What makes motion possible

As a professional registered parliamentarian with the National Association of Parliamentarians, the primary reference for the answers to the questions will be based on Robert's Rules of Order, Newly Revised, 11 th Edition. This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. Parliamentary procedure: How do you handle a motion? Did you find this article useful? Please tell us why Submit. Leaders in Economic Alliance Development: Your first step toward rural regional economic development.

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Find out if you have to tell anybody about your motion before you present it, and if you are required to submit any written documentation of your motion. If you've never been to a board meeting, make it a point to go to one before you present your motion, if possible. You can watch others make motions to become more familiar with the procedure. Check for a form or template. If you are required to submit your motion in writing, your group may have a specific form that you're supposed to use.

Some groups may have basic templates to guide you, even if you're not required to use them. The secretary or another person who takes the minutes of the board meetings also may be able to help you. In the absence of a form or template, structure your written motion so that it includes a title, space for a brief description of the motion, and a proposed resolution. Decide what type of motion you want to make.

There are four basic types of motions: main, subsidiary, privileged, and incidental motions. The type of motion you want to make will determine in part how your motion is worded and structured. Subsidiary and incidental motions relate to another matter of business already before the board, so you typically wouldn't have the opportunity to write these out ahead of time.

Your group may have specific rules for introducing a main motion. For example, you may need to notify the presiding officer of your motion within 24 hours before the meeting takes place. Use clear and concise wording. Motions typically are brief, and describe exactly what action you want the board to take, or what position you want the board to affirm. Use active language and make every word count. On the other hand, you don't want to be too wordy.

Try to strike a happy medium but make sure you've included anything essential. If you have enough time to prepare, it can be helpful to have someone else look over your motion and see if anything can be cut out of it. Be as specific as possible. If your motion is vague, you can significantly decrease the likelihood that the motion will pass. Board members are unlikely to vote for a motion if they don't understand what it means, or if it could be interpreted in multiple ways.

For example, if you want to move that your homeowners' association switches from ABC Landscaping to XYZ Landscaping, you want to list those companies specifically. Part 2. Stand or raise your hand. Before you make your motion, you must be recognized and allowed to speak by the presiding officer. The protocol varies among groups, but generally you will wait until the presiding officer asks for motions and then either stand or raise your hand.

Wait to be recognized. When the presiding officer is ready to hear your motion, they'll point to you or address you by name and let you know that you have the floor. Depending on the procedural conventions of your group, you may stand at your seat or move to the front of the room. State your purpose. When the presiding officer recognizes you, address them by their formal title typically "Chair" or "President". If you're unsure of their official title, listen to what they use when they recognize you.

They typically will refer to themselves in the third person for example, "The Chair recognizes Mr. Start by saying "I would like to propose a motion. In others, you may simply continue stating your motion.

Depending on the rules or customs of your group, you may need to describe the type of motion you want to make here. Introduce your motion. Once you are cleared to proceed, begin by saying "I move" and then state the action that you want the board to take. If you've written your motion, you can read directly from your written document.

Tell the board what you think it should do, not what it should not do. Wait for someone to second your motion.

Most motions must be seconded by another member of the board. This helps ensure that the board doesn't spend meeting time considering a motion that is only important to one person. Someone will stand or raise their hand and say "I second the motion" or simply "I second. Talk to others in the group before the board meeting and tell them about your motion. Regardless, the price did not deter the fascinated public, and the machine became a sensation.

Redheffer was so pleased with his machine and its reception that he lobbied the state of Pennsylvania for funds to build a larger one. On January 21, , the state sent inspectors to investigate before doling out the money. It was then that Redheffer's scheme fell apart. According to Ord-Hume, upon arrival, the inspectors saw that the machine was in a room with a locked door and missing key. They could only view it through a window.

One of the inspectors, Nathan Sellers, had brought along his son, Coleman. Young Coleman noticed that the gears in the machine were not working the way Redheffer claimed they did. The cogs in the gears were worn on the wrong side.

This meant that weights, shaft, and gear were not powering the smaller gear to the side; the smaller gear was powering the larger device.

Nathan Sellers believed his son and determined that the machine was a hoax. Rather than confront Redheffer, however, he hired Isaiah Lukens, a local engineer, to build his own perpetual motion machine, which would look and "work" the same way Redheffer's did, according to Ord-Hume. Lukens constructed a machine that looked like Redheffer's but had a seemingly solid baseboard and a square piece of glass at the top.

Four wooden finials, supposedly decorative, were on top of the glass and attached to the wooden posts. Lukens placed a clockwork motor in the baseboard. One of the finials was, in fact, a winder.

It could be wound and power the motor all day. The motor would turn the shaft, which would power the gears. Sellers and Lukens showed their machine to Redheffer, who was overcome at seeing his fake machine seemingly work for real, according to the University of Houston's website The Engines of Our Ingenuity.

He offered them money to know how it was done. Sellers and Lukens did not denounce him on the spot but rather let news of the hoax spread throughout the Philadelphia. Though Philadelphia was on to Redheffer, the era's slow communication speeds meant that New York was still a target. Redheffer set up his machine again. Again, he drew large crowds.

Among the onlookers was Robert Fulton, an engineer best known for developing the first successful commercial steamboat. Ord-Hume writes that when Fulton saw the machine, he exclaimed, "Why, this is a crank motion! Fulton had noticed that the speed of the machine and the sound it made were uneven, as would be the case if it were being cranked by hand. Some reports state that the machine also wobbled slightly. According to Ord-Hume, Fulton accused Redheffer, who blustered and proclaimed that his machine was real.

Fulton made an offer: Redheffer would let him try to expose the real source of the machine's energy, and if he could not, he would pay for any damage caused in the attempt.