Rhetoric

The Top 3 Tools that Will Get Your Audience to Say YES!

By Erin FahertyENG 102 at ECTC

Why do YOU do what you do?

Why do you THINK one way vs. another way?

Why do you TRY one product instead of a different one?

What makes you support one CAUSE over another?

What CONVINCES you to take action?

words, a good story,

facts, statistics,strong emotion,

trust, credibility . . .

RHETORIC

Rhetoric is the ART of speaking and writing persuasively.

People use RHETORIC all the time.

And they’ve been doing it for thousands of years. In fact, as far back as 344 BC, a Greek philosopher and teacher named Aristotle identified these tools in spoken

and written arguments that could be used to win agreement.

In other words . . .

It’s the art of getting people to say YES!

Why should I care about rhetorical tools?

What are these rhetorical tools?

LogosPathos

Ethos

Say What ?!/?

Pathos, Logos and Ethos are the key components of argumentative writing . . . the type of writing in which you will

primarily engage while in college and beyond.

Pathos

Using only pathos may turn off some of your readers. They may feel that you are trying to influence their emotions by ignoring factual

evidence.

Can You Guess which rhetorical Tool is used in the following

Examples?

If you said LOGOS, you’re right.

Logos

Facts and statisticsQuotes and anecdotal evidenceDeductive reasoningInductive reasoning

Using only logos may leave your audience feeling cold or disconnected from your stance. It can even sometimes leave them

feeling . . . BORED.

Ethos

If Michael Jordan spoke to U of L’s basketball team, would he have instant credibility?

Why?

. . . Because he’s one of the most famous basketball players of all time.

STREET CRED.

Now what if he spoke to E-town’s Philharmonic about playing a flute . . .?

Not so much . . .

Ethos

Ethos

CREDIBILITY

ExperienceBackgroundEducation

Being thorough in your research

Use them altogether . . .

PATHOS: Emotion

ETHOS: Credibility

LOGOS: logic and facts

. . . for an effective argument.

Let’s review . . .

PATHOS

Appeals to the EMOTION of your audience.

LOGOS

Use LOGIC to appeal to your audience’s need for facts, proof and evidence.

ETHOS

Use your CREDIBILITY to get your audience to TRUST your word and by extension be swayed by your argument.

Using these tools effectively will make you a better writer and speaker. Understanding and using pathos, logos and ethos will give

you the ability to convince your audience to say YES!

The END

Photos from FLKR, Creative Commons license