Mode 2: Pathos - The Appeal To Emotions - Deepstash
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Mode 2: Pathos - The Appeal To Emotions

Because decisions are so often made emotionally rather than rationally, Aristotle’s pathos, the ability to move people emotionally, is a crucial element of persuasion, that all-important factor in delivering a message successfully. 

Communication is about establishing shared meaning. If we can create and deliver content that connects and resonates, not just intellectually but also emotionally, we’re much more likely to get our message across as a result.

That’s why storytelling is such a powerful tool in our presentation toolbox, guaranteed, if done well, to tick Aristotle’s pathos box.

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The Presenting Recipe: How Much Ethos, Pathos And Logos

While we can never have too much ethos (credibility), levels of pathos and logos will vary, according to audience type. For example, an informative presentation to an audience of academics is likely to have more logos, less pathos; a short speech at an awards ceremony will be wei...

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The “Pictorial Superiority”

Carmine Gallo reminds us of the concept of pictorial superiority, the idea that a picture really can be worth a thousand words. He quotes molecular biologist John Medina who sees our ability to remember images as one of our key strengths. Medina claims that, if asked to recall a ...

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10 Steps For The 5 Stages (The First 5 - The Craft Part)

As we move through the five stages, we might keep in mind Flintoff’s “Ten steps to making the very best speech you can”:

  • Start with a single sentence about what we want to achieve.
  • With that outcome in mind, analyse our audience, and their expectations.
  • Consider locatio...

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Pathos Dimension 2: Delivery

Pathos Dimension 2: Delivery

Whatever we say to engage our audience’s emotions, we need to balance this pathos-based content with an eye to delivery. Mueck talks about a triangle of coherence, that happy state when our content, voice and body language are all in alignment when we’re presenting.

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10 Steps For The 5 Stages (The Second Five - The Art Part)

  • Write an outline, then fill it out and polish it up to a script.
  • Cut everything that doesn’t help us to achieve our purpose. Rehearse and refine. Memorise the overall structure and specific or key phrases.
  • On the day, get there on time.
  • Instead of focusing on ourselve...

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On The Ground: How To Build Presentations

The are things we can do to plan, prepare and rehearse that will cut down on the uncertainty of presentations and give us the confidence we need to project our credibility. We must always remember: the best presenters always prepare and practice, no matter how effortless their p...

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Short & Simple Makes For Neat & Sweet

We do need to keep it simple, though. Overcomplicating what we say, or loading a presentation with too much detail, might make our audiences switch off. For Gallo, it’s no coincidence that some of the most memorable speeches and documents in history are among the shortest, includ...

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Building Presentations Stage 4: Memory

In this stage we’ll find ways that will help us to recall what we want to say on the day itself. We might create a mind map as a visual prompt, or rely on short-form notes. Flintoff reminds us that the very act of writing something down (by hand), or creating that mind map, will ...

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Building Presentations Stage 3: Style

The third stage is all about style, what the ancients called rhetoric. This is where we need to hone and refine the ideas encapsulated in that outline and think about how we’ll present them. That might be coming up with a killer opening line; how and when we’ll ...

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Pathos Dimension 1: Content

Pathos Dimension 1: Content

Starting a presentation with the unexpected (perhaps a shocking fact or provocative question) or an (appropriate) personal confession can help to build connection, as can injecting a shot of suspense with the help of mini-cliffhangers and a well-placed dramatic pause. Trying to t...

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The “What About”s

What do we intend to talk about?

To answer this we should think about what our audience needs or what they’re hoping for. Most people will be thinking WIIFM (what’s in it for me?) when they’re listening.

Wha...

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Building Presentations Stage 5: Delivery

The final stage is delivery, when we finally put all of the preparation into practice. This is where our fears and nerves can really kick in, so it’s essential to be prepared and to focus on the how of delivery as well as that well-crafted content, those ethos and pathos factors....

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Presenting: Pushing Ideas Out

In an era packed with information, filled with distractions, it can be increasingly challenging to get our messages across in a clear and convincing way. Learning how to blend a healthy dose of logos with just the right quantity of pathos and a whole lot of ethos is a route to influencing...

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Presenting: Pulling People In

Presenting is a fact of business life. And when we step up into leadership, Aristotle’s central theme of persuasion becomes even more important if we are to engage others and bring them on board with what we want to achieve. Understanding the power of ethos, pathos and logos, and how they...

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We Present To Persuade

The power of a well-delivered, well-structured and convincing presentation is not new. Understanding and deploying the components of persuasive speaking have a long history. And that’s what we’re really looking to do when we present: persuade. Presenting well enables us to get ou...

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The 3 Types Of Credibility

For our audience to believe in us, we must persuade people of our competence and character: our credentials. With public speaking, there are three types of credibility: 

  • initial credibility:  our credibility prior to our presentation, b...

