Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Persuasive Words


     I didn’t think I would learn that much from my class, Interpersonal Communication, but you know, I have learned something once again. I knew about people being persuasive through speech, but did you know that the Greek philosopher, Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), described three forms of rhetorical proof. Rhetorical proof are ways to support a persuasive argument. Aristotle explained that persuasive messages could be supported by appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos. Let me explain these three appeals.
1)      Appealing to Ethos:
      Don’t you think that a speaker who appears to be trustworthy and respectable is more persuasive than another speaker who is not? The term, ethos, was used by Aristotle to refer to a speaker’s trustworthiness, respectability, and moral personality. This is why speakers reinforce their ethos since they know it will enhance their abilities in persuasiveness.
2)      Appealing to Pathos:
      Don’t you agree that most people run on emotions? When people are emotionally aroused, then new ideas are raised and enhanced. Pathos was referred to listeners’ emotions since emotions are a major persuasive tool.
3)      Appealing to logos:
Don’t you agree that people use their ability of reasoning? Humans have the capability to sort out what’s right, what’s wrong, and what makes sense. People are more inclined to go towards reasoning in their particular belief, behavior, and opinion level. But, logical appeals aren’t always effective when it comes down to an addiction, which influences and alters a person’s behavior. As you may have guessed, logos refers to a listener’s ability to reason. But, what does reason really mean? Reason means to think, understand, and form judgments, which in all, is a process of logic.
     I knew that persuasiveness does involve a lot of work, but it involves a lot more than I thought. Well, at least I learned the three areas that it involves in. Maybe I’ll be better at persuading others now…..well, I’ll work on that. I’m too shy to even really talk. So the shyness needs to go first, then the persuading techniques will come next. 


     If you want to learn more about Aristotle's persuasion theory, here are a few websites to check out:


          http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/ethos-pathos-logos/

          http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-rhetoric/

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