toward self-improvement.
Strict policy regarding dating at the workplace as the means to prevent conflicts.
Practical strategies for fighting and elevating poverty around the globe.

✨ Problem Cause Solution Speech Topics

Problem-cause-solution speech is a very effective way to persuade your audience that you are a reliable expert. It requires you to analyze the causes of the issue in detail and come up with the best solution!

The leading causes of binge drinking on college campuses and the ways to eliminate it.
What are the decisive reasons for the high car accident rate, and how do we decrease it?
Causes of global warming and possible ways of solving the problem .
Why are so many prisons getting overcrowded , and what is the most humane solution?
Inflation and high cost of living : how to find the solution to those problems?
The evaluation system for teachers as the means of improving the quality of school education.
The problem of school dropouts and possible interventions.
What are the leading causes of sex education failure in school, and how to fix it?
Why are we so dependent on fossil fuels, and how do we solve this issue?
What causes truancy, and how to deal with it?
Reducing the use of plastic as a way to solve some of the environmental problems.
What is contributing to the current obesity epidemic , and how do we stop it?
The reasons some people are dependent on prescription drugs and ways to solve them.
Why did London’s new ambulance service fail, and how can the issue be resolved?
Engage college students to become more politically active as a way to raise political consciousness.
The problem of personal vs. private privacy and ways to solve it.
The problem of toxic relationships and ways to solve it.
What causes violence on social media, and what are the best ways to deal with it?
Why are many long-distance relationships unsuccessful, and what are the ways to change that?
Communities: why have we stopped getting along with neighbors, and what are the solutions?
Kodak company’s strategic issue and solution.
What causes so many teenagers to fall into depression, and how can family and teachers help to solve this issue?
The leading causes of athletes using steroids in sports, and how can we stop it?
What causes air pollution, and how to deal with it?
Why do some teens keep dropping out of school , and how can it be prevented?
How should we educate parents about controlling their child’s social media use, and why is that a problem at all?
How do parents shape children’s understanding of relationships and ways to avoid bad influences and scenarios?
Amazon Local Company’s failure: reasons and ways to fix it.
Hackers can attack digital transactions. What are the ways to keep them safe?
The main reasons for information overload and how should people avoid it?

📝 Problem Solution Essay Topics for Business

Marketing ROI: the problem of ROI assessment and the potential solutions.
How to avoid labor exploitation.
What are the responsible management challenges and solutions for the B.P. company?
The issue of youth unemployment and possible solutions.
How should companies audit their policies to ensure they discourage, rather than encourage, discrimination among workers ?
H.R. portfolio of evidence: project management and problem-solving techniques.
How to effectively avoid social problems in a workplace.
How do you deal with the problem of alcoholism at work?
How to avoid sexual harassment in the workplace?
Ways to deal with the company’s global communication problems.
How to deal with the food prices increase?
How can a company maintain a good conflict-resolution strategy?
Ways to avoid bankruptcy.
Classic Airlines marketing problems and possible solutions.
The problem of monopolization in America : can a small business survive?
Ways to improve employees’ satisfaction.
How to incorporate problem-solving into marketing.
How can Amazon Company’s ethical problems and challenges be resolved?
Gender pay-gap issue in the U.S. and possible solutions.
Ways to solve management problems in the tourism and hospitality industry

💭 Problem Solution Essay Topics 2024

Let’s see which 2024 problems are the most relevant so that you can use them as a problem solution essay topic:

Is relying on COVID-19 vaccines the right strategy to fight the world pandemic?
University education: problems and possible ways to improve?
Accepting the new normal or fighting for the old normal: which is more effective for stopping the outbreak?
Employing a diverse workforce: challenges and solutions.
How do we help the most vulnerable communities during the COVID-19 outbreak?
How to cultivate respect for other cultures?
Learning issues in the public school system and ways to improve the condition.
Climate change : is being prepared for the effects a better solution than trying to prevent it?
What are the ways in which digital giants can improve to avoid information breaches and exposure?
Innovative strategies to make big cities more equal and less divided for their citizens.
How using renewable resources can help deal with climate change?
How do migrants affect public health systems, and what should we do about it?
How can we help small-scale farmers with adaptation to climate change?
What are the best leadership styles that can contribute to the business’s success during COVID-19?
The new ways to fact-check information online and prevent dangerous rumors.
Restation of local economies by helping small businesses and encouraging young talents.
Interdisciplinary studying: benefits, challenges, and solutions.
Right and effective leadership as a way of achieving sustainable development goals.
How can international collaboration for every country help to achieve carbon neutrality?
Cloud services for businesses: issues, benefits, and possible solutions .
What are the ways to reduce the number of tobacco consumption?
The U.N. and multilateralism : how can we achieve more by working together as humanity?
How can market analysis benefit the company?
How can we help cultural cohesion and stop fragmentation by avoiding multiculturalism ?
How are social issues such as violence and racism addressed in gangsta rap and rock music?
Making cyberbullying a criminal offense as one of the most effective ways to fight it.
Restore humanities: teaching children how to be humans as the way to solve the global crisis.
Way to make an advertising campaign successful?
Promoting values and cognitive behavioral therapy to fight mental health issues.
How can promoting open debates on essential topics help fight herd mentality?

📚 Problem Solution Essay Topics for College Students

There is a variety of disciplines in this list, so any college student can find something suitable for them here:

One random act of kindness as a way to create happier societies.
Funding volunteering promotion as a way to boost people’s awareness.
Social media and its effect on the younger generation: problems and solutions.
Can everyone having personal solar panels help to save the environment?
How do augmented reality glasses help people with disabilities see the world?
Can strict gun control laws reduce the number of homicide cases committed in the USA?
The problem with dolls: why should we promote the production of dolls of different shapes and colors for children ?
What rules should be introduced to fight market monopolization and increase competition?
What can society do to prevent people from getting an eating disorder?
Can students’ active involvement in the learning process improve their academic results?
Implementing A.I. and machine learning methods to help companies build a relationship with their customers.
Promoting a specific level of individualism in a business setting to help problem-solving.
How can total transparency boost the customer’s trust and increase sales?
Time management problem and possible solutions.
How can athletes prevent injuries that take them out of competitive sports?
Setting some responsibilities and duties for children as the way to help them become more successful in life.
Studying abroad and graduate employability: challenges and recommendations.
Why does developing family traditions help the more substantial relationship and reduce conflicts?
What is the main problem with current meal plans at schools, and what is the solution?
Educating people about herbal remedies as a way to promote over-the-counter medicines .
The challenges and solutions of introducing a new performance management system for a multicultural team.
What policies should be implemented to eliminate the problem of child labor?
Is raising the prices of tobacco an effective way to make humanity healthier?
Switching to online learning platforms as the new approach to available and affordable education.
Can the implementation of electric cars bring some positive environmental changes and a decrease in air pollution?
Do kids prefer to read eBooks , and how can we use them to encourage book reading?
Setting fair prices for streaming services as the way to fight online piracy .
How can organizational goals help the company succeed?
Should we all use adblocking software to avoid online fraud and malware?
Creating more natural habitats such as national parks as a way to protect endangered species.
How do you effectively manage organizational behavior?
Small steps: how does local buying help reduce soil pollution from big companies?
Kids and sports: how the lack of professional sports guides can be addressed?
Should we pay more attention to cleaning trees from invasive vegetation?
How to stop animal poaching by promoting the use of ethical materials?

The major U.S motion picture studios lost $6.1 billion in 2005 to piracy worldwide.

🐻 Problem Solution Essay Topics for Middle School

Here are some great examples of topics that may interest or be discussed by middle school students:

Can a college degree be one of the solutions for reducing the risks of divorce?
Learning to smile through pain as the way to make you feel better.
Online learning vs. face-to-face learning: problems and solutions .
Small changes in life as a way to treat depression .
Listening to audiobooks as a way to improve your literacy?
Tourism industry: why should it be supported, what challenges does it faces, and what are the solutions?
Switching chairs in classrooms to more comfortable ones as the way to improve attendance.
If most of the world’s population turns vegetarians, will it help climate change?
The issues with high school uniforms and possible solutions.
The effectiveness of placing more speed bumps to reduce the rates of accidents.
Implementing mandatory student exchange programs in colleges to fight cultural biases.
The danger of popular diets and ways to deal with it.
Fixing pollution issues as the only way to secure healthy nations in the Future.
How does a fair division of house chores help prevent family conflicts?
Homeschooling: issues and possible solutions.
Owning and petting a cat regularly as the best way to reduce stress ?
What are the best ways to prevent deaths due to drunk driving?
How to keep a workplace safe, and why is it important?
How does playing team sports help with communication skills in teenagers?
How to deal with challenges at work as a team leader?
Can people using eBooks contribute to solving environmental issues ?
How do handwritten letters help share emotions within the family during the conflict?
How can we use online communication to learn languages more effectively?
Dealing with conflict: strategies for responses.
How does the cultural trend of “going green” help with environmental changes?
Should we focus on inventing more renewable energy sources to help pollution?

