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The intent of this article is to be a guide for students who want to become persuasive. This reference guide uses the classical conception of persuasion as devised by Aristotle. Aristotle’s persuasive concepts have withstood the test of time, and are still as relevant today as effective, perhaps the most effective persuasion techniques. These are so effective because they satisfy the necessary and most salient elements behind what we find persuasive in our human nature. The strongest arguments have all three of these persuasion characteristics discussed below.In life, we make arguments all the time, in order to convince people of various things, from the trivially important to the most dire. We try to convince our parents, our teachers, our bosses, and our friends, etc. In many of these domains we will need to establish ourselves as trustworthy and as having character, and in others we won’t (because it’s already established). But it’s necessary to know all three of these facets of persuasion discussed in this guide in order to maximize your powers of persuasion. How To Be Persuasive in Making ArgumentsAristotle described three aspects to produce a persuasive argument: What do they mean?
These three argumentation tactics are found in his work Rhetoric (written 350 B.C.). Read Aristotle’s Rhetoric in full here: Ethos: The Character of the SpeakerEthos is a Greek word meaning “character”. Ethos is where we get the word “ethic”. The relevant questions that Ethos is answering is “Is this person who is making the argument worth listening to?” “Does this person have good character and should I pay attention to what they’re saying?” The speaker’s character is the first thing to establishEthos is the first tenet, because it has to be established first, before (or at the beginning of) the argument being made. Establishing the good character and trustworthiness of the speaker up front, at the beginning of the argument, is crucial.If a person’s character isn’t established right up front, then their argument, however sound, might be lost on the listener. The listener has not been properly introduced to the speaker’s Ethos or character, and may not be investing their attention and effort to engage in the argument. The more complicated the argument, then all the more attention and effort that would be required by the listener. So all the more necessary and important to establish good character before making an argument. How to establish good characterWe all have a good idea of what constitutes good character, and what these traits are, such as proper motives, honesty (with no deception or ulterior motives behind making the argument). Pathos: The Emotional AppealThe emotional appeal of the argument, as it’s felt and experienced by the listener. It’s an emotional appeal, through the argument, to their inner emotional nature and emotional intelligence. This is done, not in contradiction or in replacement of the argument’s logical content, but in addition to it. The purpose is to persuade. Emotional import and appeal is very effective in persuading the listener.One way to accomplish this, is to appeal to the listener’s moral sensibilities, such as their sense of justice (or injustice), freedom, dignity (or indignity), and the like. Another important way to accomplish this is to have solidarity and commonality with the listener, and they we are all experiencing the same things, and labor under the same human conditions and hardships and triumphs. This establishes a kind of emotional alignment. But you still need actual logical content within the argument. The argument cannot consist of Ethos and Pathos alone, without Logos, or else it is vacuous. Logos is the actual content of the argument itself. Logos: The Content of the ArgumentThe argument needs to be coherent and understandable. This is what drives the argument home. This is the actual content of the argument; the main position that is being put forward in the argument. This includes the premises, and conclusions. These need to hang together and be logically sound. So it’s important to avoid logical fallacies, which can derail your argument. See our article The Top 10 Most Common Logical Fallacies. The best way to be persuasive is to be develop these three persuasion tactics to the best of your ability. And then use them to improve them and hone them over time: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Provide the listener with these three things: Are you a good person who should be regarded and listened-to. Back to top What are the 3 persuasive techniques?Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Ethos is the character of the speaker making the argument. Pathos is the emotional import of the argument on its listener. Logos is the logical content of the argument. Back to top How do you develop persuasive skills?Learn the three persuasion tactics of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos, and how to implement them into your arguments when trying to persuade people. Establish trust, make the argument have emotional appeal to the listener, and keep the argument sound logically. The best way to develop persuasive skills is to learn these three tenets and practice them. Back to top What makes a person persuasive?What makes a person persuasive is their bona fides and good character to be listened to in making the argument, the emotional appeal and import of their argument upon the listener and how it impacts them on an emotional level, and then third is the soundness of the argument logically. Back to top Persuasive speaking is a skill that you can apply regularly throughout your life, whether you are selling a product or being interviewed. 2,300 years ago, Aristotle determined the components needed for persuasive speaking. They are referred to as the three pillars of persuasion - ethos, pathos and logos. In this article, we discuss how to use the three pillars for public speaking. What are ethos, pathos and logos?Ethos, pathos and logos are modes of persuasion used to convince and appeal to an audience. You need these qualities for your audience to accept your messages.
