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18 Paths to Pathos: How to Connect with Your Audience

The previous article of the Ethos, Pathos, and Logos series defined pathos and described why emotional connection is so important for your presentations.

In this article, we explore how to build strong pathos in your presentations through a variety of emotional pathways.

Pathos Superhighways: Your Primary Paths to Emotional Connection

All roads are not created equally. Freeways move lots of traffic fast; country lanes often guide just a single, meandering car.

Similarly, all pathways to emotional connection with your audience are not created equally. Some paths are more effective and more commonly used to connect emotionally. Let’s review these superhighways from which you can create the pathos of your presentation.

• Themes and Points
• Analogies and Metaphors

#1: Select Emotional Themes and Points

You always have choices to make about which points to include in the time allotted. Be sure that some of them carry emotional power.

• Ethos, Pathos, Logos - Introduction
• What is Ethos?
• How to Establish Ethos
• What is Pathos?
• How to Develop Pathos
• What is Logos?
• How to Convey Logos

Example : Suppose you have identified fifteen reasons why your audience should consider public speaking training. Unfortunately, your short speech only allows you to discuss three or four of them. Which do you choose? “ Conquer your public speaking fear ” probably evokes stronger emotions than “ Learn to speak with more precision .”

#2: Choose Words which Add Emotional Emphasis

Some words are emotionally neutral, while some are emotionally charged. Exercise judgment to select the words which fit the emotional tone that works to your advantage.

Example : Consider the difference in words used to label a suicide bomber on opposing sides of a political war. What emotion does the label “ terrorist ” evoke? What emotion does the label “ martyr ” evoke? Which one would best complement your speech?

#3: Use Rich Analogies and Metaphors

Analogies, metaphors, and other figures of speech not only make your speech more interesting, but often allow you to make an emotional connection by tapping into emotions already felt by your audience.

Example : If you speak about gang violence, you might plainly state that “ We have a problem in our city… ” On the other hand, you might say “ We have a cancer in our city… ” The latter analogy draws on your audience’s pre-existing feelings about cancer, and makes them want to eradicate the cause!

#4: Tell Stories

Stories are often the quickest path to the greatest emotional connection with your audience. Carefully crafted stories allow you to evoke any of a wide range of emotions. This may explain why stories are often the most memorable components of a speech.

#5: Use Humor

“ Stories are often the quickest path to the greatest emotional connection with your audience. ”

Humor is closely related to storytelling, because you usually arrive at humor through stories. Nonetheless, humor merits special mention. Humor in a presentation evokes emotions such as joy and surprise, and often triggers secondary emotions such as calmness and friendship. If your audience is laughing, they are having fun. If they are having fun, they are happy to be listening to you and they are attentive. As an added boost, humor makes your audience like you (at least for a moment), and that boosts your ethos too.

Nearly every presentation would benefit from more humor. How can you add humor to yours?

#6: Connect through Visuals

Maybe you have slides with photographs. Maybe you have a prop. Either way, a concrete visual element opens many more emotional pathways than abstract words alone.

Examples : Consider the following pairs, and ask yourself which creates the stronger emotional impact:

• Saying that “smoking damages lung tissue” versus Showing a slide with a photograph of tar-like lung tissue
• Claiming that cords from window blinds pose a risk to children versus Showing (with a prop) how the cords might strangle a baby doll.

#7: Model the Emotion with Your Delivery Techniques

The emotional effectiveness of stories, humor, visuals, and other “content” tools often depends greatly on your delivery. Great delivery magnifies emotions; poor delivery nullifies them.

Example : Words from your mouth or slides on a screen may induce sadness in your audience, but the effect is multiplied when combined with sadness on your face, in your posture, and in your voice.

Additional Paths to Develop Pathos in Your Speech

Now that you are familiar with the core pathos tools, we can sample some of the additional tools at the disposal of a skilled speaker. Many of these build on top of the core building blocks above.

#8: Analyze Your Audience

“ When your audience feels an emotion, they are motivated to act. ”

Without doing any audience analysis at all, you always know two things:

• Everyone in your audience is human.
• Most humans share many emotional triggers.

As a result, you can always achieve moderate success applying the first seven tools.

But to hit a pathos home run, you’ve got to analyze your audience. Are they old or young? Technical or non-technical? Male or female? Rich or poor? Liberal or conservative? These and many other factors will impact which emotional triggers will have the strongest impact. Do the analysis!

#9: Evoke Curiosity with Marketing Materials

When your audience feels an emotion, they are motivated to act. If the emotion is pity, they are motivated to address the situation (e.g. perhaps by donating money to your charity).

In a similar way, if you make your audience curious through your marketing materials, they are motivated to act. How does one act on curiosity?

• Show up to the presentation.
• Pay attention.
• Take notes.
• Engage with the speaker and follow along.

So, make your audience curious. Include a bold claim or a startling statistic. (Of course, you need to follow up in your presentation.) Focus on the benefits to be realized by your audience, and their curiosity will attract them to your speech.

#10: Evoke Surprise (in the Introduction and elsewhere)

A great way to connect immediately with your audience is to start with a surprise. I admit there’s no logical reason to suggest that a speaker who starts with a surprise will deliver a more valuable presentation. But, we’re not talking logic here (that’s the next article on logos ). A surprise gets your audience excited . Getting them excited makes them listen.

Surprise can be effective elsewhere, particularly as the length of your speech grows. Like curiosity, your audience is motivated to act on the surprise. How? They try to resolve how this surprising element fits with the rest of the presentation. To do that, they have to listen.

