YOUR way?

The Greek philosopher Aristotle had

some good ideas on how to persuade people.

Among his most powerful techniques

were what he called the three appeals

designed to ask an audience to believe his argument.

Aristotle called these three appeals

Ethos, Pathos, and Logos.

Ethos appeals to the audience by asking them

to trust the person making the argument.

Pathos appeals to the audience's emotions,

asking them to believe because they care.

Logos appeals to the audience's

sense of logic and rationality, asking them to believe

because the argument makes sense.

Using the appeals can make your writing

or speaking more persuasive.

And if you can spot them when they are being used

or misused— by others,

you can also protect yourself against manipulation.

Let's examine the three appeals more closely.

First up: Ethos

One way to win over a skeptical audience is

to convince them that you're trustworthy,

knowledgeable, and well meaning.

You can build ethos by referencing relevant experience

by explaining your credentials,

or even by using good sources

to show that you know your subject.

When presenting, dressing and speaking professionally

will boost your audience's confidence in you.

When writing, making sure your documents

have a professional tone

and are error-free can also enhance your ethos.

Next, we'll address Pathos: the appeal to emotion.

Many popular movies, books,

and songs appeal to emotion.

These appeals often engage positive emotions

like joy or hope,

but other times . . .

No,

no please

Pathos can engage negative emotions as well;

however, in academic writing, a simple tug on the

heartstrings won't suffice.

To use pathos effectively,

incorporate vivid imagery and intentionally emotional

and impactful adjectives and verbs.

Academics can support their

arguments most effectively with Logos—

an appeal to logic and rationality—

by building an argument with

facts, figures, and well-thought out reasoning

By appealing to the audience with logic,

you draw your conclusions as rational,

rendering the opposition less persuasive,

sometimes even as “irrational.”

Not all conclusions are easy to prove, though,

and the responsibility falls on you

to make the case and convince the audience.

While many arguments rely on

one or two of these methods,

some of the most effective

use a combination of all three.

The most important aspect of persuasive writing

is to create a credible line of thought for

your message that audiences will follow;

if you do it carefully, they very well might

arrive at the same conclusion.

For more information on persuasive

writing and speaking,

visit our website at

writingcenter.tamu.edu.