How trust worthy are you?
What if I tell you that I have written this article only to borrow some money from you. Will you give me money if I really don’t have any reason for asking it? Will you believe me? What if I tell you that someone I care for is in very critical condition and fighting for their breath, and show you the proof for same? Now can you lend me a amount of money which is neither too small nor so huge that it will make you poor? Suppose you met a well dressed person on the street and s/he asks you for money because s/he has lost their wallet and they need money to go back to their hometown. Will you give that person the money? Maybe in all these cases you are getting fooled by a con artist who is tricking you. OK fine. Forget. Rewind.
What if your friend ask you for money? A friend whom you have known for some time, and you know is a good person. Now what will you do?
A) Tell him/her to buzz off
B) Sit in an day long logical discussion on the topic “Why do S/he needs money?”
C) Give him/her the money without any question
Most of the time, If we know the person and he is credible, than we tend to choose the third option. Or ask a little why they need it and then comply with their need.
But why? What is working beneath these scenario? It’s called Rhetoric.
“Wherever there is meaning there is persuasion” (Burke 72).
What is this Rhetoric?
Greek Philosopher Aristotle defined Rhetoric as the Art of Persuasion. Human interactions are full of persuasion or it can also be said that almost all human interactions are Act of persuasion. From a child who is crying in front of his/her parents to get a toy or something to eat to Prime Minister candidates asking for votes, everyone is pursuing persuasion consciously or unconsciously. So if something is so fundamental in our live and used so much, Why not master it and use it perfectly.
There are three basic methods for persuasion or Rhetorical devices: Ethos, Logos and Pathos
In the example used in the beginning, When someone ask you money using logical argument then he is using Logos to pursue you. Using emotions or create sympathy to pursue is Pathos, and when person/speaker’s personality/authority itself is a source of persuasion then it is Ethos.
Among these three, Aristotle said that “Ethos may almost be called the most effective means of persuasion”(qtd. in Jasinski 229).
In this article I’ll focus on Ethos and how it works, for more inquiry into Logos and, Pathos you can visit:
Pathos :
Logos:
Ethos generally mean as the essence of something. In Rhetoric,Ethos is the most simple yet the hardest one to define, Ethos is at once relatively simple and exceedingly complex and enigmatic. It is so silently ingrained within the speech or argument that most of the time we tend to miss it and absorb it passively. It roughly means Character or Credibility.
It is the technique to establish your trustworthiness ,honor,authority and credibility among the audience.
Why is Ethos even important if my argument is logical/or emotional?
There are more than one reasons for the above question.
Firstly, it’s not always that you will be the only one with a reasonable argument. There can be more than one reasonable and logical argument in a situation.
Especially in situations where exact certainty is impossible and opinions are divided, Ethos comes in handy to persuade the audience.(Aristotle qtd. Jasinsky 229)
Secondly, Logical argument can make appeal to a certain section of audience who are purely rational and do not take into consideration any other characteristics of the writer/speaker. But we are humans, and we think from our brain, heart and soul, simultaneously. So, if someone don’t go well with any of these, it will become impossible or at the least very difficult to digest the argument of that person, howsoever logical the argument may be. But if the same argument is given by some personality more likeable to us then we’ll buy the argument.
Thirdly, a pure emotional argument devoid of any logos or ethos may end up being in the category of Emotional appeal, and might not serve the purpose, which is to persuade the other.
Hence, it is very important to establish a perfect balance among Ethos, Pathos and Logos to create a sweepingly persuasive effect.
How to Generate Ethos in your speech/writing?
Ethos is all about perception, means if your audience take you as a reliable and competent person then you are all set to roll. Same thing might vary for different audience. So first step is to:
Develop expertise: It is very that the topic you are writing/speaking about is something you have expertise in. It level of expertise depends upon the setting which you are using rhetoric. If you are writing an article to get published in academic journal, it is completely required to know the subject well. But if you are talking with friends who don’t know anything about the subject and you have some knowledge about it. This in itself is enough to generate Ethos among that group.
Know your audience before establishing your Ethos, because this is an important per-requisite. If you know your audience well ,then you will also know the importance of certain traits of your subjectivity/persona, or certain action which you performed which can enhance your credibility among the audience. For example, if you are giving a speaking to a group of potential donors, then your personal journey/passion toward the cause become very important to pursue them.
