Aristotle’s theory of rhetoric and persuasion

In his work “Rhetoric,” Aristotle (384-322 BC) presents the three principles of effective communication and persuasion. He names them “ethos,” “pathos,” and “logos.” “Ethos” refers to the persuasive appeal of the speaker’s own personality. If a speaker possesses credibility, trustworthiness, and charisma, he can influence the audience more easily. Aristotle called for speakers to cultivate their “ethos” day in and day out. A speaker can gain influence in his community if his actions demonstrate wisdom and virtue. A good reputation creates goodwill that will benefit the speaker whenever he calls his audience to action. By “pathos”, Aristotle meant the appeal to the audience’s emotions. Salespersons and professional speakers know how to make compelling, memorable presentations. Their objective is to evoke emotions in their listeners, so that their decisions and actions go in a certain direction. In contrast, “logos” focuses on cold logic. Aristotle advised speakers to employ arguments based on evidence, rationality, and experience. The more consistent an argument, the stronger its persuasiveness. What are the applications of rhetoric? In Ancient Greece, it was employed in debates (deliberative rhetoric), in court cases (forensic rhetoric) and in ceremonies such as weddings, burials and prize awards (epideictic rhetoric). Nowadays, teaching and commerce are the primary fields of application. Professors and salespersons must employ rhetoric each day in their presentations. Otherwise, students will fail to grasp lessons and customers will fail to place orders. Aristotle also recommended speakers to engage in a dialogue with their audience. Instead of presenting a complete argument based on logic (“logos”), you may want to present only its key premises and let the audience draw the conclusion. When people draw their own conclusion, they will believe it more strongly than if they had heard it from the speaker. If you let them come up with the missing piece in an argument, they’ll end up persuading themselves. Effective speakers combine the ethos, pathos, and logos in various percentages. While professors primarily employ the ethos and logos, salespersons will rely mostly on pathos; and attorneys, on logos. In his “Rhetoric,” Aristotle was focusing on the spoken and written word. His focus on words is understandable because, in Ancient Greece, a speaker addressing a large audience would have little use for non-verbal communication. If you are speaking to a thousand people in an amphitheatre, most of them will be barely able to see your facial expression. Your tone, what you say, and how loud you say it, will make a larger impression than your non-verbal communication. Non-verbal aspects gain relevance in close-quarter debates, sales presentations and video transmissions that relay details to the audience. In those cases, it’s crucial that the speaker’s facial expression and body language are aligned with his message. Here is the link to the original article: https://johnvespasian.com/aristotles-theory-of-rhetoric-and-persuasion/