Saturday morning greek for beginners… 🤣🤓

OK, geek alert… 🚨 ‼️ 

The ancient philosopher Aristotle described 3 modes of persuasion thousands of years ago… Way back in the 4th century B.C.E.

These are still very true! Good old Greek philosophers, nothing like an easy read on a Saturday morning…

Aristotle understood the power of the 3 modes of persuasion and wrote the famous book “Rhetoric”, in which he defined 3 Greek words.

1.  Logos, means reason and it is an appeal to logic. 
2. Pathos, means experience or sadness and it is an appeal to emotion.
3. Ethos, means character and it is an appeal to moral principles. 

As a leader you need to prove you are worthy to lead. To do so, you need to convince people of your vision. 

A great example of a speech utilizing the full spectrum of Logos, Pathos and Ethos is Steve Jobs’s well-known “How to live before you die” speech at the Stanford Commencement Address in 2005. In it he told people to do what they were passionate about. “Life is not so long, after all”.

Logos

Logos is about presenting a logical argument, or at least a reasonable simulation of one.

It focuses on the details/facts of the message presented to make it credible. It conveys factual or documented aspects of the subject matter at hand.

Logos appeals to the human nature for things to make sense. We want facts, figures, structure. We want data from credible sources to back up what is being said, so we can believe it.

Examples of logos

Obvious examples of logos is often seen in politics. Politicians routinely cite statistics to back up their political agenda. These facts and figures declare the urgency of their political message.

A one-for-one, “if A then B”, comparison can have a big rhetorical impact, e.g. “Prohibition of alcohol failed in the 1920s, so it will also fail for marijuana”…

Pathos

By generating an emotional response, pathos appeals to happiness, pity, anger, and/or fear. All those powerful feelings.

The use of pathos is effective because humans are emotional beings. Crafting a story with emotional appeal strongly  influences the message.

Pathos creates empathy with your point of view. That’s why it’s so important to imbue rhetoric with an emotional tone. Think about it as the dynamics of voice and speed of words in the message delivered.

Examples of pathos

Anecdotes are one common example of pathos. Conveying the inner experience of an everyday event, you put yourself on the same level as your audience.

Consider when someone tells a story about airport security or flying economy in the middle seat. Dealing with tight economic times. Speaking about childhood turmoil or the death of family members.

These are all super relatable. So of course, politicians and public figures use anecdotes to affect pathos all the time.

In the earlier mentioned video Steve Jobs talks about his upbringing and college years:

•  He was adopted by working class parents. 
• His unwed biological mother couldn’t take care of him. But she made sure his adoptive parents would send him to college.
• When he got to college, he felt guilty for using his parents money. They had sacrificed and saved, yet he had no idea what he wanted to do. So he dropped out. 
• To make ends meet, he returned coke bottles for the deposit. 
• He sat in on college classes he was truly interested in. 
• He slept on the floor of his friend’s dorm room. 

In the end, it all worked out!

Steve ends the story with the following emotional appeal:

"Believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leaves you off the well-worn path. And that will make all the difference."

Most people understand being broke. Being scared and confused. Being guilty. 

So the story appeals by stirring empathy. 

The mythical Steve was human after all. He’s dealt with the exact same issues as the audience he addresses. 

He tells the audience to trust their “gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever”. 

It can be scary to follow passion, but it’s important to do so no matter what. His hardship ended in success, after all.

Later in the speech Steve mentions how he was fired from Apple. The company he spent most of his adult life building. He was eventually re-hired, and when he gave this speech, he was the CEO of Apple once more.

But mentioning this event makes him look humble. Everyone can relate to failure! 😞 

After hearing the college dropout and Apple firing stories, we can identify emotionally with him. All this pathos make us more likely to accept his rhetoric.

Another means of conveying pathos is through humor. Think about satirical comedy where jokes can be used to present political arguments. If the audience smile or laugh, it shows your rhetoric is working.

Great examples of why dynamics of how you deliver a message is important, and how you can go from slow and calm to very enthusiastic to really bring power to the message delivered:

Al Pacino - “Inches” speech - “Any given Sunday” (1999)

Mel Gibson - “William Wallace” - “Motivational/Freedom Speech” - “Braveheart” (1995)

Ethos

Ultimately, ethos is all about trust. It’s about establishing credibility, so you can be convincing. 

