Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking (Flashback Friday #5)
On Fridays, we dip into the article archive and emerge with one of the most memorable articles. We’ll dust it off, shine a light on it, and consider it from a new perspective.
Today’s Flashback Article
This week, our time capsule returns to January 2010, when we began our 7-article series on the 2300-year-old theory of ethos, pathos, and logos:
So, what are ethos, pathos, and logos?
In simplest terms, they correspond to:
- Ethos: credibility (or character) of the speaker
- Pathos: emotional connection to the audience
- Logos: logical argument
Together, they are the three persuasive appeals. In other words, these are the three essential qualities that your speech or presentation must have before your audience will accept your message.
- Ethos, Pathos, Logos - Introduction
- Ethos - Speaker Credibility
- Pathos - Emotional Connection
- Logos - Logical Argument
Years ago, I viewed the “persuasive speech” as something rare and unconnected from the majority of my speaking (which would best be described as informative speaking). With the help of this article series, I realized that persuasion is a dimension of nearly every speaking opportunity we have (and every writing opportunity too).
Over the years, this has been the most-read article series on Six Minutes. It is wonderful to hear from professors and teachers each year who incorporate some or all of this article series into their curriculum.
Read the article series, and let me know whether it changes your perspectives about persuasive speaking:
Please share this...
This is one of many public speaking articles featured on Six Minutes.
Subscribe to Six Minutes for free to receive future articles.
Subscribe - It's Free!
Subscribe via Email | |
Subscribe via RSS | |
Follow Us |
Similar Articles You May Like...
Find More Articles Tagged:
3 Comments
Recent Tweets
Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking (Flashback Friday #5) http://t.co/3mEb40d3ss
— HMProActCentre (@ActHm) Sep 11th, 2015
Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking (Flashback Friday #5) https://t.co/Xstkht8bLq
— @LisaKosak Sep 11th, 2015
Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking (Flashback Friday #5) http://t.co/Y6wH7iH7CZ
— Leo Haggerty (@TheCampaignHQ) Sep 11th, 2015
Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking (Flashback Friday #5) http://t.co/DNKlkYShhX
— @JohnDanaher Sep 11th, 2015
Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking (Flashback Friday #5) http://t.co/64GY1sCjYU
— Ty (@laptoProsperity) Sep 11th, 2015
Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking (Flashback Friday #5) http://t.co/R2L5ipkHTh
— @iScribed Sep 14th, 2015
Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking (Flashback Friday #5) http://t.co/asTPnJZt54
— SlideSource (@SlideSource) Oct 9th, 2015
The article you need to amp up your #publicspeaking ethos, pathos, and logos: https://t.co/0wfw14SfFn
— GoReact (@GoReact) Nov 12th, 2015
Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of #PublicSpeaking (Flashback Friday #5) https://t.co/cXTIcgSBZO
— Patricia Fripp (@PFripp) Dec 5th, 2015
Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking (Flashback Friday #5) https://t.co/IH8G9MZMwF https://t.co/C8JZc0j8fW
— @doingthespeech Mar 25th, 2017
Why is the credibilty of the speaker(‘Ethos’) be considered one of the pillars of public speaking. Does that mean public speaking is reserved for established speakers only.
Not at all. In this context, your credibility isn’t about your speaking proficiency; it’s about whether you have credibility as a source to speak about the topic you’ve chosen. A novice speaker may be the most credible person on the planet for a certain topic; conversely, a person who has spoken professionally for dozens of years may lack credibility if they are speaking outside their area of expertise.
Yes, now i get it. Thanks a lot for clearing the misconception.