Note that I’m not talking about deliberately confusing your audience. Surprise is planned, and is usually followed quickly by an explanation. Confusion, on the other hand, results from poor planning, and usually lasts beyond the end of your presentation, at least until the Q&A.

#11: Use Vivid, Sensory Words

“ When you use sensory words, your audience feels emotions they have associated with those words. ”

Tool #2 above advised the use of emotional words. One way to do this is to concentrate on concrete, vivid, sensory words. When you use sensory words, your audience feels emotions they have associated with those words.

Example : When you mention “the touch of your father’s flannel shirt” or “the aroma of your grandmother’s kitchen”, you’ve done more than just mention fabric and smells. You have evoked emotions which, depending on your audience, probably include loving memories of childhood.

#12: Be Authentic

Remember that the goal of pathos is to connect with the audience and share emotions with them.

To share an emotion, you’ve got to feel it too.

Pathos is not about tugging emotional strings as if you were a puppeteer. You get zero marks for that. Actually, you get negative marks for that, because your ethos gets destroyed when the audience realizes you are toying with them.

Be honest. Share your presentation in a way that your audience will feel as passionately as you feel.

#13: Match Your Vocal Delivery to the Emotion

Vocal delivery is one clear clue to how you feel about what you are saying. Your tone, volume, pace, and other vocal qualities should mirror your emotions.

• Anger might be accompanied by a loud, defiant voice.
• Sadness or despair might call for a softer voice.
• Optimism or excitement might be matched by a quickened pace.

#14: Match Your Gestures to the Emotion

Your body is another clue for the audience to gauge your emotions. If you are telling a story about love or joy, your body shouldn’t look like a mannequin. If you are revealing your own disappointment in a story, your shoulders should probably droop, and you shouldn’t be smiling.

Some speakers find it difficult to do this because they are speaking about past events where the emotions have dulled with the memories over time. The emotions were felt then , but aren’t as easy to summon now . You’ve got to show the audience how it felt in the moment. Remember that they are hearing this story for the first time.

#15: Connect with Your Eyes

“ To share an emotion, you’ve got to feel it too. ”

Eye contact isn’t a scorecard. Your aim isn’t to collect check-marks from each person who you look at over the course of your presentation.

Meaningful eye contact is about connecting with one person at a time. Your eyes should express your frustration, your contempt, or your joy. In the ideal case, the person you’re looking at will mirror your emotion back to you. That’s connection!

#16: Eliminate Physical Barriers to Connect with Your Audience

In most speaking situations, your goal should be to reduce barriers between you and your audience. Get out from behind the lectern. Move closer to the audience. Ask them to sit in the seats near the front.

The closer you are to your audience, the more personal your presentation feels for them. The more personal it feels, the greater your chance for emotional connection. For much more on this topic, read Nick Morgan’s excellent article: How to Connect With Your Audience by Moving Closer .

#17: Eliminate Competing Emotions in the Environment

There usually are a myriad of competing elements in and around the room which are evoking emotions in your audience. For instance, a marching band practicing outside might be annoying your audience. If this annoyance is strong, it may prevent you from evoking competing emotions with your presentation.

The solution is to take charge and eliminate or minimize these causes whenever you can so that your audience can focus on you.

• Hunger and biological needs create strong emotions. Take appropriate breaks if you deliver lengthy training.
• Excessive noise, temperature extremes (either too hot or too cold), or poor lighting make your audience uncomfortable and perhaps even angry at you or the organizer. Do whatever you can to optimize the conditions.
• Speaking over your allotted time may make your audience nervous or anxious if they’ve got to pick up their kids. Stick to your time bounds.
• Hecklers — and your response to them — can evoke many emotions. Learn how to handle them smoothly and professionally.

#18: Avoid Tripping Emotional Land Mines

Situations where you aren’t familiar with your audience are potentially dangerous. Perhaps you’ve been invited to speak at a company which has just experienced massive layoffs. Perhaps you’ve been invited to speak to an audience of a different culture. In either case, you’ve got to be careful not to say something (or gesture something) which accidentally triggers an emotion that you had not intended.

If you’re lucky, you’ll just say something that provokes unexpected laughter. If you’re not, you’ll say something that deeply offends your audience to the degree that they tune you out completely.

Your best defense against this is extensive audience analysis. Do your homework. Sometimes, it may still happen despite your best efforts. In this case, it’s important that you are actively reading your audience. If you have evoked an unintended emotion, you can usually tell. It’s wise to address it and, if necessary, apologize for the unintended offense.

What do you think?

The methods listed above are far from exhaustive. There are many other ways to connect emotionally with your audience as a speaker.

What other techniques do you use? Please share your ideas in the comments .

Next in This Series…

In the next article of this series, we focus on logos, your logical argument .

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10 comments.

The emotional component of a speech is so important. It does indeed color all we do, and it shows up whether we are aware of it or not. Best to keep it in mind rather than find that your emotions are not in alignment with your words!! Just an added thought from the actor’s toolkit…Pathos is best expressed when it is real, and you can bring that real experience of emotion into your talk with emotional memory. Remember a time when you felt that emotion and relive it inside when you are practicing your talk. It will make it easier to recall that feeling when you are giving your talk for others.

Move your audience! This week I opened a speech by asking the audience to picture someone they’d like to help. Then physically stand up and reach out to that person. The physical involvement was a great attention-getter. Standing and reaching together, the audience and speaker made a connection that lasted through the entire presentation. I closed the speech by referring back to the same device. The physical activity, shared with the speaker, made for a memorable speech.

Thank you for this. It certainly explains why I always want everything explained to me in humorous stories!