💊 Problem Solution Topics. Solutions

Here are some great examples of problem solution speech topics to get an idea of what it should look like:

Limit the time kids spend on the internet.
Make sure that kids use only appropriate for their age websites.
Place the computer in an open common area to easily monitor kids’ activity.
Educate teenagers on the unprecedented danger of using the internet.
Parents should support their kids to make sure they can resist the influence of drug abuse.
Schools should create programs that spread awareness of the consequence of drug use.
The community should be more involved in drug prevention activities.
The government should implement policies that address drug use among school-age youth.
Enforce strong laws against child abusers.
Spread awareness regarding the problem of child abuse.
Take matters of child abuse seriously and lead comprehensive investigations.
Implement behavior therapy that helps patients plan and deal with their strong food cravings.
Use a cognitive approach that helps patients to channel and be in control of their negative thoughts.
Expose patients to interpersonal psychotherapy, which focuses on “family-based” treatment.
Parents should talk to their kids about their future career plans and encourage their developing interests and beginnings.
Schools should facilitate tutoring, mentoring, and out-of-school programs.
The government should provide more social and financial support to the students and their families.
Avoid opening suspicious messages and e-mail attachments, especially from unknown users.
Avoid Executing any Executable Programs in the attachments.
Avoid downloading cracked software on websites.
Block Scripts by Default in Internet Browsers.
Install anti-virus software ad security patches.
Disable Autorun for C.D.s, Flash Drives, and other Removable Media.
Switch to biodegradable materials for packaging.
Reduce the consumption of goods that use non-biodegradable plastic. Check out this link for more perspective solutions: 10 Measures that Must Be Taken to Prevent More Flooding in the Future
Learn to identify barriers and problems.
Build your own self-concept.
Try to strengthen your emotional intelligence.
Work on your self-disclosure and be open with your partner or family members.
Learn to handle the conflicts.
Parents should make sure that their kids feel loved and accepted.
Praise children when they achieve their accomplishments, and don’t criticize them in front of their peers.
Teach children to have positive self-statements and give them a chance to evaluate themselves. Let the children see how their good actions positively affect others.

By addressing real-world problems through our speeches, we can develop a sense of responsibility toward creating positive change. For your inspiration, we have prepared a short problem-solving speech example on obesity.

Obesity Problem Solution Speech

Good morning, everyone. It’s a pleasure to be here with you today! I want to direct your attention to an issue that has been steadily growing in significance and deserves our immediate concern – childhood obesity. Did you know that in 2021-2022, 17.0% of young people aged 10 to 17 had obesity? This rise in childhood obesity is a multifaceted issue with diverse causative factors, including sedentary lifestyles, poor dietary habits, limited access to healthy foods, and societal influences. The consequences of childhood obesity are profound and alarming. It increases the risk of numerous health issues, such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, obese children often face social and emotional challenges, including stigmatization and low self-esteem, which can have long-lasting effects on their mental health and overall quality of life. So, what can we do to tackle childhood obesity effectively? The solution lies in a comprehensive and concerted effort involving various stakeholders, parents, educators, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the community. Firstly, promoting physical activity and reducing sedentary behaviors among children is paramount. This can be achieved by increasing access to sports facilities, integrating physical education into school curricula, and encouraging outdoor and recreational activities. Additionally, addressing dietary habits is crucial. Providing access to nutritious meals in schools, educating children and their parents about healthy eating practices, and limiting the availability of unhealthy food options can contribute to positive changes in children’s diets. In conclusion, combating childhood obesity requires a multifaceted approach encompassing education, environmental changes, and supportive policies. Thank you!

More Problem Solution Persuasive Speech Examples

Here are some bonus problem-solution speech examples given by TED Talk speakers.

“The Simple Solution to Fast Fashion” — Josephine Philips In her TED Talk, Josephine Philips presents a simple solution to fast fashion. She advocates for a shift toward sustainable and ethical clothing consumption. By embracing timeless styles, supporting eco-friendly brands, and practicing mindful shopping, she believes individuals can significantly lessen the harmful effects of fast fashion on the environment.
“A Close-to-Home Solution for Accessible Childcare” — Chris Bennett In his brilliant speech, Chris Bennett proposes a community-based approach to accessible childcare. He advocates for creating local co-op childcare centers where parents take turns supervising children. By leveraging existing resources and building a supportive network, he believes this model can provide affordable and reliable childcare for families in need.
“The Real Solution to Global Warming” — Supratim Kundu In his TED Talk, Supratim Kundu argues that the real solution to global warming lies in harnessing the power of capitalism and private industry. He believes incentivizing the private sector to address environmental issues is more effective and efficient than relying solely on government intervention.

You got lucky when you found our list of problem solution speech topics! We will also direct you to other resources that will help you write a paper 😎

Start with this complete breakdown of how to write a problem solution essay , then create a problem solution speech structure , and—voila—you’re all set to conquer your text!

Check out more sources below in references.

And if you are still struggling with it, simply read some problem solution essay examples for both college and high school.

Have you grabbed a couple of problem solution essay topics from our list?

Good luck with solving them now🍀

🔗 References

Transitions in Text; University of North Carolina
Problem-Solution Essays: Definition and Examples
Problem-Solving Skills: Definitions and Examples
A Problem Solving Approach
What Are Problem Solving Skills?

414 Proposal Essay Topics for Projects, Research, & Proposal Arguments

725 research proposal topics & title ideas in education, psychology, business, & more.

17.3 Organizing Persuasive Speeches

Learning objectives.

Understand three common organizational patterns for persuasive speeches.
Explain the steps utilized in Monroe’s motivated sequence.
Explain the parts of a problem-cause-solution speech.
Explain the process utilized in a comparative advantage persuasive speech.

Monroe’s Motivated Sequence

While Monroe’s motivated sequence is commonly discussed in most public speaking textbooks, we do want to provide one minor caution. Thus far, almost no research has been conducted that has demonstrated that Monroe’s motivated sequence is any more persuasive than other structural patterns. In the only study conducted experimentally examining Monroe’s motivated sequence, the researchers did not find the method more persuasive, but did note that audience members found the pattern more organized than other methods. Micciche, T., Pryor, B., & Butler, J. (2000). A test of Monroe’s motivated sequence for its effects on ratings of message organization and attitude change. Psychological Reports, 86 , 1135–1138. We wanted to add this sidenote because we don’t want you to think that Monroe’s motivated sequence is a kind of magic persuasive bullet; the research simply doesn’t support this notion. At the same time, research does support that organized messages are perceived as more persuasive as a whole, so using Monroe’s motivated sequence to think through one’s persuasive argument could still be very beneficial.

Table 17.1 "Monroe’s Motivated Sequence" lists the basic steps of Monroe’s motivated sequence and the subsequent reaction a speaker desires from his or her audience.

Table 17.1 Monroe’s Motivated Sequence

The first step in Monroe’s motivated sequence is the attention step First step in Monroe’s motivated sequence where a speaker attempts to get his or her audience’s attention. , in which a speaker attempts to get the audience’s attention. To gain an audience’s attention, we recommend that you think through three specific parts of the attention step. First, you need to have a strong attention-getting device. As previously discussed in Chapter 9 "Introductions Matter: How to Begin a Speech Effectively" , a strong attention getter at the beginning of your speech is very important. Second, you need to make sure you introduce your topic clearly. If your audience doesn’t know what your topic is quickly, they are more likely to stop listening. Lastly, you need to explain to your audience why they should care about your topic.

In the need step Second step in Monroe’s motivated sequence where a speaker establishes that there is a specific need or problem. of Monroe’s motivated sequence, the speaker establishes that there is a specific need or problem. In Monroe’s conceptualization of need, he talks about four specific parts of the need: statement, illustration, ramification, and pointing. First, a speaker needs to give a clear and concise statement of the problem. This part of a speech should be crystal clear for an audience. Second, the speaker needs to provide one or more examples to illustrate the need. The illustration is an attempt to make the problem concrete for the audience. Next, a speaker needs to provide some kind of evidence (e.g., statistics, examples, testimony) that shows the ramifications or consequences of the problem. Lastly, a speaker needs to point to the audience and show exactly how the problem relates to them personally.

Satisfaction

In the third step of Monroe’s motivated sequence, the satisfaction step Third step in Monroe’s motivated sequence where a speaker sets out to satisfy the need or solve the problem. , the speaker sets out to satisfy the need or solve the problem. Within this step, Monroe (1935) proposed a five-step plan for satisfying a need:

Explanation
Theoretical demonstration
Reference to practical experience
Meeting objections

First, you need to clearly state the attitude, value, belief, or action you want your audience to accept. The purpose of this statement is to clearly tell your audience what your ultimate goal is.

Visualization

The next step of Monroe’s motivated sequence is the visualization step Fourth step in Monroe’s motivated sequence where a speaker asks his or her audience to visualize a future where the need has been met or the problem solved. , in which you ask the audience to visualize a future where the need has been met or the problem solved. In essence, the visualization stage is where a speaker can show the audience why accepting a specific attitude, value, belief, or behavior can positively affect the future. When helping people to picture the future, the more concrete your visualization is, the easier it will be for your audience to see the possible future and be persuaded by it. You also need to make sure that you clearly show how accepting your solution will directly benefit your audience.