Understand who you are to them: One should know what is the relationship between them and the audience. Do they take you as an insider or an outsider. What kind of opinion they have about you. Whether they take you as expert on topic you are talking about or just some enthusiast. One should not portray themselves as an expert on a matter which they know about as it might backfire and create distrust among the audience, and might hamper further efforts of communication.
Similitude: Famous Scholar of Rhetorical Studies Kenneth Burke has explained this phenomenon very well saying that,
“You persuade a man only so far as you can talk his language by gesture, tonality, order, image, attitude, idea, identifying your ways with his/her”(qtd. in Jasinsky 231).
This process of identification with audience and speaker is very necessary to create a bridge between the two. It is a little bit tricky to use in writing, if one has a very defined set of audience then it can be used easily by referring to common instances/references etc. Anecdotes are very useful tools to create a similarity factor with the audience.
You can observe this phenomenon used by politician when they visit a particular region and try to identify with the audience. Like Barack Obama saying Mera pyar bhara Namaskar when coming to India, or Narendra Modi pronouncing himself DhartiPuttar when addressing a rally in Gujrat. People also use this technique by using cultural Symbols. For ex. Wearing traditional dresses etc.
Setting a proper tone: This varies a lot from setting to setting, both within writing and speaking medium. It consist of using proper vocabulary as per the setting demands to proper use of language(formal/informal). If you are writing a academic paper you better be using proper grammar and vocabulary, otherwise it might lead to a bad impression on the reader. Also, people won’t take it seriously and one will have hard time persuading the readership.
In oratory setting, it mean a proper use of voice modulation, pitch, vocabulary as well as your body language and appearance.
Appeal to Authority: In this technique, you don’t directly set up your credibility but rather uses someone else’s Ethos for your own credibility. It is an intersection between relatability and authority. One can use it by citing examples/people/events which have authority among the audience.
It is most widely used in advertisement industry, where products are sold using the authority or Ethos of the Brand/Product ambassador.
Let’s understand differences using few examples:
Tata Motors cast Football star Lionel Messi for advertising its automobile. Though, this advt. basically falls under the category of “Appeal to authority” but it is using the product and displays its feature throughout, to generate Ethos for the product.
Kajaria Tiles advt. is a example of Logical Fallacy. It is completely relying on the usage of Appeal to Authority(Akshay Kumar+sportsmen) and Pathos generated by sentiments of nationalism and mass affection toward Military. The process of identification with the national identity and proud is very well used in this advt. Not even once they have displayed the product they want, but still such advt. are very common, and also very useful for the brands.
Sensodyne advt. uses Ethos created by using professional Dentist for the promotion as it sounds more convincing when they suggest something about the teeth and their care.
Respect Disagreement: There can’t be a possibility of a counter-argument being completely absent, so it is necessary to take cognizance of opposite views and argument and respect them. Otherwise one can be perceived as highly biased or uninformed.
Practice: No art can be mastered without proper practice. All the above given tips are just basic toolkit for establishing Ethos, but it can’t be learned without putting these into continuous use and then sharpening your skill. This will also help one to develop their own style of persuasion and invent more nuanced techniques over these basic principles.
The best use of rhetoric is when the audience/reader don’t even realize that it was ever put into play.
References:
- Jasinski, James L. Sourcebook on Rhetoric. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2001. Print.
- “15 Tactics to Establish Ethos: Examples for Persuasive Speaking.” Six Minutes, sixminutes.dlugan.com/ethos-examples-speaking/.
- “Ethos — Examples and Definition of Ethos.” Literary Devices, Literary Devices, 1 Nov. 2018, literarydevices.net/ethos/
- Philosophy. “Ethos.” Philosophy Terms, 25 Oct. 2018, philosophyterms.com/ethos/.
- Varpio, Lara. “Using Rhetorical Appeals to Credibility, Logic, and Emotions to Increase Your Persuasiveness.” Perspectives on Medical Education, vol. 7, no. 3, 2018, pp. 207–210., doi:10.1007/s40037–018–0420–2.
Note: The article is largely influenced and motivated by the work of James Jasinski and from article on philosophyterms.com.