It’s also what I like to write into my speeches. Thanks for giving me the tips to refine it further!

Great information, useful, and indeed helpful for writing papers!! Thanks

Awesome article, I have learned how to connect the audience with emotion.

I came here to learn about Pathos with relation to selling but I think you covered it pretty well with respect to presentations.

For your readers, I found this nice TED talk about pathos, ethos and logos:

http://www.wimp.com/teachpersuasion/

Good insights to follow.

Good insight. i always get nervous before a speech and have not done this many but using your steps in ethos,logos and pathos will get me one step closer to perfection.

When speaking to audiences or different ethnic groups, you may want to invest in a pre-speech meeting with the organization’s planners. During this meeting, you would ask questions such as 1) what is the biggest challenge your company (or group) faces, 2) are there any ‘taboo’ subjects or 3) some of your organizations biggest pet peeves. This will give you a good idea what to steer clear of and help you to focus on specific areas that are pertinent and interesting to your audience.

I have looked at MANY sites to help me fully understand ethos, pathos, and logos but… This is the only one that sums the methods up in a CLEAR way. Thank you very much! This has helped me in a major way and the comments also helped! Just had to let you know and I’m sure this is the same for others!

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RT @6minutes 18 Paths to Pathos: How to Connect with Your Audience http://bit.ly/d2sdY0 — Gabriella Sannino  Jun 1st, 2011

I would add 'use interacting voting systems' to this list. Still, it's pretty good: 18 ways to improve presentations http://t.co/Bvb2xDs — QwizdomUK Aug 10th, 2011

I would add 'use interacting voting systems' to this list. Still, it's pretty good: 18 ways to improve presentations http://t.co/Bvb2xDs — Learning&Skills 2012 Aug 10th, 2011

Great class resource for using pathos in your writing: http://t.co/OJYplFGB — Mr. Vawter Feb 7th, 2012

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Hola @prince_biko : How to connect with your audience ~> http://t.co/U2WyE6bj — Themba Jay Aug 20th, 2012

How to Connect with Your Audience – http://t.co/GNOCsJDD — Earl King Aug 25th, 2012

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Definition of Pathos

Pathos is a literary device that is designed to inspire emotions from readers. Pathos, Greek for “suffering” or “experience,” originated as a conceptual mode of persuasion by the Greek philosopher, Aristotle. Aristotle believed that utilizing pathos as a means of stirring people’s emotions is effective in turning their opinion towards the speaker . This is due in part because emotions and passion can be engulfing and compelling, even going against a sense of logic or reason.

Pathos, as an appeal to an audience ’s emotions, is a valuable device in literature as well as rhetoric and other forms of writing. Like all art, literature is intended to evoke a feeling in a reader and, when done effectively, generate greater meaning and understanding of existence. For example, in his poem “No Man Is an Island,” John Donne appeals to the reader’s emotions of acceptance, belonging, and empathy:

No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less. As well as if a promontory were. As well as if a manor of thy friend’s Or of thine own were: Any man’s death diminishes me, Because I am involved in mankind, And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls ; It tolls for thee.

By describing how all men are connected rather than isolated, Donne utilizes pathos as an emotional appeal to readers of his poem. The feelings evoked by the poet are grief and sympathy for all who die, because all death is an individual loss and a loss for mankind as a whole.

Common Examples of Emotions Evoked by Pathos

Pathos has the power to evoke many emotions in a reader or audience of a literary work. Here are some common examples of emotions evoked by pathos in literature:

Examples of Pathos in Advertisement

Advertisers heavily rely on pathos to provoke an emotional reaction in an audience of consumers, thereby persuading them to take action in the form of patronage or other monetary support. Here are some examples of pathos in an advertisement:

• television commercial showing neglected or mistreated animals
• political ad utilizing fear tactics
• holiday commercial showing a family coming together for a meal
• cologne commercial displaying sexual tension
• diaper ad featuring a crying baby
• ad for cleaning product featuring a messy house and frustrated homeowner
• jewelry commercial showing a marriage proposal
• insurance ad showing a terrible car accident
• ad for a line of toys showing children playing together
• commercial for make-up displaying a woman receiving attention from men

Famous Examples of Pathos in Movie Lines

Many films feature dialogue that generates pathos and emotional reactions in viewers. Here are some famous examples of pathos in well-known movie lines:

• Love means never having to say you’re sorry. (Love Story )
• The jail you planned for me is the one you’re gonna rot in. ( The Color Purple )
• I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore. (Network)
• The marks humans leave are too often scars. (The Fault in Our Stars)
• I have to remind myself that some birds aren’t meant to be caged. (The Shawshank Redemption)
• And just like that, she was gone, out of my life again. (Forrest Gump)
• There are two types of people in the world: The people who naturally excel at life. And the people who  hope all those people die in a big explosion. (The Edge of Being Seventeen)
• You have to get through your fear to see the beauty on the other side. (The Good Dinosaur)
•   Hate  never solved nothing, but  calm  did. And thought did. Try it. Try it just for a  change . (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
• Things change, friends leave. And life doesn’t stop for anybody. (The Perks of Being a Wallflower)

Difference Between Pathos, Logos, and Ethos

Aristotle outlined three forms of rhetoric, which is the art of effective speaking and writing. These forms are pathos, logos , and ethos . As a matter of rhetorical persuasion, it is important for these forms (or “appeals”) to be balanced. This is especially true for pathos in that overuse of emotional appeal can lead to a flawed argument without the balance of logic or credibility.