According to Monroe, visualization can be conducted in one of three ways: positive, negative, or contrast. Monroe, A. H. (1935). Principles and types of speech . Chicago, IL: Scott Foresman. The positive method of visualization is where a speaker shows how adopting a proposal leads to a better future (e.g., recycle, and we’ll have a cleaner and safer planet). Conversely, the negative method of visualization is where a speaker shows how not adopting the proposal will lead to a worse future (e.g., don’t recycle, and our world will become polluted and uninhabitable). Monroe also acknowledged that visualization can include a combination of both positive and negative visualization. In essence, you show your audience both possible outcomes and have them decide which one they would rather have.

The final step in Monroe’s motivated sequence is the action step Fifth step in Monroe’s motivated sequence where a speaker asks for an audience to approve the speaker’s proposal. , in which a speaker asks an audience to approve the speaker’s proposal. For understanding purposes, we break action into two distinct parts: audience action and approval. Audience action refers to direct physical behaviors a speaker wants from an audience (e.g., flossing their teeth twice a day, signing a petition, wearing seat belts). Approval, on the other hand, involves an audience’s consent or agreement with a speaker’s proposed attitude, value, or belief.

Now that we’ve walked through Monroe’s motivated sequence, let’s look at how you could use Monroe’s motivated sequence to outline a persuasive speech:

Specific Purpose: To persuade my classroom peers that the United States should have stronger laws governing the use of for-profit medical experiments.

Main Points:

Attention: Want to make nine thousand dollars for just three weeks of work lying around and not doing much? Then be a human guinea pig. Admittedly, you’ll have to have a tube down your throat most of those three weeks, but you’ll earn three thousand dollars a week.
Need: Every day many uneducated and lower socioeconomic-status citizens are preyed on by medical and pharmaceutical companies for use in for-profit medical and drug experiments. Do you want one of your family members to fall prey to this evil scheme?
Satisfaction: The United States should have stronger laws governing the use of for-profit medical experiments to ensure that uneducated and lower-socioeconomic-status citizens are protected.
Visualization: If we enact tougher experiment oversight, we can ensure that medical and pharmaceutical research is conducted in a way that adheres to basic values of American decency. If we do not enact tougher experiment oversight, we could find ourselves in a world where the lines between research subject, guinea pig, and patient become increasingly blurred.
Action: In order to prevent the atrocities associated with for-profit medical and pharmaceutical experiments, please sign this petition asking the US Department of Health and Human Services to pass stricter regulations on this preying industry that is out of control.

This example shows how you can take a basic speech topic and use Monroe’s motivated sequence to clearly and easily outline your speech efficiently and effectively.

Table 17.2 "Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Checklist" also contains a simple checklist to help you make sure you hit all the important components of Monroe’s motivated sequence.

Table 17.2 Monroe’s Motivated Sequence Checklist

Problem-Cause-Solution

Specific Purpose: To persuade my classroom peers that our campus should adopt a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech.

Demonstrate that there is distrust among different groups on campus that has led to unnecessary confrontations and violence.
Show that the confrontations and violence are a result of hate speech that occurred prior to the events.
Explain how instituting a campus-wide zero-tolerance policy against hate speech could stop the unnecessary confrontations and violence.

Comparative Advantages

Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that the Nook is more advantageous than the Kindle.

The Nook allows owners to trade and loan books to other owners or people who have downloaded the Nook software, while the Kindle does not.
The Nook has a color-touch screen, while the Kindle’s screen is black and grey and noninteractive.
The Nook’s memory can be expanded through microSD, while the Kindle’s memory cannot be upgraded.

Key Takeaways

There are three common patterns that persuaders can utilize to help organize their speeches effectively: Monroe’s motivated sequence, problem-cause-solution, and comparative advantage. Each of these patterns can effectively help a speaker think through his or her thoughts and organize them in a manner that will be more likely to persuade an audience.
Alan H. Monroe’s (1935) motivated sequence is a commonly used speech format that is used by many people to effectively organize persuasive messages. The pattern consists of five basic stages: attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and action. In the first stage, a speaker gets an audience’s attention. In the second stage, the speaker shows an audience that a need exists. In the third stage, the speaker shows how his or her persuasive proposal could satisfy the need. The fourth stage shows how the future could be if the persuasive proposal is or is not adopted. Lastly, the speaker urges the audience to take some kind of action to help enact the speaker’s persuasive proposal.
The problem-cause-solution proposal is a three-pronged speech pattern. The speaker starts by explaining the problem the speaker sees. The speaker then explains what he or she sees as the underlying causes of the problem. Lastly, the speaker proposes a solution to the problem that corrects the underlying causes.
The comparative advantages speech format is utilized when a speaker is comparing two or more things or ideas and shows why one of the things or ideas has more advantages than the other(s).
Create a speech using Monroe’s motivated sequence to persuade people to recycle.
Create a speech using the problem-cause-solution method for a problem you see on your college or university campus.
Create a comparative advantages speech comparing two brands of toothpaste.

Arguments and Information

Learning Objectives

Explain the process of grouping information
Introduce organizational patterns
Describe outlining best practices
Identify strategies for effective introduction and conclusions

Selecting and constructing an advocacy can be tough. But as we’ve discussed, a well-reasoned, researched, and constructed argument is key to effectively crafting and conveying information. The process, however, doesn’t stop there. The next step is determining how to organize and outline that information so that the audience can follow along.

Organizing information and reflecting on the best way to communicate an idea isn’t unique to a public speech; we do it all the time in private. Consider the following scenario:

Two friends – Anne and Stevie – have been dealing with interpersonal conflict. They can’t get along. Stevie decides that it’s time to sit down and tell Anne how they’re feeling, but first, she jot s some notes. “Where to start?” she think s , and tr ies to consider how she want s to breach the topic. “From the first time I was upset?” “Should I talk generally about the main 2 issues that keep bothering me ?” “ How do I start?”

Stevie is trying to process how to organize the information that she’ll present to Anne – the main audience member. She’s also processing the best way to start – or to introduce – that information to her friend, and outlining key ideas that she wants to remember.

The same is true for preparing arguments in a speech. Having your information in a well-organized manner can make or break audience understanding of your content. In this chapter, we discuss ways to effectively categorize your information that will a) support your thesis statement, and b) increase audience comprehension of that information. To accomplish these tasks, we will introduce different organizational patterns, tips for outlining, and strategies for crafting your introduction and conclusion. Before you can select an organizational pattern, you should first work to group your information.

Have you ever organized a garage sale? The first step, before putting up signs or pricing items, is to go through your closets and garage and create “piles” of items that you want to sell: children’s items, tools, kitchen items, furniture, trash, etc. Researchers have found that “chunking” information, that is, the way it is grouped, is vital to audience understanding, learning, and retention of information (Beighly, 1954; Bodeia, Powers, & Fitch-Hauser, 2006; Daniels & Whitman, 1981).

As we listen, we have limits as to how many categories of information we can keep in mind. In public speaking, use approximately 3 categories to group your information. 2-3 main points – or groups – is safe territory, and you should avoiding having more than 5 main points for an audience to track.

“How does this work in practice?” you may be asking. “How do I group information to find my categories?”

Use your research and your brainstorming tactics! As you research, look at the articles and websites you read and say, “That information relates to what I read over here” and, “That statistic fits under the idea of . . .” You are looking for similarities and patterns. Think back to the yard sle example – you would group according to customer interest and the purpose of each item. As you learn more about your topic and expand your expertise, the patterns and groups will become clearer.

Once you locate a pattern, that information can likely be grouped into your speech’s main points. Return to your thesis statement and determine what groups are more suitable to support your specific purpose. If you continue to find more groups, you may want to limit and narrow your topic down further.

Finally, because your audience will understand you better and perceive you as organized, you will gain more credibility as a speaker if you are organized, assuming you also have credible information and acceptable delivery (Slagell, 2013; Sharp & McClung, 1966).

After you group, the next step is determining what type of organizational pattern works best.

Patterns of Organization

At this point, you should see how much your audience needs organized ideas. You also know that as you do research, you will group together similar pieces of information from different sources. As you group your research information, you will want to make sure that your grouped content is adhering to your specific purpose statement.

Interestingly, there are some standard ways of organizing these categories, which are called “ patterns of organization.” Our list isn’t exhaustive, but we provide insight on 5 organizational patterns with a few embedded examples. In each example, only the three to five main sections or “points” (Roman numerals) are given, without the other essential parts of the outline. But don’t worry—we’ll cover outlines later in this chapter.

Chronological

A chronological organizational pattern groups information based on time order or in a set chronology—first this occurred, then this, then this, then that. The use of a chronological pattern is appropriate when the argument needs to be traced linearly or for speeches that instructor or demonstrate. For a speech about creating a meaningful and memorable protest poster, providing the instructions in order will allow audience members to actively deploy that information after the speech.

One of the problems with chronological speeches is the tendency to create a long list of activities rather than categorizing the content. It is important to chunk the information into three to five groups so that the audience has a framework. For example, in a speech about the history of the Civil Rights Movement, your “grouping” or “chunking” might be:

The movement saw African-Americans struggling for legal recognition before the Brown v. Board of Education decision.
The movement was galvanized and motivated by the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
The movement saw its goals met in the Civil Rights Act of 1965.

