Ethos, Pathos, Logos - Lecture notes 1 PDF

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Quratulain Iqbal Lecturer, English Deptt. FUUAST

Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking

2300 years ago, Aristotle wrote down the secret to being a persuasive speaker, the secret which forms the basis for nearly every public speaking book written since then. Do you know the secret? If you don’t, you might be wondering what a 2300-year-old theory has to do with public speaking in the year 2017. In a word — everything!

In this article, you’ll learn what ethos, pathos, and logos are (the secret!), and what every speaker needs to understand about these three pillars of public speaking. What are Ethos, Pathos, and Logos? So, what are ethos, pathos, and logos? In simplest terms, they correspond to:   

Ethos: credibility (or character) of the speaker Pathos: emotional connection to the audience Logos: logical argument Together, they are the three persuasive appeals. In other words, these are the three essential qualities that your speech or presentation must have before your audience will accept your message. Origins of Ethos, Pathos, Logos — On Rhetoric by Aristotle Written in the 4th century B.C., the Greek philosopher Aristotle compiled his thoughts on the art of rhetoric into On Rhetoric, including his theory on the three persuasive appeals. Many teachers of communication, speech, and rhetoric consider Aristotle’s On Rhetoric to be a seminal work in the field. Indeed, the editors of The Rhetoric of Western Thought: From the Mediterranean World to the Global Setting call it “the most important single work on persuasion ever written.” It is hard to argue this claim; most advice from modern books can be traced back to Aristotle’s foundations.

Ethos or the ethical appeal, means to convince an audience of the author’s credibility or character. A speaker would use ethos to show to his audience that he is a credible source and is worth listening to. Ethos is the Greek word for “character.” The word “ethic” is derived from ethos.

Ethos can be developed by choosing language that is appropriate for the audience and topic (also means choosing proper level of vocabulary), making yourself sound fair or unbiased, introducing your expertise or pedigree, and by using correct grammar and syntax. Before you can convince an audience to accept anything you say, they have to accept you as credible. There are many aspects to building your credibility:    

Does the audience respect you? Does the audience believe you are of good character? Does the audience believe you are generally trustworthy? Does the audience believe you are an authority on this speech topic? Keep in mind that it isn’t enough for you to know that you are a credible source. (This isn’t about your confidence, experience, or expertise.) Your audience must know this. Ethos is your level of credibility as perceived by your audience. Example of Ethos: "I will end this war in Iraq responsibly, and finish the fight against al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan. I will rebuild our military to meet future conflicts. But I will also renew the tough, direct diplomacy that can prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons and curb Russian aggression. I will build new partnerships to defeat the threats of the 21st century: terrorism and nuclear proliferation; poverty and genocide; climate change and disease. And I will restore our moral standing, so that America is once again that last, best hope for all who are called to the cause of freedom, who long for lives of peace, and who yearn for a better future." Democratic Presidential Candidate Acceptance Speech by Barack Obama. August 28th, 2008.

Pathos or the emotional appeal, means to persuade an audience by appealing to their emotions. Authors use pathos to invoke sympathy from an audience; to make the audience feel what the author wants them to feel. A common use of pathos would be to draw pity from an audience. Another use of pathos would be to inspire anger from an audience; perhaps in order to prompt

action. Pathos is the Greek word for both “suffering” and “experience.” The words empathy and pathetic are derived from pathos.

Pathos can be developed by using meaningful language, emotional tone, emotion evoking examples, stories of emotional events, and implied meanings. Pathos is the quality of a persuasive presentation which appeals to the emotions of the audience.   

Do your words evoke feelings of … love? … sympathy? … fear? Do your visuals evoke feelings of compassion? … envy? Does your characterization of the competition evoke feelings of hate? contempt? Emotional connection can be created in many ways by a speaker, perhaps most notably by stories. The goal of a story, anecdote, analogy, simile, and metaphor is often to link an aspect of our primary message with a triggered emotional response from the audience. Example of Pathos: "I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive. Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed." I Have a Dream by Martin Luther King Jr. August 28th, 1963.

. Logos or the appeal to logic, means to convince an audience by use of logic or reason. To use logos would be to cite facts and statistics, historical and literal analogies, and citing certain authorities on a subject. Logos is the Greek word for “word,” however the true definition goes beyond that, and can be most closely described as “the word or that by which the inward thought is expressed”. The word “logic” is derived from logos.

Logos can be developed by using advanced, theoretical or abstract language, citing facts (very important), using historical and literal analogies, and by constructing logical arguments. Logos is synonymous with a logical argument.   

Does your message make sense? Is your message based on facts, statistics, and evidence? Will your call-to-action lead to the desired outcome that you promise? Example of Logos: "However, although private final demand, output, and employment have indeed been growing for more than a year, the pace of that growth recently appears somewhat less vigorous than we expected. Notably, since stabilizing in mid-2009, real household spending in the United States has grown in the range of 1 to 2 percent at annual rates, a relatively modest pace. Households' caution is understandable. Importantly, the painfully slow recovery in the labor market has restrained growth in labor income, raised uncertainty about job security and prospects, and damped confidence. Also, although consumer credit shows some signs of thawing, responses to our Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey on Bank Lending Practices suggest that lending standards to households generally remain tight." The Economic Outlook and Monetary Policy by Ben Bernanke. August 27th, 2010.

Which is most important? Ethos? Pathos? or Logos? Suppose two speakers give speeches about a new corporate restructuring strategy.  

The first speaker — a grade nine student — gives a flawless speech pitching strategy A which is both logically sound and stirs emotions. The second speaker — a CEO — gives a boring speech pitching strategy B. Which speech is more persuasive? Is the CEO’s speech more persuasive, simply because she has much more credibility (ethos)?

Some suggest that pathos is the most critical of the three. In You’ve Got to Be Believed to Be Heard, Bert Decker says that people buy on emotion (pathos) and justify with fact (logos). True? You decide. Aristotle believed that logos should be the most important of the three persuasive appeals. As a philosopher and a master of logical reasoning, he believed that logos should be the only required persuasive appeal. That is, if you demonstrated logos, you should not need either ethos or pathos. However, Aristotle stated that logos alone is not sufficient. Not only is it not sufficient on its own, but it is no more important than either of the two other pillars. He argued that all three persuasive appeals are necessary. Is he right? What do you think?...