Logos is an appeal to logic. It is considered a methodical and rational approach to rhetoric. In a sense, logos is an appeal that is devoid of pathos. Ethos is an appeal to ethics. As an effective rhetorical form, a writer or speaker must have knowledge and credibility regarding the subject . Ethos, therefore, builds trust with an audience as an ethical and character -driven approach.

Pathos is a common form of rhetoric and persuasive tactic. Emotion and passion can be powerful forces in motivating an audience or readership. However, pathos has minimal effect without the balance of logos and ethos as appeals.

Effect of Pathos on Logos

Aa a logo appeals to logic, and pathos appeals to emotions. It is a well-known fact that not everybody gets convinced by logic and the same is the case of pathos which not everybody gets convinced with pathos only. Therefore, orators and speakers use both in a combination. When a pathos is added to logos, it becomes convincing, persuasive, strong, and touches beliefs and values.

Effect of Pathos on Ethos

Although ethos is itself a strong rhetorical device and works wonders when it comes to persuasion and convincing the audience, when a touch of pathos is added to it, it becomes a lethal weapon. It has happened in I Have a Dream , a powerful rhetorical piece of Martin Luther King and the speech is still a memorable rhetorical piece. The reason is that not only does it enhance the power of argument when added with an ethos, it also increases the trust and credibility of the speaker or orator.

How To Build Arguments Using Pathos  

When using pathos, keep these points in mind.

• What is the touching event for the audience?
• Evaluate how the audiences or readers respond to the gravity of the situation?
• Use pathos with ethos first and then use l0gos to add pathos later.
• Pathos is always the last weapon after ethos and logos.

Fallacy Of Emotion (Pathos) / Fallacious Pathos

As pathos is also called a fallacy of emotion, the use of only pathos is highly damaging for argumentative writing and speaking. The reason is that audiences if they are not directly concerned with the pathetic event or tragedy , become bored with excessive targetting of their emotions and eventually lose interest. At this point, it becomes a fallacy. Therefore, always avoid fallacious pathos. Add a touch of veracity to your pathos and use it in conjunction with ethos first and add logos later.

Three Characteristics Of Pathos

There are three important characteristics of pathos.

• It is relevant to the target audience or readers and is couched in simple and strong language.
• It is intended to achieve a specific purpose.
• It is not excessive that it should become fallacious pathos.

 Using Pathos in Sentences

• The Holocaust has done more harm to the entire Jewish nation than any other such event.
• If you love me, you’ll get me a cell phone for my safety.
• I have to pick up my children from school every day, can you give me a good deal on this car?
• Look at these innocent street children. By seeing this, you can give us good donations.
• If you let me eat chips everyday, it will prove that you love me and I will do the dishes.

Examples of Pathos in Literature

Though Aristotle defined pathos as a rhetorical technique for persuasion, literary writers rely on pathos as well to evoke emotion and understanding in readers. As a literary device, pathos allows readers to connect to and find meaning in characters and narratives. Here are some examples of pathos in literature and the impact this literary device has on the work and the reader:

Example 1:  Funeral Blues by W.H. Auden

He was my North, my South, my East and West, My working week and my Sunday rest, My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song; I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong. The stars are not wanted now ; put out every one, Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun, Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood; For nothing now can ever come to any good.

In his poem, Auden relies on pathos as a literary device to evoke feelings of grief and inspire sympathy in the reader. The poet cannot cope with the loss of his loved one and companion, yet the world around him continues to function as if nothing is different and as if the funeral is not taking place. The poet’s passion for his loved one, that he was all cardinal directions and days and times, followed by the poet’s desperation to remove elements of nature, inspires sympathetic mourning in readers.

Though the poet cannot get the world to pause in grief for his loved one, by utilizing pathos as a literary device in this poem, Auden is able to momentarily capture the reader’s attention and understanding. This pause for grief and sympathy on the part of the reader fulfills, on some level, the emotional need of the poet to be recognized and validated in his mourning. This reciprocal exchange of feeling enhances the connection between the poet and reader through pathos.

Example 2:  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou

If growing up is painful for the Southern Black girl, being aware of her displacement is the rust on the razor that threatens the throat. It is an unnecessary insult.

In her memoir , Angelou focuses on the emotional events of her life from early childhood through adolescence. While recounting her story, Angelou utilizes pathos to appeal to the reader’s emotions and to evoke empathy for her experiences, especially in terms of trauma, abuse, and racism.

In this particular passage from her memoir, Angelou appeals to the reader’s feelings of shame, empathy, and fear by describing her experience and how she felt as a Black girl growing up in the South. This allows the reader to connect with and find meaning in Angelou’s writing and experiences, especially if those experiences are unfamiliar or personally unknown to the reader. In addition, the pathos in this passage is an effective literary device through confronting the reader with the pain, displacement, and insult experienced not just by Angelou as a Southern Black girl, but in a generalized manner for all Southern Black girls. Angelou’s readers are therefore encouraged through pathos to identify this experience and share in the resulting emotional anger and pain.

Example 3:  Romeo and Juliet  by William Shakespeare

Two households, both alike in dignity In fair Verona, where we lay our scene From ancient grudge break to new mutiny Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean. From forth the fatal loins of these two foes A pair of star- cross ’d lovers take their life Whose misadventured piteous overthrows Do with their death bury their parents’ strife.

In the prologue , Shakespeare foreshadows the events that take place in the play between Romeo and Juliet and their families. He also foreshadows the feelings and struggles of the characters, which is an appeal to the pathos of the audience/reader. For example, by stating that “civil blood makes civil hands unclean,” Shakespeare evokes feelings of dread and uncertainty in the audience, knowing that there is impending violence. By categorizing Romeo and Juliet as “star-crossed” lovers, Shakespeare appeals to the audience’s feelings of passion and unrequited love. Finally, in announcing the deaths of the lovers, Shakespeare inspires sadness, grief, and possibly anger or frustration in the audience at the foretold outcome.