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Ethos Dimension 1: Content

Ethos Dimension 1: Content

When presenting, the aim is to build on any initial credibility by delivering a well-prepared and artfully-delivered speech, and to finish with enhanced terminal credibility. 

One swift way to boost initial credibility is to highlight our relevant expertis...

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So, Is Ethos Always Fixed In The Recipe?

Despite Aristotle’s bold claim that ethos is the most important element of communication, we won’t get far if we can’t marshal the argument – the proof – that logos implies. However we choose to marshal our thoughts and hone our argument, we have to get our facts straigh...

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Building Presentations Stage 2: Arrangement

In this stage, we’ll marshal our old friends ethos, pathos and logos to craft and structure what we want to say. Flintoff encourages us to focus on what he calls “Really Interesting Proofy Evidence Stuff”, creating an outline or summary of the main argument and how it’ll...

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The “Death By PowerPoint”

Using slides as visual aids can support our theories, but beware the all-too-familiar “death by PowerPoint”. Try making only one clear point per slide, avoid visual clichés, and keep graphs or charts streamlined and simple. Clarity and legibility are all. With ideas that are comp...

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Ethos And Ethics, Or Ethos Through And Through

Ethos boils down to a sense of purpose; to calmness, authenticity, credibility and warmth (trust builders), and to authenticity (a match between inner and outer worlds). While it involves charisma (“the gift of grace”), it is not just about surface charm, but is tied directly to ethics.

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The “Where” And “When”

Where will we be speaking?

And when?

Location and timing will impact on what we say and how we say it. Presenting to a small group of colleagues in a familiar meeting room will be a very different experience to taking the stage at a...

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Florian Mueck’s 5 Dimensions Of Persuasion

Florian Mueck’s 5 Dimensions Of Persuasion

So far, so good. But when it comes to creating and delivering a presentation ourselves, it’s useful to think about how these classic modes of persuasion might be used in practice.

Author and consultant Florian Mueck suggests that we look at the three modes in a slightly different way to hel...

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On The Ground: Why Build Presentations (Build To Shield)

Presenting – like other forms of two-way communication - can be tough because we can never entirely control how our audience or we, ourselves, will react.

We might fear that no one will listen, that the audience won’t like us or what we’ve got to say. Or we might be worrie...

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“Back Again? Dear, Oh Dear!” (Two Can Say That)

There’s really no such thing as the all-powerful, charismatic presenter who just turns up on stage and does his or her stuff. We shouldn’t be fooled by how easy some people can make it look. No matter how competent we are at presenting, there is always room for improvement. 

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Building Presentations Stage 1: Invention

In the stage, we’ll identify the purpose of our presentation using the 6 key questions identified above.

  1. Who are we talking to?
  2. What do we intend to talk about?
  3. What are we talking about?
  4. Where will ...

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Mode 3: Logos - The Appeal To Logic

Mode 3: Logos - The Appeal To Logic

And so to logos , the rationale behind our argument. This, for Aristotle, is “the proof provided by the words of the speech itself”. According to Sam Leith’s Words Like Loaded Pistols:

If ethos is the ground on which your argument stands, logos is what d...

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The “How”

The “How”

At this stage, we can start to select our content and structure it properly. Tools such as Barbara Minto’s Pyramid Principle can help us to get this structure and argument right.

Elements that strengthen arguments include data, facts, survey or research results, qu...

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Working Backwards: “Inventing” Logos

In A Modest Book About How to Make an Adequate Speech, writer and performer John-Paul Flintoff suggests that we “invent” what we want to say by asking six key questions:

  1. Who are we talking to...

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Ethos Dimension 2: Delivery

Ethos Dimension 2: Delivery

Establishing that credibility when presenting can be a tough gig. Research suggests that audiences form an impression about our competence within 30 seconds. It’s best to be forewarned and forearmed. That’s where Mueck’s delivery dimension kicks in. Alongside those credentials, w...

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Mode 1: Ethos - The Appeal To Authority Or Credibility

Under Aristotelian thinking, ethos is the most powerful element of communication. While logos (logic or knowledge) is important – people will believe in us only if they understand what we are trying to say – and pathos (passion) is persuasive – if people can con...

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The “Who To”

Who are we talking to?

Colleagues? Strangers? Existing or potential customers? A mix? Do we know them and do they know us (what’s our relationship)? Understanding (or researching) the demographics of our audience will help us to pitch information at the right level...

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Aristotle’s 3 Modes Of Persuasion

Aristotle’s three “modes of persuasion, furnished by the spoken word” – ethos, pathos and logos  – offer a practical framework that can set us on the path to presenting success.  

  • Ethos depends on the personal character of the speaker – what we bring th...

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“An idea is something that won’t work unless you do.” - Thomas A. Edison

On presenting, appealing, persuading, influencing and communicating, and on seeing presentations as an ebb and flow caused by our own gravity, a tide under our control and to our service, not the other way around.

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