It would be easy in the case of the Civil Rights Movement to list the many events that happened over decades, but that could be overwhelming for the audience. In this grouping of events, the audience is focused on the three events that pushed it forward.

You can see that chronological is a highly-used organizational structure, since one of the ways our minds work is through time-orientation—past, present, future. Another common thought process is movement in space or direction, which is called the spatial pattern . For example:

Specific Purpose: To explain to my classmates the three regional cooking styles of Italy.

In the mountainous region of the North, the food emphasizes cheese and meat.
In the middle region of Tuscany, the cuisine emphasizes grains and olives.
In the southern region and Sicily, the diet is based on fish and sea-food.

In this example, the content is moving from northern to southern Italy, as the word “regional” would indicate. If you were to actually study Italian cooking in depth, sources will say there are twenty regions, but “covering” twenty regions in a speech is not practical, so research can help you limit and determine which regions would be more appropriate.

For a more localized application, consider this example:

Specific Purpose: To explain to my classmates the geographic layout of the Midwest Science March.

The main vein of the protest took place on the Kansas City Plaza.
Vendor booths promoting educational opportunities about science were grouped at Washington Square.
Counter-protesting was predominantly south of the river.

A spatial organizational pattern can assist audiences in visualizing your main points by grouping based on a spatial or geographic layout.

Topical/Categorical

The topical organizational pattern groups information into key categories. Many subjects will have main points that naturally divide into “types of,” “kinds of,” “sorts of,” or “categories of.” Other subjects naturally divide into “parts of the whole.” For example:

Specific purpose: To support the proposition that capital punishment should be abolished in the United States.

I.Capital punishment does not save money for the justice system.

II.Capital punishment does not deter crime in the United States historically.

III.Capital punishment has resulted in many unjust executions.

Another principle of organization to think about when using topical organization is “climax” organization. That means putting your strongest argument or most important point last when applicable. In the example above, “unjust executions” is a bigger reason to end a practice than the cost, since an unjust execution means the loss of an innocent life and a violation of our principles. If you believe Main Point III is the strongest argument of the three, putting it last builds up to a climax.

When using a topical pattern, you want to keep your categories simple, clear, and distinct by reducing repetition or blurriness between the groupings.

Cause/Effect Pattern

In a cause/effect pattern, the main points of a topic start with the cause, followed by the effect. If the specific purpose mentions words such as “causes,” “origins,” “roots of,” “foundations,” “basis,” “grounds,” or “source,” it is a causal order; if it mentions words such as “effects,” “results,” “outcomes,” “consequences,” or “products,” it is an effect order. If it mentions both, it would be cause/effect order. This example shows a cause/effect pattern:

Specific Purpose: To explain to my classmates the causes and effects of schizophrenia.

I.Schizophrenia has genetic, social, and environmental causes.

II.Schizophrenia has educational, relational, and medical effects.

This pattern can be helpful for an audience to understand how and/or why something has occurred. If your topic looks at a key problem, tracing how that problem originated may be worthwhile, even necessary, for an audience to track the outcomes.

Problem-Solution Pattern

The problem-solution pattern is closely related to cause/effect, but it also includes advocating for a key solution. This is a common organizational strategy used to persuade because a speaker is often asking the audience to address a problem with a concrete course of action. When you want to persuade someone to act, the first reason is usually that something is wrong!

We use a problem-solution pattern in everyday exchanges. If you and your friends were hungry (a problem), you’d invite them to dinner (the solution). However, if they’d recently eaten you might identify a secondary problem—you miss their company, for example.

Alternatively, let’s say that you want school board members to provide more funds for music at the three local high schools in your county. Ask yourself: What is missing because music or the arts are not funded? What is the problem? How is that a problem something that the school board should intervene to resolve? How does funding those programs resolve the problems that you’ve identified? For example:

Specific Purpose: To persuade the members of the school board to take action to support the music program at the school.

There is a problem with eliminating extracurricular music programs in high schools.
Students who do not have extracurricular music in their lives have lower SAT scores.
Schools that do not have extracurricular music programs have more instances of community violence.
The solution is to provide $200,000 in the budget to sustain extra-curricular music in our high schools.
$120,000 would go to bands. This would be enough money to hire additional instructors and reserve after-school spaces.
$80,000 would go to choral programs.

Of course, this is a simple outline and you would need to provide evidence to support the arguments, but it shows how problem-solution works. Psychologically, it makes more sense to use problem-solution rather than solution-problem. The audience will be more motivated to listen if you address needs, deficiencies, or problems in their lives rather than giving them solutions first.

After identifying an organizational pattern, an outline will assist you to compile information into that pattern. An outline provides a visual structure where you can compile information into a well-organized document. There are two primary types of outlines that we will discuss: preparation outlines and speaking outlines.

Preparation Outlines

Preparation outlines are comprehensive outlines that include all of the information in your speech. These are often full-sentences and include in-text citations and a reference page (if necessary). If someone were to read your outline, there should be enough depth to provide a skeleton of what will be accomplished.

Generally, we recommend starting from this outline format:

This is just a start, and each main point may have more than one piece of evidence, for example.

Like we mentioned, an outline is a visual structure, and it can aid you in determining where you need more or less information. For example, if you work on a problem/solution speech, your outline may visually demonstrate that most of your research is located under the “problem” main point, signaling to you that more “solution” research is required. Outlines also assist in reminding speakers to warrant all of their claims.

You should think of the outline as the blueprint for your speech. It is not the speech—that is what comes out of your mouth in front of the audience. The outline helps you prepare and, as such, they are a living document that you can adjust, add, and delete. We recommend beginning to add information to an outline right away. You don’t, however, often speak from that outline. Instead, you’ll use a speaking outline.

Speaking Outlines

A speaking outline is a keyword outline used to deliver a speech – often extemporaneous. As we’ll discuss in our chapters on delivering an aesthetic experience, the notes that you use to speak can aid or hinder in an effective delivery. A keyword outline – which you’ll use to rehearse and deliver – will allow greater embodiment and engagement with the audience. As you practice, you will be able to summarize the full preparation outline down to more usable notes. In those notes, create a set of abbreviated notes for the actual delivery. The more materials you take up with you to speak, the more you will be tempted to look at them rather than have eye contact with the audience, reducing your overall engagement.

Your speaking notes should be in far fewer words than the preparation, arranged in key phrases, and readable for you. Your speaking outline should provide cues to yourself to “slow down,” “pause,” or “change slide.” Our biggest suggestion is to make the notes workable for you.

Finally, always double check that your speaking outline includes your oral citations. An authors name and publication date are difficult to remember, so add all references directly into your notes.

Connective Statements and Internal Organization

At this point, you may be realizing that preparing for public speaking does not always follow a completely linear process. In writing your speech, you might begin outlining with one organizational pattern in mind, only to re-craft the main points into a new pattern after more research has been conducted. These are all OK options.

Wherever your process takes you, however, you will need to make sure that each section of your speech outline is connected – what we call connective statements. Connective statements are broad terms that encompass several types of statements or phrases. They are generally designed to help “connect” parts of your speech to make it easier for audience members to follow. Connectives are tools for helping the audience listen, retain information, and follow your structure.

Connectives perform a number of functions:

Remind the audience of what has come before;
Remind the audience of the central focus or purpose of the speech;
Forecast what is coming next;
Help the audience have a sense of context in the speech—where are we? (this is especially useful in a longer speech of twenty minutes or so);
Explain the logical connection between the previous main idea(s) and next one, or previous subpoints and the next one;
Explain your own mental processes in arranging the material as you have;
Keep the audience’s attention through repetition and a sense of movement.

Connectives can include internal summaries, signposting or internal previews. Each of these terms all help connect the main ideas of your speech for the audience, but they have different emphases and are useful for different types of speeches.

Types of connectives and examples

Internal summaries emphasize what has come before and remind the audience of what has been covered.

“So far I have shown how the designers of King Tut’s burial tomb used the antechamber to scare away intruders and the second chamber to prepare royal visitors for the experience of seeing the sarcophagus.”

Internal previews let your audience know what is coming up next in the speech and what to expect with regard to the content of your speech.

“In this next part of the presentation I will share with you what the truly secret and valuable part of the King Tut’s pyramid: his burial chamber and the treasury.”

Transitions serve as bridges between seemingly disconnected (but related) material, most commonly between your main points. At a bare minimum your transition is saying, “Now that we have looked at (talked about, etc.) X, let’s look at Y.”

Signposts emphasize the physical movement through the speech content and let the audience know exactly where they are. Signposting can be as simple as “First,” “Next,” “Lastly” or using numbers such as “First,” “Second,” Third,” and “Fourth.” Signposts can also be lengthier, but in general signposting is meant to be a brief way to let your audience know where they are in the speech. It may help to think of these like the mile markers you see along interstates that tell you where you are or like signs letting you know how many more miles until you reach your destination.

Connectives are an important way to assist the audience in understanding a) where you’re going, b) where you are, and c) where you’ve been. We recommend labeling them directly in your outline to make sure that they’re integrated and clear.