With these emotional appeals in his prologue, Shakespeare not only prepares his audience for what is to come in the plot of the play but also sets the tone and prepares the appropriate emotional reactions for the audience to the events that will happen. This is a unique use of pathos as a literary device. Rather than allowing the audience to feel and react to the play’s narrative as it unfolds, Shakespeare “primes” emotional responses through pathos before the play even begins. This technique is effective because the audience is able to focus on the nuances of the play since they are already aware of the main events and outcomes, as well as how to feel about it.

Synonyms of Pathos

Pathos has a few synonyms that follow but they are only distant meanings. Some of them are tragedy, sadness, pitifulness, piteousness, sorrowfulness, lugubrious, poignant, and poignancy.

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Pathos Definition

What is pathos? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

Pathos , along with logos and ethos , is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Pathos is an argument that appeals to an audience's emotions. When a speaker tells a personal story, presents an audience with a powerful visual image, or appeals to an audience's sense of duty or purpose in order to influence listeners' emotions in favor of adopting the speaker's point of view, he or she is using pathos .

Some additional key details about pathos:

• You may also hear the word "pathos" used to mean "a quality that invokes sadness or pity," as in the statement, "The actor's performance was full of pathos." However, this guide focuses specifically on the rhetorical technique of pathos used in literature and public speaking to persuade readers and listeners through an appeal to emotion.
• The three "modes of persuasion"— pathos , logos , and ethos —were originally defined by Aristotle.
• In contrast to pathos, which appeals to the listener's emotions, logos appeals to the audience's sense of reason, while ethos appeals to the audience based on the speaker's authority.
• Although Aristotle developed the concept of pathos in the context of oratory and speechmaking, authors, poets, and advertisers also use pathos frequently.

Pathos Pronunciation

Here's how to pronounce pathos : pay -thos

Pathos in Depth

Aristotle (the ancient Greek philosopher and scientist) first defined pathos , along with logos and ethos , in his treatise on rhetoric, Ars Rhetorica. Together, he referred to pathos , logos , and ethos as the three modes of persuasion, or sometimes simply as "the appeals." Aristotle defined pathos as "putting the audience in a certain frame of mind," and argued that to achieve this task a speaker must truly know and understand his or her audience. For instance, in Ars Rhetorica, Aristotle describes the information a speaker needs to rile up a feeling of anger in his or her audience:

Take, for instance, the emotion of anger: here we must discover (1) what the state of mind of angry people is, (2) who the people are with whom they usually get angry, and (3) on what grounds they get angry with them. It is not enough to know one or even two of these points; unless we know all three, we shall be unable to arouse anger in any one.

Here, Aristotle articulates that it's not enough to know the dominant emotions that move one's listeners: you also need to have a deeper understanding of the listeners' values, and how these values motivate their emotional responses to specific individuals and behaviors.

Pathos vs Logos and Ethos

Pathos is often criticized as being the least substantial or legitimate of the three persuasive modest. Arguments using logos appeal to listeners' sense of reason through the presentation of facts and a well-structured argument. Meanwhile, arguments using ethos generally try to achieve credibility by relying on the speaker's credentials and reputation. Therefore, both logos and ethos may seem more concrete—in the sense of being more evidence-based—than pathos, which "merely" appeals to listeners' emotions. But people often forget that facts, statistics, credentials, and personal history can be easily manipulated or fabricated in order to win the confidence of an audience, while people at the same time underestimate the power and importance of being able to expertly direct the emotional current of an audience to win their allegiance or sympathy.

Pathos Examples

Pathos in literature.

Characters in literature often use pathos to convince one another, or themselves, of a certain viewpoint. It's important to remember that pathos , perhaps more than the other modes of persuasion, relies not only on the content of what is said, but also on the tone and expressiveness of the delivery . For that reason, depictions of characters using pathos can be dramatic and revealing of character.

Pathos in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

In this example from Chapter 16 of Pride and Prejudice , George Wickham describes the history of his relationship with Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth Bennet—or at least, he describes his version of their shared history. Wickham's goal is to endear himself to Elizabeth, turn her against Mr. Darcy, and cover up the truth. (Wickham actually squanders his inheritance from Mr. Darcy's father and, out of laziness, turns down Darcy Senior's offer help him obtain a "living" as a clergyman.)

"The church ought to have been my profession...had it pleased [Mr. Darcy]... Yes—the late Mr. Darcy bequeathed me the next presentation of the best living in his gift. He was my godfather, and excessively attached to me. I cannot do justice to his kindness. He meant to provide for me amply, and thought he had done it; but when the living fell it was given elsewhere...There was just such an informality in the terms of the bequest as to give me no hope from law. A man of honor could not have doubted the intention, but Mr. Darcy chose to doubt it—or to treat it as a merely conditional recommendation, and to assert that I had forfeited all claim to it by extravagance, imprudence, in short any thing or nothing. Certain it is, that the living became vacant two years ago, exactly as I was of an age to hold it, and that it was given to another man; and no less certain is it, that I cannot accuse myself of having really done anything to deserve to lose it. I have a warm, unguarded temper, and I may perhaps have sometimes spoken my opinion of him, and to him, too freely. I can recall nothing worse. But the fact is, that we are very different sort of men, and that he hates me." "This is quite shocking!—he deserves to be publicly disgraced." "Some time or other he will be—but it shall not be by me. Till I can forget his father, I can never defy or expose him." Elizabeth honored him for such feelings, and thought him handsomer than ever as he expressed them.

