Aristotle’s Classic Means of Persuasion
Leaders need to be able to influence and persuade audiences numbering from 1 - 1000. It’s amazing to me that even today, the most taught method of of persuasion is that of Aristotle’s classic rhetoric framework. I recently studied this in depth and embrace it’s simplicity.
Aristotle’s means of persuasion is broken down into three segments:
Logo: the logic of the idea; to persuade by reason and facts (e.g. data).
A. Very different evidence is found persuasive by different audiences, so tailor your evidence to the audience.
B. Don’t overload the audience with excessive evidence.
Pathos: the emotion of the audience; to draw others to your side.
A. Use illustrations and moving pictures in your message.
B. If a pitch permits the use of music, that’s pathos at an emotional level.
C. Use specific and concrete examples.
D. Include demonstrations.
E. Couple compelling questions with the message.
F. Use analogies and metaphors.
G. Share first-person accounts and your own emotions.
F. Communicate with storytelling
Ethos: the character and credentials of the speaker; an appeal to the ethics and values to influence.
A. Credibility depends on credentials, so it is important to communicate what you’ve done and where you’ve been.
B. Morality is a fundamental factor for determining a person’s character; people prefer moral and incompetent over immoral and competent.
C. Any similarity that the audience can draw from the speaker plays a huge role in boosting the speaker’s ethos.
D. It’s better to prefer objectivity over being a committed advocate.
An important point is not to drown your audience with data. Covey the key points and let the audience grasp them. Authenticity is crucial so pay close attention to ethos and even closer and deliberately to pathos. Use humor and convey a bond with the audience. Humans connect with other humans not robots, not those who look only at their notes and not at them. Let the audience know you’re speaking to them and what you’re speaking about is specific to them.