Introductions and Conclusions

Now that you have a deeper understanding of organizational patterns and placing your information into an outline, let’s discuss introductions and conclusions. We recommend writing these sections after you have a substantial amount of the main body constructed in your outline.

Introductions and conclusions serve to frame the speech and give it a clearly defined beginning and end. They help the audience to see what is to come in the speech, and then let them mentally prepare for the end. In doing this, introductions and conclusions provide a “preview/review” of your speech as a means to reiterate to your audience what you are talking about. Because speeches are auditory and live, you need to make sure that audiences remember what you are saying.

The general rule is that the introduction and conclusion should each be about 10% of your total speech, leaving 80% for the body section. It can be tempting to have longer introductions, but that often leaves less time to introduce key research and warrant your ideas through the main points.

Structuring the Introduction

With that in mind, there are five basic elements that you will want to incorporate into your introduction and speech outline. Element 1: Get the Audience’s Attention

The first major purpose of an introduction is to gain your audience’s attention and make them interested in what you have to say. The first words of a speech should be something that will perk up the audience’s ears. Starting a speech with “Hey everybody. I’m going to talk to you today about soccer” has not tried to engage the individuals in the audience who don’t care about soccer.

To create interest, the key is selecting an option that’s appropriate and relevant to your specific audience. You will also want to choose an attention-getting device appropriate for your speech topic. Ideally, your attention-getting device should have a relevant connection to your speech. Below are a number of possibilities for crafting an attention getter.

Anecdotes and Narratives

An anecdote is a brief account or story of an interesting or humorous event. Notice the emphasis here is on the word “brief.” An example of an anecdote used in a speech about the pervasiveness of technology might look something like this:

In July 2009, a high school girl named Miranda Becker was walking along a main boulevard near her home on Staten Island, New York, typing in a message on her cell phone. Not paying attention to the world around her, she took a step and fell right into an open construction hole.

Notice that the anecdote is short and has a clear point. From here the speaker can begin to make their point about how technology is controlling our lives.

A personal story is another option here. You may consider starting your speech with a story about yourself that is relevant to your topic. Some of the best speeches are ones that come from personal knowledge and experience. If you are an expert or have firsthand experience related to your topic, sharing this information with the audience is a great way to show that you are credible during your attention getter.

Startling Statement/Statistic/Fact

Another way to start your speech is to surprise your audience with startling information about your topic. Often, startling statements come in the form of statistics and strange facts. The goal of a good startling statistic is that it surprises the audience and gets them engaged in your topic. For example, if you’re giving a speech about oil conservation, you could start by saying, “A Boeing 747 airliner holds 57,285 gallons of fuel.” You could start a speech on the psychology of dreams by noting, “The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year.”

A strange fact, on the other hand, is a statement that does not involve numbers but is equally surprising to most audiences. For example, you could start a speech on the gambling industry by saying, “There are no clocks in any Las Vegas casino.”

Although startling statements are fun, it is important to use them ethically. First, make sure that your startling statement is factual. Second, make sure that your startling statement is relevant to your speech and not just thrown in for shock value.

A Rhetorical Question

A rhetorical question is a question to which no actual reply is expected. For example, a speaker talking about the history of Mother’s Day could start by asking the audience, “Do you remember the last time you told your mom you loved her?” In this case, the speaker does not expect the audience to shout out an answer, but rather to think about the questions as the speech goes on.

Another way to capture your listeners’ attention is to use the words of another person that relate directly to your topic. Maybe you’ve found a really great quotation in one of the articles or books you read while researching your speech. If not, you can also use a number of Internet or library sources that compile useful quotations from noted individuals. Quotations are a great way to start a speech, so let’s look at an example that could be used during the opening of a commencement address:

The late actress, fashion icon, and social activist Audrey Hepburn once noted that, “Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible’!”

Element 2: Establish or Enhance Your Credibility

Whether you are informing, persuading, or entertaining an audience, they will expect you to know what you’re talking about. The second element of an introduction is to let your audience know that you are a knowledgeable and credible source for this information. To do this, you will need to explain how you know what you know about your topic.

For some people, this will be simple. If you are informing your audience about a topic that you’ve researched or experienced for years, that makes you a fairly credible source. You probably know what you are talking about. Let the audience know! For example, “I’ve been serving with Big Brothers Big Sisters for the last two years.”

However, you may be speaking on a subject with which you have no history of credibility. If you are just curious about when streetlights were installed at intersections and why they are red, yellow, and green, you can do that. But you will still need to give your audience some sort of reason to trust your knowledge. Since you were required to do research, you are at least more knowledgeable on the subject that anyone else in the class.

Element 3: Establish Relevance through Rapport

The next element of your introduction will be to establish rapport with your audience. Rapport is basically a relationship or connection you make with your audience. In everyday life, we say that two people have a rapport when they get along really well and are good friends. In your introduction, you will want to explain to your audience why you are giving them this information and why it is important or relevant to them. You will be making a connection through this shared information and explaining to them how it will benefit them.

Element 4: State your Thesis

The fourth major function of an introduction after getting the audience’s attention is to reveal the purpose of your speech to your audience. Have you ever sat through a speech wondering what the basic point was? Have you ever come away after a speech and had no idea what the speaker was talking about? An introduction should make the topic, purpose, and central idea clear.

When stating your topic in the introduction, be explicit with regard to exactly what your topic is. Spell it out for them if you have to. If an audience is unable to remember all your information, they should at least be able to walk away knowing that the purpose of your presentation was.

Element 5: Preview Your Main Points

Just like previewing your topic, previewing your main points helps your audience know what to expect throughout the course of your speech and prepares them for what you are going to speak on. Your preview of main points should be clear and easy to follow so that there is no question in your audience’s minds what they are. Long, complicated, or verbose main points can get confusing. Be succinct and simple: “Today, in our discussion of Abraham Lincoln’s life, we will look at his birth, his role a president, and his assassination.” From that there is little question as to what specific aspects of Lincoln’s life the speech will cover. However, if you want to be extra sure they get it, you can always enumerate them by using signposts: “In discussing how to make chocolate chip cookies, first we will cover what ingredients you need, second we will talk about how to mix them, and third we will look at baking them.”

What these five elements do is prepare your audience for the bulk of the speech (i.e. the body section) by letting them know what they can expect, why they should listen, and why they can trust you as a speaker. Having all five elements starts your speech off on much more solid ground that you would get without having them.

Structuring the Conclusion

Similar to the introduction, the conclusion has three specific elements that you will want to incorporate in order to make it as strong as possible.

Given the nature of these elements and what they do, these should generally be incorporated into your conclusion in the order they are presented below.

Element 1: Get the Audience’s Attention

Introductions preview your main points; the conclusion provides a review. One of the biggest differences between written and oral communication is the necessity of repetition in oral communication. Your audience only has one opportunity to catch and remember the points you are trying to get across in your speech, so the review assists in repeating key ideas that support your thesis statement.

Because you are trying to remind the audience of your main points, you want to be sure not to bring up any new material or ideas. For example, if you said, “There are several other issues related to this topic, such as…but I don’t have time for them,” that would make the audience confused and perhaps wonder why you did not address those in the body section. The hardcore facts and content are in the body.

Element 2: Restate the Thesis

Make sure to re-state your thesis because this is the main argument that you’re leaving the audience with. While this may come before or after the review of your main points, it’s important because it often directs the audience and reminds them why they’re present. Concluding without reiterating your thesis statement requires the audience to remember an idea from the introduction – which can feel like a long time ago.

Element 3: Clincher

The third element of your conclusion is the clincher, or something memorable with which to conclude your speech. The clincher is sometimes referred to as a concluding thought. These are the very last words you will say in your speech, so you need to make them count.

In many ways the clincher is the inverse of the attention-getter. You want to start the speech off with something strong, and you want to end the speech with something strong. To that end, similar to what we discussed above with attention getters, there are a number of ways you can make your clincher strong and memorable.

For the conclusion, make sure your purpose – informative, persuasive, entertaining – is honored.

The organization and outlining of your speech may not be the most interesting part to think about, but without it, great ideas will seem jumbled and confusing to your audience. Even more, good connectives will ensure your audience can follow you and understand the logical connections you are making with your main ideas, introduction, and conclusion.

Speak Out, Call In: Public Speaking as Advocacy Copyright © 2019 by Meggie Mapes is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Module 10: Persuasive Speaking

Organizing persuasive messages.

Once you have selected your topic, know who your audience is, and have settled on an end goal for your persuasive speech, you can begin drafting your speech. Outlines are organized according to the particular speech, and the following organizational patterns are used routinely for persuasive speeches.

Monroe’s Motivated Sequence

Monroe’s Motivated Sequence is an organizational pattern that attempts to convince the audience to respond to a need that is delineated in the speech. [1] Five separate steps characterize the Motivated Sequence organization style:

1. The attention step should get the audience’s attention as well as describe your goals and preview the speech.

2. The need step should provide a description of the problem as well as the consequences that may result if the problem goes unresolved. In this step, the speaker should also alert audience members to their role in mitigating the issue.

