The Art Of Persuasion

Persuasion is the process of influencing individuals and guiding them in accepting an idea, thought or action. It is a means of problem solving that uses rational processes and is based on appealing to an individual’s powers of reason, their emotions, and should not be based on force or coercion, especially if you wish them to take ownership of the final decision. The Ancient Greeks suggested that there were three elements to persuasion, namely ethos, pathos and logos.

Ethos is about the person who is communicating (or persuading) and whether they can create empathy with their audience i.e. does the audience buy into their ethical credentials and believe they are trustworthy, and credible. If the audience does not believe in the character of the presenter they will not listen to them or allow themselves to be persuaded. Pathos is the factor that motivates the audience and means that once the audience trusts you, they will then emotionally connect with the message. It is important to consider the factors that will either motivate or indeed alienate your audience and ensure that you can engage the audience with the appropriate motivational factors. Logos is the element of reason, which you use to reinforce the emotional engagement and provides the justification to your audience for why they should agree with you.

So when you are putting forward an argument or point of view, do you normally consider these three elements? If not, next time you are preparing a presentation think about:

Having

Ethos

Logos and

Pathos

It really will HELP you to focus it on the needs of your audience and improve your skills of persuasion.

By: Louise Manning

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