Here, Wickham claims that Darcy robbed him of his intended profession out of greed, and that he, Wickham, is too virtuous to reveal Mr. Darcy's "true" nature with respect to this issue. By doing so, Wickham successfully uses pathos in the form of a personal story, inspiring Elizabeth to feel sympathy, admiration, and romantic interest towards him. In this example, Wickham's use of pathos indicates a shifty, manipulative character and lack of substance.

Pathos in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

In The Scarlet Letter , Hawthorne tells the story of Hester Prynne, a young woman living in seventeenth-century Boston. As punishment for committing the sin of adultery, she is sentenced to public humiliation on the scaffold, and forced to wear the scarlet letter "A" on her clothing for the rest of her life. Even though Hester's punishment exposes her before the community, she refuses to reveal the identity of the man she slept with. In the following passage from Chapter 3, two reverends—first, Arthur Dimmesdale and then John Wilson—urge her to reveal the name of her partner:

"What can thy silence do for him, except it tempt him—yea, compel him, as it were—to add hypocrisy to sin? Heaven hath granted thee an open ignominy, that thereby thou mayest work out an open triumph over the evil within thee and the sorrow without. Take heed how thou deniest to him—who, perchance, hath not the courage to grasp it for himself—the bitter, but wholesome, cup that is now presented to thy lips!’ The young pastor’s voice was tremulously sweet, rich, deep, and broken. The feeling that it so evidently manifested, rather than the direct purport of the words, caused it to vibrate within all hearts, and brought the listeners into one accord of sympathy. Even the poor baby at Hester’s bosom was affected by the same influence, for it directed its hitherto vacant gaze towards Mr. Dimmesdale, and held up its little arms with a half-pleased, half-plaintive murmur... "Woman, transgress not beyond the limits of Heaven’s mercy!’ cried the Reverend Mr. Wilson, more harshly than before. ‘That little babe hath been gifted with a voice, to second and confirm the counsel which thou hast heard. Speak out the name! That, and thy repentance, may avail to take the scarlet letter off thy breast."

The reverends call upon Hester's love for the father of her child—the same love they are condemning—to convince her to reveal his identity. Their attempts to move her by appealing to her sense of duty, compassion and morality are examples of pathos. Once again, this example of pathos reveals a lack of moral fiber in the reverends who are attempting to manipulate Hester by appealing to her emotions, particularly since (spoiler alert!) Reverend Dimmesdale is in fact the father.

Pathos in Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"

In " Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night," Thomas urges his dying father to cling to life and his love of it. The poem is a villanelle , a specific form of verse that originated as a ballad or "country song" and is known for its repetition. Thomas' selection of the repetitive villanelle form contributes to the pathos of his insistent message to his father—his appeal to his father's inner strength:

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight, And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way, Do not go gentle into that good night. Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

It's worth noting that, in this poem, pathos is not in any way connected to a lack of morals or inner strength. Quite the opposite, the appeal to emotion is connected to a profound love—the poet's own love for his father.

Pathos in Political Speeches

Politicians understand the power of emotion, and successful politicians are adept at harnessing people's emotions to curry favor for themselves, as well as their policies and ideologies.

Pathos in Barack Obama's 2013 Address to the Nation on Syria

In August 2013, the Syrian government, led by Bashar al-Assad, used chemical weapons against Syrians who opposed his regime, causing several countries—including the United States—to consider military intervention in the conflict. Obama's tragic descriptions of civilians who died as a result of the attack are an example of pathos : they provoke an emotional response and help him mobilize American sentiment in favor of U.S. intervention.

Over the past two years, what began as a series of peaceful protests against the oppressive regime of Bashar al-Assad has turned into a brutal civil war. Over 100,000 people have been killed. Millions have fled the country...The situation profoundly changed, though, on August 21st, when Assad’s government gassed to death over 1,000 people, including hundreds of children. The images from this massacre are sickening: men, women, children lying in rows, killed by poison gas, others foaming at the mouth, gasping for breath, a father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk.

Pathos in Ronald Reagan's 1987 " Tear Down This Wall!" Speech

In 1987, the Berlin Wall divided Communist East Berlin from Democratic West Berlin. The Wall was a symbol of the divide between the communist Soviet Union, or Eastern Bloc, and the Western Bloc which included the United States, NATO and its allies. The wall also split Berlin in two, obstructing one of Berlin's most famous landmarks: the Brandenburg Gate.

Reagan's speech, delivered to a crowd in front of the Brandenburg Gate, contains many examples of pathos:

Behind me stands a wall that encircles the free sectors of this city, part of a vast system of barriers that divides the entire continent of Europe...Yet it is here in Berlin where the wall emerges most clearly...Every man is a Berliner, forced to look upon a scar... General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!

Reagan moves his listeners to feel outrage at the Wall's existence by calling it a "scar." He assures Germans that the world is invested in the city's problems by telling the crowd that "Every man is a Berliner." Finally, he excites and invigorates the listener by boldly daring Gorbachev, president of the Soviet Union, to "tear down this wall!"

Pathos in Advertising

Few appreciate the complexity of pathos better than advertisers. Consider all the ads you've seen in the past week. Whether you're thinking of billboards, magazine ads, or TV commercials, its almost a guarantee that the ones you remember contained very little specific information about the product, and were instead designed to create an emotional association with the brand. Advertisers spend incredible amounts of money trying to understand exactly what Aristotle describes as the building blocks of pathos: the emotional "who, what, and why" of their target audience. Take a look at this advertisement for the watch company, Rolex, featuring David Beckham:

Notice that the ad doesn't convey anything specific about the watch itself to make someone think it's a high quality or useful product. Instead, the ad caters to Rolex's target audience of successful male professionals by causing them to associate the Rolex brand with soccer player David Beckham, a celebrity who embodies the values of the advertisement's target audience: physical fitness and attractiveness, style, charisma, and good hair.