3. The satisfaction step is used to outline your solutions to the problems you have previously outlined as well as deal with any objections that may arise.

4. In the visualization step , audience members are asked to visualize what will happen if your solutions are implemented and what will happen if they do not come to fruition. Visualizations should be rich with detail.

5. The action appeal step should be used to make a direct appeal for action. In this step, you should describe precisely how the audience should react to your speech and how they should carry out these actions. As the final step, you should also offer a concluding comment. See Figure 16.1 to see this method of arrangement illustrated.

Direct Method Pattern

“Roman Rackwitz Presentation” by Romrack. CC-BY-SA .

If your goal is to convince your audience to adopt a particular idea, you might prefer the direct method pattern as a way of organizing your speech. This pattern consists of a claim and a list of reasons to support it. Every piece of support in the speech directly supports the central claim you wish to make. As Jaffe points out, “It’s a good pattern to use when listeners are apathetic or neutral, either mildly favoring or mildly opposing your claim.” [2] The outline for a speech on vegetarianism in Figure 16.2 provides three reasons that vegetarianism provides useful health benefits for people struggling with obesity.

History creates comprehensibility primarily by arranging facts meaningfully and only in a very limited sense by establishing strict causal connections. – Johan Huizinga

Causal Pattern

Similar to a problem-solution speech, which was covered in Chapter 8, a causal speech describes a general cause and a specific effect. In other words, a causal pattern first addresses some cause and then shares what effects resulted. A causal speech can be particularly effective when the speaker wants to convince their audience of the relationship between two things. With sound causal reasoning, a speech of this sort can be used to convince the audience of something they were previously opposed to believing.

As the example in Figure 16.3 illustrates, the basic components of the causal speech are the cause and the effect. Such an organizational style is useful when a speaker needs to share the results of a new program, discuss how one act led to another, or discuss the positive/negative outcomes of taking some action. Through this pattern, the speaker can convince audiences to adopt a new belief about a particular phenomenon.

Refutation Pattern

“Jeanette Chong-Aruldoss” by Terence Lee. CC-BY .

Sometimes an occasion will arise when your audience is already opposed to your argument. In this case, a refutation pattern can be engaged to persuade audience members that your side of the argument is better or more accurate. In a refutation speech, the speaker must anticipate the audience’s opposition, then bring attention to the tensions between the two sides, and finally refute them using evidential support. Refutation patterns are frequently seen in debates, where speakers are fundamentally opposed to one another’s arguments. Refutation generally happens through a set of four steps: (1) signaling the argument to which you are responding, (2) stating your own argument, (3) providing justification or evidence for your side of the argument, and (4) summarizing your response. An advocate of reusing as opposed to recycling might present the argument in Figure 16.4 to respond to someone who believes recycling is the best way to individually work on environmental stewardship. As this example illustrates, a refutation speech should clearly delineate where the audience is perceived to stand on an issue, why their view is in disagreement with the speaker’s, and why the audience should adopt the speaker’s position. Moreover, the speaker should be sure to highlight the importance of the debate, which will clue the audience into why they should spend their time listening to a speaker who clearly disagrees with them. An example of this pattern can be found on the next page in Figure 16.4.

Neither irony nor sarcasm is argument. – Samuel Butler

Monroe, A. H. (1949). Principles and types of speech . Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman and Company. ↵
Jaffe, C. (2004). Public speaking: Concepts and skills for a diverse society (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. ↵
Chapter 16 Organizing Persuasive Messages. Authored by : Sarah Stone Watt, Ph.D. and Joshua Trey Barnett. Provided by : Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA and Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. Located at : http://publicspeakingproject.org/psvirtualtext.html . Project : The Public Speaking Project. License : CC BY-NC-ND: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives
Roman Rackwitz Presentation. Authored by : Romrack. Located at : http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Roman_Rackwitz_Presentation.jpg . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
Jeanette Chong-Aruldoss at a Reform Party rally, Speakers' Corner, Singapore - 20110115. Authored by : Terence Lee. Provided by : NewNation.sg. Located at : http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jeanette_Chong-Aruldoss_at_a_Reform_Party_rally,_Speakers%27_Corner,_Singapore_-_20110115.jpg . License : CC BY: Attribution

Politics latest: Headache for Sunak as Tory MPs threaten rebellion over leasehold reform

Tory MPs are threatening to rebel over the government's new housing proposals. Meanwhile, the Scottish government is facing a vote of no confidence this afternoon - and it's PMQs at 12pm.

Wednesday 1 May 2024 09:53, UK

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Tory MPs threaten to rebel against government over leasehold reform
Failed asylum seeker volunteering to go to Rwanda shows claims it is unsafe are 'untrue', Badenoch says
PMQs at noon - watch and follow live here
Scottish government to face Holyrood vote of no confidence today
Contest for new first minister explained | Why Yousaf resigned
London mayor 'failing' to tackle knife crime, Badenoch says - but stats suggest area with Tory mayor has bigger problem
Local elections: Everything you need to know about this week's votes
Live reporting by Charlotte Chelsom-Pill

Around 600 people are blocking the entrances to the Department for Business and Trade.

It is part of a protest organised by the Workers for Free Palestine campaign group.

They say they are blockading sites involved in arms supplies to Israel.

In a statement, the group said they were responding to a call to a call "from Palestinian trade unions for workers around the world to mobilise on May Day in solidarity with Palestinian workers".

MSP Michelle Thomson tells Sky News she wants to see more of a contest in the SNP leadership race, but says she does have a preference for one potential candidate in particular.

Nominations have opened to find a replacement for First Minister Humza Yousaf who resigned this week.

Two candidates have said they are considering standing for the SNP leadership, but no candidates have been confirmed.

Ms Thomson, a SNP MSP for Falkirk East, says she "would like to see other candidates as well".

"It's very important that democracy is aired for people on the ground who are members of the SNP," she says.

But she says she is urging Kate Forbes, who narrowly lost out to Humza Yousaf in last year's SNP leadership contest, to stand.

The former finance secretary is "the brightest political brain I've seen and certainly of her generation", Ms Thomson says.

Ms Forbes has told Sky News she is considering entering the race.

As has former deputy first minister and former SNP leader John Swinney, who said he is giving "very careful consideration" to the prospect of throwing his hat into the ring.

Ms Thomson describes Mr Swinney as an "extremely experienced politician" with a "huge amount to offer".

You can read more on the potential leadership contenders here:

Scrapping National Insurance payments would be a "ticking time bomb", shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson tells Sky News.

In the budget in March, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt indicated plans to eventually scrap National Insurance contributions - a move Labour branded "reckless".

He later admitted to Sky News it "won't happen any time soon".

Ms Phillipson says it would open up a "£46bn black hole".

" More than 50 days on, we've had nothing from the government about how they're going to fund it, how they're going to pay for it, how all of that will work," Ms Phillipson says.

"It is just not good enough for ministers to set out this kind of bombshell with no plan, no detail around any of it."

Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson tells Sky News the government has been "slow to act" on knife crime - following an attack that left a 14-year-old dead yesterday.

"The government have been slow to act where it comes to cracking down on knife crime," she says.

"We've been pushing for further legislation, for further measures to stop young people... having access to knives and to take action on violent crime overall.

"That, sadly, isn't what we've seen happen."

Earlier this morning, Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch told Sky News London's mayor Sadiq Khan was "failing" to tackle knife crime ( see post at 7.47am ).

Responding to the comments, Ms Phillipson says knife crime is a "nationwide issue", adding that now is not the time to "make political points".

Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch tells Sky News she is "pleased we've finally seen one person going to Rwanda".

Her comments come after the first failed asylum seeker was sent from the UK to Rwanda on Monday under a voluntary scheme.

This "shows the point about Rwanda not being safe to be untrue because people are volunteering to go", Ms Badenoch claims.

The scheme is for those who have gone through the asylum process and had permission rejected, rather than for migrants who have illegally entered Britain by crossing the Channel on small boats.

It is separate to the powers set out in the controversial Safety of Rwanda Act, which became law last week.

Ms Badenoch says after "so many obstacles" put in the way of that legislation, "the scheme is working".

She cites comments made by the Irish government as evidence the Safety of Rwanda Act is working as a deterrent.

"The scheme is working, as we've seen with the comments from the Irish government as well," she says.

"This is something that we need to do in order to help police our borders."

You can read more on the Ireland-UK asylum seeker row here:

Business Secretary (and equalities minister) Kemi Badenoch is calling on people to give examples of organisations issuing "incorrect guidance" on single-sex spaces.

She tells Sky News the aim is to tackle "confusion" on the matter.

"What I have noticed as equalities minister is that across the board there is a lot of confusion about when single-sex spaces are protected," she says.

Rather than the government carrying out a "huge investigation that will cost lots of money", she is asking people to send examples if they think the guidance in their institution is wrong.

Asked whether that could invite transphobic responses, she replies: "No, not at all. And it shouldn't be."

"All we're saying is that if you think the guidance in your institution is wrong, let us know... and then we can help provide clarity."

Ms Badenoch's "call for input" comes a day after the health secretary announced plans to update the NHS Constitution to "ensure that biological sex is respected".

