How can you balance ethos, pathos, and logos in a blog post to build trust and engagement?

How can you balance ethos, pathos, and logos in a blog post to build trust and engagement? Ethos, pathos, and logos are three modes of persuasion that can help you appeal to your audience and make your arguments more convincing. In this article, you will learn what each mode means, how to use it effectively, and some examples of how other bloggers have applied them in their posts.

1 What is ethos, pathos, and logos?

Ethos, pathos, and logos are terms that come from the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who studied how people communicate and persuade others. Ethos refers to the credibility and character of the speaker or writer, pathos to the emotions and values of the audience, and logos to the logic and evidence of the argument. By using these three modes, you can establish your authority, connect with your readers, and support your claims.

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Tom Popomaronis

Innovation Leader | GenAI Expert Building Custom ‘Agents’ | HBR Contributor | 40 Under 40 | Host of TomTalks🎤
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As a Greek Entrepreneur, I live by this! Ethos, pathos, and logos are definitely persuasive appeals that can be used to effectively communicate with and persuade an audience. Ethos establishes credibility and expertise, pathos appeals to emotions and values, and logos uses logic and evidence. By incorporating all three appeals into your communication, you can establish trust, connect with your audience, and effectively support your arguments.

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2 How to use ethos in your blog post

Ethos is about building trust and rapport with your audience. You can use ethos to demonstrate your knowledge, reliability, and ethics in your topic. To do this, you can introduce yourself and your credentials or experience in the field, cite reputable sources and experts to back up your points, use a professional and respectful tone and language, address potential objections or counterarguments, and admit your limitations or biases and be honest about them.

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3 How to use pathos in your blog post

Pathos is a powerful tool for engaging your audience's emotions and values. You can use storytelling and anecdotes to illustrate your points, as well as vivid and descriptive language and imagery to create a mood. Additionally, rhetorical questions and exclamations can provoke a reaction, while humor, irony, or sarcasm can make a point. Finally, emotional appeals and calls to action can motivate your readers.

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Terry Rice

Uncage your SAVAGE alter-ego | Own your Legacy, Defy Normal and Live Freely | Lifestyle Design Coach, Keynote Speaker, Brand Partner, Youth Sports Coach and Father of 5.
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I always pretend nobody cares until I give them a reason to. This forces me to learn my audience's attention as opposed to taking it for granted.

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4 How to use logos in your blog post

Logos is about presenting a clear and logical argument. You can use facts, statistics, and data to prove your points, as well as examples and analogies to explain them. Additionally, you can use syllogisms and deductive reasoning to draw conclusions, inductive reasoning and generalizations to make inferences, and comparisons and contrasts to highlight differences and similarities. All of these techniques can help you show that your claims are valid, reasonable, and supported by evidence in your blog post.

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Amanda Reill

Aspiring Wise Old Woman | Author-Harvard Business Review | ICF-Certified Coach | Ghostwriter | Corporate Retreats |
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I try to be extra mindful of using too many words in a sentence when I'm trying to build a logical argument. The general rule in writing is that you can almost always cut your first draft in half, and I find this especially true when appealing to logos! You don't want your audience to get lost in filler words.

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5 Examples of ethos, pathos, and logos in blog posts

To understand how other bloggers have used ethos, pathos, and logos in their posts, here are some examples from different niches and topics. Notice how they combine the three modes to create a persuasive and engaging blog post. Adam Enfroy's post, "How to Start a Blog in 2021: Easy Guide to Create a Blog for Beginners," uses ethos by demonstrating the author's expertise and success in blogging, pathos by sharing his personal story and challenges, and logos by providing step-by-step instructions and screenshots. Ramit Sethi's post, "Why You Should Never Use a Debit Card to Pay for Anything," uses ethos by citing the author's credentials and best-selling book, pathos by using humor and sarcasm to mock debit card users, and logos by giving facts and examples of how debit cards are inferior to credit cards. Jerry Jenkins' post, "How to Write a Novel: A Simple Process for Beating Writer's Block," uses ethos by mentioning the author's experience and awards as a novelist, pathos by empathizing with the reader's struggles and fears, and logos by offering a practical and proven method for writing a novel.

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Meiko S. Patton

🐝 Tell Your Story with AI
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You can use ethos, pathos, and logos to make your writing more persuasive and engaging for your audience. Here's how: Start with a hook that captures your audience's attention and creates an emotional connection. Use storytelling (our brains love stories) to illustrate your points and make them more relatable. Use visuals, such as charts or images, to support your arguments and break up text. Use language that is clear and concise, avoiding technical jargon or overly complicated explanations. Provide actionable tips or advice to help your audience apply what they've learned.

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Krister Axel

Full-Stack Web | Database Engineer | Ruby | Python | AWS | 20+ years | Took a startup to exit in 8 years as founding engineer.
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Admittedly it was years ago, but I went through an entire curriculum as an undergraduate writing student with almost no discussion whatsoever of pathos, logos, or ethos. The discussions we had were primarily around voice and authenticity. You could say that an authentic voice is primarily undergirded by a sense of ethos, but I think it's worth pointing out that this framing presupposes the attempt to convince someone of something—these are tools of persuasion, which is an extension of the sales mind set. Call me old school, but I still think of writing as a form of art. So to the writers that are just starting out, I always say: find your voice. Say something unique and interesting. Connecting with an audience can come later.

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How can you balance ethos, pathos, and logos in a blog post to build trust and engagement?

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1 What is ethos, pathos, and logos?

2 How to use ethos in your blog post

3 How to use pathos in your blog post

4 How to use logos in your blog post

5 Examples of ethos, pathos, and logos in blog posts

Writing

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How can you balance ethos, pathos, and logos in a blog post to build trust and engagement?

1

2

3

4

5

1 What is ethos, pathos, and logos?

2 How to use ethos in your blog post

3 How to use pathos in your blog post

4 How to use logos in your blog post

5 Examples of ethos, pathos, and logos in blog posts

Writing

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