Why Do Writers Use Pathos?

The philosopher and psychologist William James once said, “The emotions aren’t always immediately subject to reason, but they are always immediately subject to action.” Pathos is a powerful tool, enabling speakers to galvanize their listeners into action, or persuade them to support a desired cause. Speechwriters, politicians, and advertisers use pathos for precisely this reason: to influence their audience to a desired belief or action.

The use of pathos in literature is often different than in public speeches, since it's less common for authors to try to directly influence their readers in the way politicians might try to influence their audiences. Rather, authors often employ pathos by having a character make use of it in their own speech. In doing so, the author may be giving the reader some insight into a character's values, motives, or their perception of another character.

Consider the above example from The Scarlet Letter. The clergymen in Hester's town punish her by publicly humiliating her in front of the community and holding her up as an example of sin for conceiving a child outside of marriage. The reverends make an effort to get Hester to tell them the name of her child's father by making a dramatic appeal to a sense of shame that Hester plainly does not feel over her sin. As a result, this use of pathos only serves to expose the the manipulative intent of the reverends, offering readers some insight into their moral character as well as that of Puritan society at large. Ultimately, it's a good example of an ineffective use of pathos , since what the reverends lack is the key to eliciting the response they want: a strong grasp of what their listener values.

Other Helpful Pathos Resources

• The Wikipedia Page on Pathos: A detailed explanation which covers Aristotle's original ideas on pathos and discusses how the term's meaning has changed over time.
• The Dictionary Definition of Pathos: A definition and etymology of the term, which comes from the Greek pàthos, meaning "suffering or sensation."
• An excellent video from TED-Ed about the three modes of persuasion.
• A pathos -laden recording of Dylan Thomas reading his poem "Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night"

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Sat / act prep online guides and tips, ethos, pathos, logos, kairos: the modes of persuasion and how to use them.

General Education

Ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos all stem from rhetoric—that is, speaking and writing effectively. You might find the concepts in courses on rhetoric, psychology, English, or in just about any other field!

The concepts of ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos are also called the modes of persuasion, ethical strategies, or rhetorical appeals. They have a lot of different applications ranging from everyday interactions with others to big political speeches to effective advertising.

Read on to learn about what the modes of persuasion are, how they’re used, and how to identify them!

What Are the Modes of Persuasion?

As you might have guessed from the sound of the words, ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos go all the way back to ancient Greece. The concepts were introduced in Aristotle’s Rhetoric , a treatise on persuasion that approached rhetoric as an art, in the fourth century BCE.

Rhetoric was primarily concerned with ethos, pathos, and logos, but kairos, or the idea of using your words at the right time, was also an important feature of Aristotle’s teachings.

However, kairos was particularly interesting to the Sophists, a group of intellectuals who made their living teaching a variety of subjects. The Sophists stressed the importance of structuring rhetoric around the ideal time and place.

Together, all four concepts have become the modes of persuasion, though we typically focus on ethos, pathos, and logos.

What Is Ethos?

Though you may not have heard the term before, ‘ethos’ is a common concept. You can think of it as an appeal to authority or character—persuasive techniques using ethos will attempt to persuade you based on the speaker’s social standing or knowledge. The word ethos even comes from the Greek word for character.

An ethos-based argument will include a statement that makes use of the speaker or writer’s position and knowledge. For example, hearing the phrase, “As a doctor, I believe,” before an argument about physical health is more likely to sway you than hearing, “As a second-grade teacher, I believe.”

Likewise, celebrity endorsements can be incredibly effective in persuading people to do things . Many viewers aspire to be like their favorite celebrities, so when they appear in advertisements, they're more likely to buy whatever they're selling to be more like them. The same is true of social media influencers, whose partnerships with brands can have huge financial benefits for marketers .

In addition to authority figures and celebrities, according to Aristotle, we’re more likely to trust people who we perceive as having good sense, good morals, and goodwill —in other words, we trust people who are rational, fair, and kind. You don’t have to be famous to use ethos effectively; you just need whoever you’re persuading to perceive you as rational, moral, and kind.

What Is Pathos?

Pathos, which comes from the Greek word for suffering or experience, is rhetoric that appeals to emotion. The emotion appealed to can be a positive or negative one, but whatever it is, it should make people feel strongly as a means of getting them to agree or disagree.

For example, imagine someone asks you to donate to a cause, such as saving rainforests. If they just ask you to donate, you may or may not want to, depending on your previous views. But if they take the time to tell you a story about how many animals go extinct because of deforestation, or even about how their fundraising efforts have improved conditions in the rainforests, you may be more likely to donate because you’re emotionally involved.

But pathos isn’t just about creating emotion; it can also be about counteracting it. For example, imagine a teacher speaking to a group of angry children. The children are annoyed that they have to do schoolwork when they’d rather be outside. The teacher could admonish them for misbehaving, or, with rhetoric, he could change their minds.

Suppose that, instead of punishing them, the teacher instead tries to inspire calmness in them by putting on some soothing music and speaking in a more hushed voice. He could also try reminding them that if they get to work, the time will pass quicker and they’ll be able to go outside to play.