48 Monroe’s Motivated Sequence, Problem-Solution, Comparative Advantages

Learning objectives.

Understand three common organizational patterns for persuasive speeches.
Explain the steps utilized in Monroe’s motivated sequence.
Explain the parts of a problem-cause-solution speech.
Explain the process utilized in a comparative advantage persuasive speech.

Organizing Persuasive Speeches

Previously in this text, we discussed general guidelines for organizing speeches. In this section, we are going to look at three organizational patterns ideally suited for persuasive speeches: Monroe’s motivated sequence, problem-cause-solution, and comparative advantages.

Monroe’s Motivated Sequence

While Monroe’s motivated sequence is commonly discussed in most public speaking textbooks, we do want to provide one minor caution. Thus far, almost no research has been conducted that has demonstrated that Monroe’s motivated sequence is any more persuasive than other structural patterns. In the only study conducted experimentally examining Monroe’s motivated sequence, the researchers did not find the method more persuasive but did note that audience members found the pattern more organized than other methods (Micciche, Pryor, & Butler, 2000). We wanted to add this sidenote because we don’t want you to think that Monroe’s motivated sequence is a kind of magic persuasive bullet; the research simply doesn’t support this notion. At the same time, research does support that organized messages are perceived as more persuasive as a whole, so using Monroe’s motivated sequence to think through one’s persuasive argument could still be very beneficial.

Below are the basic steps of Monroe’s motivated sequence and the subsequent reaction a speaker desires from his or her audience.

The first step in Monroe’s motivated sequence is the attention step , in which a speaker attempts to get the audience’s attention. To gain an audience’s attention, we recommend that you think through three specific parts of the attention step. First, you need to have a strong attention-getting device. As previously discussed, a strong attention getter at the beginning of your speech is very important. Second, you need to make sure you introduce your topic clearly. If your audience doesn’t know what your topic is quickly, they are more likely to stop listening. Lastly, you need to explain to your audience why they should care about your topic. If this sounds familiar, it should! The attention step uses the same elements as an introduction for any speech: The attention getter, relevance, credibility, thesis statement, and preview.

In the need step of Monroe’s motivated sequence, the speaker establishes that there is a specific need or problem. This will be your first main point. In Monroe’s conceptualization of need, he talks about four specific parts of the need: statement, illustration, ramification, and pointing. First, a speaker needs to give a clear and concise statement of the problem. This part of a speech should be crystal clear for an audience. Second, the speaker needs to provide one or more examples to illustrate the need. The illustration is an attempt to make the problem concrete for the audience. Next, a speaker needs to provide some kind of evidence (e.g., statistics, examples, testimony) that shows the ramifications or consequences of the problem. Lastly, a speaker needs to point to the audience and show exactly how the problem relates to them personally.

Satisfaction

In the third step of Monroe’s motivated sequence, the satisfaction step , the speaker sets out to satisfy the need or solve the problem. This will be your second main point. Within this step, Monroe (1935) proposed a five-step plan for satisfying a need:

Explanation
Theoretical demonstration
Reference to practical experience
Meeting objections

First, you need to clearly state the attitude, value, belief, or action you want your audience to accept. The purpose of this statement is to clearly tell your audience what your ultimate goal is.

Lastly, Monroe recommends that a speaker responds to possible objections. As a persuasive speaker, one of your jobs is to think through your speech and see what counterarguments could be made against your speech and then rebut those arguments within your speech. When you offer rebuttals for arguments against your speech, it shows your audience that you’ve done your homework and educated yourself about multiple sides of the issue.

Visualization

The next step of Monroe’s motivated sequence is the visualization step , in which you ask the audience to visualize a future where the need has been met or the problem solved. This will be your third main point. In essence, the visualization stage is where a speaker can show the audience why accepting a specific attitude, value, belief, or behavior can positively affect the future. When helping people to picture the future, the more concrete your visualization is, the easier it will be for your audience to see the possible future and be persuaded by it. You also need to make sure that you clearly show how accepting your solution will directly benefit your audience.

The final step in Monroe’s motivated sequence is the action step , in which a speaker asks an audience to approve the speaker’s proposal. For understanding purposes, we break the action into two distinct parts: audience action and approval. Audience action refers to direct physical behaviors a speaker wants from an audience (e.g., flossing their teeth twice a day, signing a petition, wearing seat belts). Approval, on the other hand, involves an audience’s consent or agreement with a speaker’s proposed attitude, value, or belief.

This step will be your conclusion. Again, it will have the same elements as a conclusion you would use for any speech.

Application

Now that we’ve walked through Monroe’s motivated sequence, let’s look at how you could use Monroe’s motivated sequence to outline a persuasive speech:

Specific Purpose: To persuade my classroom peers that the United States should have stronger laws governing the use of for-profit medical experiments.

Main Points:

Attention: Want to make nine thousand dollars for just three weeks of work lying around and not doing much? Then be a human guinea pig. Admittedly, you’ll have to have a tube down your throat most of those three weeks, but you’ll earn three thousand dollars a week.
Need: Every day many uneducated and lower socioeconomic-status citizens are preyed on by medical and pharmaceutical companies for use in for-profit medical and drug experiments. Do you want one of your family members to fall prey to this evil scheme?
Satisfaction: The United States should have stronger laws governing the use of for-profit medical experiments to ensure that uneducated and lower-socioeconomic-status citizens are protected.
Visualization: If we enact tougher experiment oversight, we can ensure that medical and pharmaceutical research is conducted in a way that adheres to basic values of American decency. If we do not enact tougher experiment oversight, we could find ourselves in a world where the lines between research subject, guinea pig, and patient become increasingly blurred.
Action: In order to prevent the atrocities associated with for-profit medical and pharmaceutical experiments, please sign this petition asking the US Department of Health and Human Services to pass stricter regulations on this preying industry that is out of control.

This example shows how you can take a basic speech topic and use Monroe’s motivated sequence to clearly and easily outline your speech efficiently and effectively.

Below is a checklist that contains a simple checklist to help you make sure you hit all the important components of Monroe’s motivated sequence.

The following video further details Monroe’s Motivated Sequence outlining each component and providing examples to provide an in-depth understanding of the organizational pattern.

For Future Reference | How to organize this in an outline |

Introduction: Attention Step

Main Point #1: Need Step

Main Point #2: Satisfaction Step

Main Point #3: Visualization Step

Conclusoin: Action Step

Problem-Cause-Solution

Specific Purpose: To persuade my classroom peers that our campus should adopt a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech.

Demonstrate that there is distrust among different groups on campus that has led to unnecessary confrontations and violence.
Show that the confrontations and violence are a result of hate speech that occurred prior to the events.
Explain how instituting a campus-wide zero-tolerance policy against hate speech could stop the unnecessary confrontations and violence.

Comparative Advantages

Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that the Nook is more advantageous than the Kindle.

The Nook allows owners to trade and loan books to other owners or people who have downloaded the Nook software, while the Kindle does not.
The Nook has a color-touch screen, while the Kindle’s screen is black and grey and noninteractive.
The Nook’s memory can be expanded through microSD, while the Kindle’s memory cannot be upgraded.

Key Takeaways

There are three common patterns that persuaders can utilize to help organize their speeches effectively: Monroe’s motivated sequence, problem-cause-solution, and comparative advantage. Each of these patterns can effectively help a speaker think through his or her thoughts and organize them in a manner that will be more likely to persuade an audience.
Alan H. Monroe’s (1935) motivated sequence is a commonly used speech format that is used by many people to effectively organize persuasive messages. The pattern consists of five basic stages: attention, need, satisfaction, visualization, and action. In the first stage, a speaker gets an audience’s attention. In the second stage, the speaker shows an audience that a need exists. In the third stage, the speaker shows how his or her persuasive proposal could satisfy the need. The fourth stage shows how the future could be if the persuasive proposal is or is not adopted. Lastly, the speaker urges the audience to take some kind of action to help enact the speaker’s persuasive proposal.
The problem-cause-solution proposal is a three-pronged speech pattern. The speaker starts by explaining the problem the speaker sees. The speaker then explains what he or she sees as the underlying causes of the problem. Lastly, the speaker proposes a solution to the problem that corrects the underlying causes.
The comparative advantages speech format is utilized when a speaker is comparing two or more things or ideas and shows why one of the things or ideas has more advantages than the other(s).

German, K. M., Gronbeck, B. E., Ehninger, D., & Monroe, A. H. (2010). Principles of public speaking (17th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon, p. 236.

Micciche, T., Pryor, B., & Butler, J. (2000). A test of Monroe’s motivated sequence for its effects on ratings of message organization and attitude change. Psychological Reports, 86 , 1135–1138.

Monroe, A. H. (1935). Principles and types of speech . Chicago, IL: Scott Foresman.