Ethos - The Ethical AppealEthos is Greek for "character" and "ethic" is derived from ethos. Ethos consists of convincing your audience that you have good character and you are credible therefore your words can be trusted. Ethos must be established from the start of your talk or the audience will not accept what you say. In fact, ethos is often established before your presentation, for example, you may be the CEO of the company you're presenting to so you're already perceived as a specialist. Why is ethos important?
Characteristics of ethosThere are four main characteristics of ethos:
1. Trustworthiness and respectThe audience are more likely to be respect you and think that what you're saying is true if they perceive you as trustworthy. This judgement is formed using factors such as:
2. Similarity to the audienceListeners are more likely to be convinced by someone they can relate to. For example, you may share:
If you do not share traits with your audience you can choose to adjust your:
But don't do too much as your listeners will seen you as not being genuine. Tony Robbins, a well known authority in the life coaching space, giving a TED Talk on ‘Why we do what we do’. 3. AuthorityIf the audience perceive that you are an expert they are more likely to be persuaded by what you say. Remember that every presenter has authority because they are the speaker. For example:
4. Expertise and reputationExpertise is your knowledge of the subject. Reputation is what your audience knows about your knowledge of the subject. Reputation depends on:
Merging the four characteristics of ethosNot all of characteristics have to be present to develop high ethos, for example, a university lecturer speaking to her students is most likely perceived as trustworthy as the lecturer is known to provide correct information, she has authority over the 18-21 year olds due to her job title and her age. But she's not similar to her students because of this. She has been working in this area for 30 years and at the university for 5 years (expertise) and has contributed largely to the area through a number of studies and subsequent papers (reputation). This is enough ethos for the audience to be persuaded by what she says. Another person, such as a manager addressing her employees may have a different combination of these traits but still have enough ethos. It's hard to achieve complete ethos, especially considering that having authority often reduces similarity. Improve ethosAuthority and reputation are usually predetermined before your presentation so it's difficult to change the audience's mind about this. But it's easier to change people's perception about how trustworthy and how alike you are during the presentation. Improve ethos day to day:
Improve ethos before a speech:
Telling personal stories during a presentation is a great way to increase ethos. Increase ethos during a speech:
Improve ethos after the presentation
Pathos - The Emotional AppealPathos is Greek for suffering and experience. Empathy, sympathy and pathetic are derived from pathos. Pathos is to persuade by appealing to the audience's emotions. As the speaker, you want the audience to feel the same emotions you feel about something, you want to emotionally connect with them and influence them. If you have low pathos the audience is likely to try to find flaws in your arguments. Why is pathos important?Emotions are motivators so the audience is more likely to be persuaded and act on your requests by using pathos. Pathos is more likely to increase the chances of your audience:
Example of pathos during a speech Girls Who Code Founder Reshma Saujani explains how one of her students created an algorithm to detect false positives in breast cancer testing after her dad was diagnosed with cancer. Watch the full video here: Why We Need Women in Tech Improving pathos
Logos - The Logical AppealThe word “logic” is derived from logos. Logos is to appeal to logic by relying on the audience's intelligence and offering evidence in support of your argument. Logos also develops ethos because the information makes you look knowledgeable. Ask the following questions to decide if you have achieved logos:
Why is logos important?Essentially, logical arguments that make sense are not easily dismissed. Improving logos
Be comprehensive
Engage the audience by asking them questions during your speech to increase logos. Be logical
The audience are using both types of reasoning as you speak, so their beliefs may interfere with them accepting your conclusions. Overcome these by building your argument on the audience's widely held beliefs - commonplaces. For example, a company's main value and therefore commonplace may be "Compassion makes us the best company". Use the audience's commonplace like a fact and apply it to a new situation. So if you want to encourage your staff to join a committee, use their commonplace, for example, rather than your belief say: "This committee needs considerate and kind-hearted people." Be specific
There is uncertainty over which pillar is the most important - Aristotle thought that logos was vital but when used by itself it lacks impact. So ensure that you treat all three pillars with equal importance to succeed in persuading your audience. |