Aristotle’s Appeals

Aristotle’s Appeals of “Logos”, “Ethos” and “Pathos” have stood the test of time, and are very relevant today, in live and online communication.

Imagine yourself preparing for a TED Talk or a major presentation on Zoom. If you are like most people, you will be dreading this event, at least a bit. Public speaking is the no. 1 fear in the world, trumping the fear of death itself, in many surveys

For this important event, like most people, you may focus on “getting it done well”. To get the speech done well, you may want to start thinking about all the things that need attention in public speaking. You may ask a friend, what should I keep in mind? And she may respond by saying “Be confident”. Of course. And if you continue to listen, she may say “Have good body language”. And “Know your content well beforehand.” Then you ask another friend. and he may add “Leadership Presence” and “eye contact” to the list. And a couple more friends, and the list will go on and on. Soon, you will have jotted a laundry list of items, including “gestures”, “breathing”, “pacing”, “volume”, and so on. Each of these seem important. But the list can keep getting longer the time you have. 

What does this daunting list do to an already stressful speaker? Adds to the stress. So how do we solve for this?

We go back to Aristotelian times. To the three Greek words (literally) mentioned above. The brain can process in three’s. And what Aristotle shared for Greek rhetoric and politics, applies well to public speeches. Let’s break them down Aristotle’s Three Appeals

Logos - The Logical Appeal of your speech / presentation

The content that you share, its structure, and the claims and supports that you make. If the content of your speech is not solid, it won’t resonate. This is intuitive, right?

Ethos - The Appeal through credibility of the speaker

This one is often underestimated. And there is a subtle art to doing this. Some of your credibility is established before you speak, given your background, experience and expertise. But that only lasts so long. You have to find ways to bolster your ethos within your speech. This is not by blurting parts of your resume. Indeed, you want to find the right line between credibility and likeability. We will illustrate ethos in our speeches.

Pathos - The Emotional Appeal of your speech / presentation

Now this does not mean that you need to get “emotional” in every speech or presentation. Indeed, many speeches do not involve a story that easily lends to an emotional outlet or hook for the listener. But I see “pathos” as the string pulling you to your audience (vs to your slides behind you). Basically, everything that you can naturally do outside of your script to connect as a human with your audience. This is different for different people. And the practice of communication is to find what is both natural to you and powerful and/or catalyzing to the audience. As Ben Zander, the Boston Philharmonic Conductor shares in his famous TED Talk, “Who are you being if you are not finding the shine in your audience’s eyes?”

I would argue that any good speech needs all three, and few really resonate without all of them. There are many case studies of famous people, some who have become famous because of their speech, that we watch and hear in my classes to demonstrate these three appeals. And virtually all my students who have resonated well with their audience brought strong logos, ethos and pathos in their recitations.

Logos, Ethos, Pathos. Fancy words for Content, Credibility and Connect. 3 things to check off…and check on…during your preparation. For a speech that resonates. 

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