Public Speaking Copyright © by Dr. Layne Goodman; Amber Green, M.A.; and Various is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Problem-Solution Speech [Topics, Outline, Examples]
Learn how to write a problem-solution speech or essay with a clear and organized structure, using the problem-solution outline and methods. Find topics, examples, and tips for different categories and purposes.
Problem Solution Speech Topics, Outline & Examples
Learn how to give a problem solution speech that enumerates various problems and provides possible solutions to them. Find tips on how to develop an outline, use presentation techniques, and choose topics that are relevant and engaging. See examples of problem solution speeches on different issues such as racism, technology, and relationships.
80+ Problem Solution Speech Topics
Learn how to write a problem-solution speech with a clear structure, presentation techniques, and different methods. Find a wide range of topics for social, technology, education, health, and more issues.
PDF PROBLEM-SOLUTION SPEECH TEMPLATE Title
PROBLEM-SOLUTION SPEECH TEMPLATE Title: Topic: General Purpose: "To Inform", "To Persuade", "To Entertain", etc … as assigned Specific Purpose: A single statement that combines your general purpose, your audience, and your intended outcome (the outcome or behavior you want your audience to experience or adopt after
17.3 Organizing Persuasive Speeches
The problem-cause-solution proposal is a three-pronged speech pattern. The speaker starts by explaining the problem the speaker sees. The speaker then explains what he or she sees as the underlying causes of the problem. Lastly, the speaker proposes a solution to the problem that corrects the underlying causes.
Sample Problem-Solution Persuasive Outline
A. Cardiovascular disease, the nation's leading cause of death, is caused by inactivity. 1. Clogged arteries and veins are a result of inactivity. (example) 2. Excess fat also caused by inactivity leads to a higher incidence of heart disease. (Statistically, then, you will die at an earlier age if you do not exercise.)
Problem Solution Speech Topics Ideas: Guide to Successful Writing
Problem solution speech topics ideas are hard to find if you are assigned to deliver a speech. Use the topics below for your oral problem solution presentation. ... before designing a problem-solution speech outline, it would be logical to come up with a topic connected with their area of research or the scope of their interest. There are also ...
PDF Persuasive Speech Outline: Problem-Cause-Solution Format
Persuasive Speech Outline: Problem-Cause-Solution Format I. Introduction: A. Attention Getter: B. Audience Relevance: C. Credibility: D. Thesis and Preview:
How to Write and Structure a Persuasive Speech
First, you'll need to choose a side on a controversial topic, then you will write a speech to explain your position, and convince the audience to agree with you. You can produce an effective persuasive speech if you structure your argument as a solution to a problem. Your first job as a speaker is to convince your audience that a particular ...
70 Custom Problem Solution Speech Topics On Each Subject
In the final part, you should summarize the work on the problem and briefly refer to the solution. Essentials of the Problem Solution Speech. Before you start researching the topic, you should understand what the critical elements of the problem solution speech are. Use them to come up with the speech structure and create an outline: Introduction.
Persuasive speech outline: Monroe's Motivated Sequence in action
Overview of Monroe's 5 step motivation sequence. In developing your persuasive speech outline you will follow these 5 steps: Attention. Grab the audience's attention. Need. Establish there is a problem (need) demanding their attention. Satisfaction. Outline a solution to the problem. Visualization.
Problem-Solution Speech Topics, Structure, & Examples [2024]
253 Easy Problem Solution Speech Topics for 2024. UPD: Feb 16th, 2024. 117,206. 36. Our Experts. can deliver a custom essay. for a mere 11.00 9.35/page 304 qualified. specialists online Learn more. Well, here's the good news: those pesky problem and solution essays can be way better.
PDF SAMPLE Problem-Cause-Solution Speech Outline
Problem-Cause-Solution Speech Outline. Name: Sally Star. Topic: Financial Illiteracy Among College Students. General Purpose: To persuade. Specific Purpose: To persuade my classmates that all college students should be required to take a financial literacy course before graduating. Thesis: Too often, college students graduate without basic ...
Problem-Solution Outline
1. Describe how your solution can be implemented. 2. Explain what actions must be taken now (and later) to solve the problem. 3. Describe the cost, time, and effort needed for the solution. a. Supporting material b. Supporting material CMST 1110: Persuasive Outline B. Explain why your plan will work.
DOC Problem Solution—Organizational Pattern
2 C:\Documents and Settings\Philip Bruschi\My Documents\COM 110 Spring 2009\PERSUASIVE SPEECH (Spch 3) Problem Solution Outline.doc . Title: Problem Solution—Organizational Pattern Author: Preferred Customer Last modified by: Barbara Bruschi Created Date: 3/3/2009 6:43:00 PM
Organizing Persuasive Speeches
The problem-cause-solution proposal is a three-pronged speech pattern. The speaker starts by explaining the problem the speaker sees. The speaker then explains what he or she sees as the underlying causes of the problem. Lastly, the speaker proposes a solution to the problem that corrects the underlying causes.
How to Write a Persuasive Speech Outline in 5 Minutes
Below is a 3-part framework that you could put together for your topic in 5 minutes. Part 1: Establish a problem they care about solving. One of the biggest mistakes public speakers make when trying to convince others of something is that they delve right into their solution. But this is just going to make people cross their arms even tighter.
Organizing and Outlining
For example, if you work on a problem/solution speech, your outline may visually demonstrate that most of your research is located under the "problem" main point, signaling to you that more "solution" research is required. Outlines also assist in reminding speakers to warrant all of their claims.
Organizing Persuasive Messages
Similar to a problem-solution speech, which was covered in Chapter 8, a causal speech describes a general cause and a specific effect. In other words, a causal pattern first addresses some cause and then shares what effects resulted. A causal speech can be particularly effective when the speaker wants to convince their audience of the ...
Problem-Cause-Solution Outline
1 PROBLEM/CAUSE/SOLUTION OUTLINE Name: Session: CMST 1110-(Section #) Title of your Speech: Organizational Pattern: Problem/Cause/Solution General Purpose: (To persuade) Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience to (title of your speech) in (# of main points).
Prob/Solution speech outline
For this speech, we had to identify a problem and propose a solution. I focused on the stigma around mental illness and how we can reduce it. alison speech. Skip to document. ... Prob/Solution speech outline. Course: Public Speaking (CA 103) 30 Documents. Students shared 30 documents in this course. University: Park University. AI Chat. Info ...
Problem-Solution Speech [Topics, Outline, Examples]
When you are allocation to write a problem-solution essay or researching papers, choosing a good topic lives one first-time dilemma you need to work out. The global is full of issues that need to be released or could be perfected upon, and unlike the Konigsberg Bridge problem from the 1700s , best starting them have ampere potential solution.
Politics latest: Headache for Sunak as Tory MPs threaten rebellion over
Tory MPs are threatening to rebel over the government's new housing proposals. Meanwhile, the Scottish government is facing a vote of no confidence this afternoon - and it's PMQs at 12pm.
Monroe's Motivated Sequence, Problem-Solution, Comparative Advantages
This example shows how you can take a basic speech topic and use Monroe's motivated sequence to clearly and easily outline your speech efficiently and effectively. ... Another format for organizing a persuasive speech is the problem-cause-solution format. In this specific format, you discuss what a problem is, what you believe is causing the ...

Problem-Solution Speech [Topics, Outline, Examples]

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Problem Solution Speech Topics, Outline & Examples

Problem-Solution Speech Outline

Introduction

Thesis/Statement of the problem

Cause/Effect

Potential solutions

Call to action

Problem-Solution Presentation Techniques

Problem-Solution Speech Topics

Relationships

Social Issues

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80+ Problem Solution Speech Topics

Problem Solution Method

Introduction:

Thesis Statement:

Cause/Effect:

Solution:

Call to Action:

Problem/Solution Presentation Techniques

Problem-Solution Speech Topics

17.3 Organizing Persuasive Speeches

Monroe’s Motivated Sequence

Satisfaction

Visualization

Problem-Cause-Solution

Comparative Advantages

Key Takeaways

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Problem Solution Speech Topics Ideas

How to Choose a Problem and Make the Essay Interesting

How to Find Solutions

How to Provide Proper Support for Your Argument

The Best Problem Solution Speech Topics for College Students

A List of Problem Cause Solution Persuasive Speech Topics for College Students

Problem Solution Speech on the Topic of Policy Advocacy

I. Introduction

II. Body: The Problem Identification and Solution Proposal

III. Conclusion

Problem Solution Topics for Your Perfect Speech

How to Choose a Proper Problem Solution Speech Topic

List of Speech Topics for Problem-Solution Presentation

Working on the Solution

How to Provide an Outline for a Problem Solution Speech

How to Write and Structure a Persuasive Speech

Writing the Text

Tips for Writing Your Speech

Persuasive speech outline example

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About Monroe's Motivated Sequence

Overview of Monroe's 5 step motivation sequence

Monroe's five steps in more detail

The 5 steps of Monroe's motivation sequence

Step one - attention

Establishing credibility

Credibility statement

Transition - the link from step 1 to step 2

E stablish the need - step 2

Step two – Need

Transition - the link between step 2 and step 3

S atisfy the need - step 3

Step three - Satisfaction

Transition - the link between step 3 and step 4

S ee the future - step 4

Step four - Visualization

Transition - the link from step 4 to step 5

T ake action - step 5

Step five – Action

Sources/references

F itting the standard speech format

Download a persuasive speech outline template

A sample persuasive speech

Persuasive speech topics