It’s about presenting an argument with ethical appeal, hence the word “ethics” is derived from ethos.

To get people to listen, you need to be seen as an experienced and moral figure, who come across as intelligent and trustworthy. 

When effectively used, ethos solidify that you are a reliable source of information.

Ethos forms the bedrock of any rhetorical argument.

Examples of Ethos

Say you read an article about climate change written by a scientist. They have a doctorate from a prestigious institution. Many awards and years of experience. You will be inclined to trust what they are saying is at least worth reading. And you may well find some merit in their argument.

Now think about those times you go against your better wisdom and “read the comments” on YouTube, Facebook, etc.

We might listen to someone we consider amoral or under-informed out of fascination. But we won’t buy what they’re selling. That is because they lack ethos. And ethos appeals to our fundamental need for credible authority.

As an example Steve crafts a powerful appeal to ethos in two ways.

1. The fact of his incredible success. Jobs played instrumental roles not only at Apple, but also NeXT and Pixar. These broad entrepreneurial achievements are mentioned in his speech. They give him unimpeachable credibility. But even more important is the way he tells the story of his humble origins and unorthodox path to success. He speaks about dropping out of college and studying calligraphy. How none of this made much sense at the time from a practical perspective. But later on, it helped him work on font design and branding at Apple.
2. He moves on to speak about the ups and downs of his professional experience. How he was fired from Apple. How he moved between companies, never settling. We see that he has been successful, despite dealing with adversity. And despite some of his decisions that seemed suspect at the time. He furthers his authority on “life” by talking about confrontation with death. He describes his pancreatic cancer diagnosis and recovery, and how death helps life by being its antithesis. The experience validated his choices, because it reminded him that change is inevitable. You will die someday, and nobody knows when. So you should do what you’re passionate about now, while you can. He drives this home by saying “your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life”. He tells a story that builds up a trustworthy persona. By bringing himself down to the level of the audience, he becomes relatable. By speaking of unorthodox success, he becomes credible.

Ethos has 3 subsets to it:

•  Phronesis is the wisdom or intelligence you have. By establishing your general aptitude and ability, you engage with your audience and build trust... Think about it as “common sense”.
• Arete is the general moral virtue or charity of your argument…. Think about it as approachability and “beer 🍺 thermometer 🌡️”, i.e. “a decent person”
• Eunoia is the goodwill you establish with the audience… Think about it as being Altruistic

Kairos

Last but not least there’s kairos. Just to make things interesting. 😁

Kairos means “opportune moment”. It reflects the importance of setting and time. ⏰ 

Ethos, pathos, and logos each have their virtues. But Aristotle also emphasized “right place, right time”. And right means of expression to reach your audience too. 

Rhetoric exists within a particular context. It thus lives or dies based on how appropriate it meets the demands of its moment.

Presented to the wrong audience, the prettiest speech will be immediately forgotten.

Serendipity is not to be taken lightly. Nor is the fleeting nature of time, and the difficulty of “striking when the iron is hot”.

To take advantage of kairos, it may even be necessary to engineer new conditions before making your rhetorical appeal.

Kairos is undoubtedly the most slippery piece of Aristotle’s rhetorical puzzle. But the basic takeaway is digestible enough:

• Examine your situation carefully before acting!

 Consider your timing and the way you’ve organized your rhetoric. Make sure to accommodate context, and adapt if need be. Think about the changes that might take place in the time between crafting your text and presenting it.

 Summary

Red, green, and blue make up all the colors of the rainbow. In the same way, ethos, pathos, and logos make up all the rhetorical appeals that are possible.

And understanding rhetorical strategies is important. Whether you’re on social media or in a business context. 

It provides clarity of why people listen.

The means of persuasion are few. The applications are many.

The simplified Moller version

Ethos always beats Logos ‼️ 

Logos = Logic/Facts

Pathos = Experience & Empathy (The beer thermometer, i.e. likelihood that you’ll enjoy a casual conversation and a beer with someone)

Ethos = Trust/Trustworthy

• Phronesis = “Showing common sense”.
• Arete = “Being a decent person”
• Eunoia = “Being Altruistic”

Kairos = Timing

Any good elevator pitch is short concise and incl. all 3 and is delivered at the right time and right place…

If you are Danish you might enjoy these 2 podcasts….

How to become more convincing

How to deliver your message as Al Pacino