Aristotle outlines emotional dichotomies in Rhetoric . If an audience is experiencing one emotion and it’s necessary to your argument that they feel another, you can counterbalance the unwanted emotion with the desired one . The dichotomies, expanded upon after Aristotle, are :

• Anger/Calmness
• Friendship/Enmity
• Fear/Confidence
• Shame/Shamelessness
• Kindness/Unkindness
• Pity/Indignation
• Envy/Emulation

Note that these can work in either direction; it’s not just about swaying an audience from a negative emotion to a positive one. 

However, changing an audience's emotion based on false or misleading information is often seen as manipulation rather than persuasion. Getting into the hows and whys requires a dive into the ethics of rhetoric , but suffice to say that when you attempt to deceive an audience, that is manipulation.

If you really want to get an audience fired up about something, you can inspire righteous anger, which may or may not be manipulation. If somebody is offended that you’ve asked them for something, you can try making them feel sorry for you by turning indignation into pity— that’s manipulation.

What Is Logos?

Logos comes from a Greek word of multiple meanings, including “ground,” “speech,” and “reason.” In rhetoric, it specifically refers to having a sense of logic to your persuasion; logos-based rhetoric is founded in logic and reason rather than emotion, authority, or personality.

A logic-based argument appeals to a person’s sense of reason— good logos-based rhetoric will persuade people because the argument is well-reasoned and based in fact. There are two common approaches to logos: deductive and inductive arguments.

Deductive arguments build on statements to reach a conclusion —in effect, the conclusion is reached in reverse. A common method is to propose multiple true statements which are combined to reach a conclusion, such as the classic method of proving that Socrates is mortal.

All men are mortal, and Socrates is a man, therefore Socrates must be mortal.

That’s not really a case that needs to be argued, but we can apply the same framework to other arguments as well. For example, we need energy to live. Food gives the body energy. Therefore, we need food to live.  

All of this is based on things we can prove, and results in a conclusion that is true , not just theorized. Deductive reasoning works on the assumption that A = B, B = C, so therefore A = C. But this also supposes that all the information is true, which is not always the case.

Sometimes the conclusions you reach with deductive reasoning can be valid, as in the reasoning makes sense, but the conclusion may not be necessarily true. If we return to the Socrates argument, we could propose that:

All men eat apples. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates must eat apples.

The problem is that we can’t prove that all men eat apples —some do, some don’t. Some might eat an apple once but never again. But based on our arguments, the conclusion that Socrates must eat apples is valid.

A strong deductive argument for logos-based reasoning will be composed of provable facts that can reach a provable conclusion. However, a valid but not entirely sound argument can also be effective—but be wary of shifting from persuasion to manipulation!

Another approach to logos-based rhetoric is inductive reasoning, which, unlike deductive reasoning, results in a probable argument rather than a definite one. That doesn’t mean that it is less effective—many scientific concepts we accept as truth are inductive theories simply because we cannot travel back in time and prove them— but rather that inductive reasoning is based on eliminating the impossible and ending in an argument that is based in sound logic and fact, but that may not necessarily be provable.

For example, all people with a cough have a cold. Kelly has a cough. Therefore, Kelly likely has a cold.

Our conclusion is likely , but not absolute. It’s possible that Kelly doesn’t have a cold—not because she doesn't have a cough, but because there are other possible causes, such as having allergies or having just breathed in some dust. The conclusion that she has a cold is likely based on data, but not absolute.

Another example would be that Kelly picks her nose. Kelly is a woman, therefore all women must pick their nose.

Inductive reasoning is based on generalizations. The first example, in which Kelly likely has a cold, makes sense because it’s based on something provable—that a sampling of people who have a cough have colds—and followed up with a likely conclusion. In the second example, this is a less sensible conclusion because it’s based on extrapolation from a single reference point.

If we reverse the claim and say that all women pick their noses, and Kelly is a woman, therefore Kelly must pick her nose, that would be more sound logic. Still not necessarily true—not all women pick their noses—but a more sound example of inductive reasoning.

Inductive reasoning can still be incredibly effective in persuasion, provided that your information is well-reasoned. Inductive reasoning creates a hypothesis that can be tested; its conclusion is not necessarily true, but can be examined.

As always, be wary of venturing into manipulation, which is more likely to be based on erroneous or misleading facts.

What Is Kairos?

Kairos is the Greek word for the opportune moment, which is precisely what it means in rhetoric. According to this principle, the time in which an argument is deployed is as important as the argument itself. An argument at the wrong time or to the wrong audience will be wasted; to be effective, you must also consider when you are speaking and to whom.

In effect, kairos means choosing the correct rhetorical device to match the audience and space in which you’re attempting to persuade. If you wanted to persuade people to go vegetarian, the middle of a hot dog-eating contest is probably not the right time. Likewise, you’re probably not going to persuade a room of data-driven scientists of something by appealing to pathos or ethos; logos is probably your best bet.

In essence, kairos asks you to consider the context and atmosphere of the argument you’re making. How can you deploy your argument better considering time and space? Should you wait, or is time of the essence?

As Aristotle famously said, “Anybody can become angry—that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way—that is not within everybody's power and is not easy.”

The goal of kairos is to achieve exactly that. Effective use of kairos strengthens your persuasion ability by considering how people are already feeling based on context. How can you influence or counteract that? Or maybe pathos isn’t the right approach—maybe cold hard facts, using logos, is more suited. Kairos works in conjunction with the other modes of persuasion to strengthen your argument, so as you’re putting a persuasive piece together, consider how and when it’ll be deployed!

How to Identify Ethos, Pathos, Logos, and Kairos

Understanding how the modes of persuasion work can make you better at identifying and picking them out. