Motivation can be defined as exciting the mind of the student to receive the instruction. Excitement, interest, and enthusiasm toward learning are the primary objectives in motivation. College professors need strategies to reduce student boredom and enhance student motivation. Students will learn what they want to learn and will have difficulty learning material that does not interest them. The understanding of motivational theory centers on the work of the psychologist, Abraham Maslow. Maslow's (1943) view of motivation is based on a hierarchy of needs, structured from the lowest to the highest: (1) basic physiological needs, (2) security and safety, (3) social affiliation, and (4) esteem and self-actualization. College professors need to take these student needs into consideration when planning their motivational strategies. According to J. P. Raffini (1993), unless students have adequately satisfied their biological needs for food, water, sleep, and temperature regulation, it is unlikely that they will become interested in the division of fractions or the rhyme scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet. Through teacher-student interaction, college professors can become aware of the physiological needs of the students that are not being met. Strategies particularly applicable to communication courses would include the following: (1) getting to know students personally; (2) using a variety of approaches in the classroom; and (3) helping each student attain some degree of success. (Contains 24 references.) (TB)