In their book You've Only Got Three Seconds, Camille Lavington and Stephanie Losee (1997), in a section entitled "Preparing a Speech", explain how you can lead listeners through a decision-making process that ends with their endorsement of your plan. The structure of the interaction between audience and speaker should proceed through seven steps: listen, assess, bridge, adapt, acknowledge, empower, and endorse. As you read Lavington and Losee's description of pitching a fund-raising strategy to a philanthropic organization, compare and contrast their series of steps with those of the motivated sequence:

Now we're looking at this process from the point of view of a member of the audience rather than that of the speaker. A board member first listens to the new strategy. He then assesses whether the plan will preserve the dignity of the cause while attracting enough dollars to finance the next year's activities. The board member thinks about previous fund-raising drives and wonders whether the new campaign will be a bridge from the previous one; will the continuity of the charity's image be broken by departing from what worked in the past? He then recognizes how to adapt one aspect of the fund drive to make it fly (you've got him here!). As he discusses his ideas with the presenter, he acknowledges the merits of the strategy. Satisfied that the changes he's requested will be made, he empowers the presenter by outlining the resources he'll devote to the effort. After the presentation has ended, he puts his political power behind the new fund-raising drive to demonstrate his endorsement.

Source: C. Lavington, and S. Losee, You've Only Got Three Seconds: How to Make the Right Impression in Your Business and Social Life. (New York: Doubleday, 1997).

1		Does the motivated sequence view the process of persuasion from the point of view of the speaker or the point of view of the audience? What support do you have for this position? Which point of view makes more sense for persuaders? Why?
2		Could a speaker use the motivated sequence and still attain or cover all the steps in the sequence above?
3		Is the system described above simple and easy to understand, or is it too complex? Justify your answer.
4		Let's say you have a new study method that, if followed, will guarantee students A's in their courses. We'll call it "The Complete Study System." Using this topic, trace the steps (as presented above) that your listeners would follow to achieve endorsement of your ideas. Can Lavington and Losee's steps be adapted to listeners in a classroom situation?