HOW DO YOU PERSUADE SOMEONE THAT YOU ARE RIGHT?
The Tools of Persuasion: Ethos, Logos & Pathos
Ethos: Speaker Credibility
2 Components:
· Competence/Authority: How an audience regards a speaker’s intelligence and knowledge of the subject
· Character: How an audience regards a speaker’s sincerity, trustworthiness, and the goodwill towards the audience
How to Build Credibility:
· Tell the truth
· Keep the information in perspective
· Resist personal attacks against those who oppose your ideas
· Cite the source for all evidence
Logos: Evidence
- Can enhance your credibility
- “Inoculate” your listeners against counter-persuasion
2 Components:
1. Reasons: statements that answer why you should believe an idea or do something. Good reasons:
- Can be supported
- Are relevant to the proposition
- Will have an impact on the intended audience
2. Evidence: factual statements and expert opinions that will support your reasons. Good evidence is:
- Credible
- Recent
- Relevant
Pathos: Emotional Appeal
- Intended to make your audience feel sad, angry, afraid, happy, proud, sympathetic or nostalgic. Examples include:
- Emotionally charged language
- Vivid examples
- Sincerity and conviction
- Appealing to the morals or values of your audience
Methods of Explanation/Elaboration (Logos/Ethos):
Precise Words (Action Verbs, Adjectives, etc.):
Allusions (his Herculean strength):
Anecdotes (One time…):
Definitions:
Descriptions:
Examples/Explanations/Illustrations:
Facts:
Quotations:
Stylistic techniques (Pathos):
1. Listing: three parallel groups of words, usually separated by commas, which create a poetic rhythm or add support for a point, especially when the three word groups have their own modifiers.
Ex. I love playing hide-and-seek with my friends in our woods, jumping rope on the school playground, and swinging on the old tire at Grandma’s.
2. Figurative Language: nonliteral comparisons such as similes, metaphors, and personification add zest to writing and help paint a more vivid picture for the reader.
Ex. My hair is like peach fuzz. (simile) My arms are tree trunks. (metaphor) The tractor trailer belched with delight. (personification)
3. Specific Details for Effect: instead of general, vague descriptions, specific sensory details help the reader visualize or otherwise understand the persona, place, thing, or idea that you are describing.
Ex. My boyfriend sits in the second row from the left, third seat, in front of Claudia and behind John, next to the big window that faces the courtyard.
4. Repetition for Effect: Writers often repeat specially chosen words or phrases to make a point, to stress certain ideas for the reader.
Ex. She said it as though I had my own carriage I could ride any day at the snap of my fingers. She knows I’m only allowed a driver on Sundays. She knows I have to walk down the road and back, and she knows the maid was supposed to hem up that stupid coat—too long and all.
5. Unique Word Choice: sometimes a new way of saying something can make all the difference; hyphenated adjectives can often peak the interest of readers.
Ex. As the principal scolded me for shouting in the halls, I gave my friend Dave one of those I’ll-kill-you-for-this-later looks, silently promising he would pay for making me yell.