Once you have captured our attention, you must give us a reason to listen to the speech. Why do we need this information? Why do we need to give 6-9 minutes of our very busy lives to you? The motivational link answers the question “what’s in it for me?” for your audience. You need to give them something that they both want to know and need to know. In order to accomplish this task, you need to do think very carefully about your audience analysis. How can you connect to these people specifically based on what you know about them?

Your audience analysis sheets will be invaluable here. You need to study this information carefully in order to craft your speech to the specific needs of your audience. How can you manage your topic so it relates to everyone out there? On some topics, this is a very easy process. On other topics, you need to very specifically tell your audience why they should be listening to this information. 

This is no time to be subtle.  If you lose your audience here, you may as well not give the rest of the speech.  Be specific.  Tell them exactly why this information will be vital to them.  How will this relate to each of them specifically.

This should be the second part of your introduction represented at roman numeral #2.

Test yourself: Where does the motivational link appear on the sample outline we discussed in class? How does the speaker make the topic connect to the audience? How is it represented on the outline?

Thesis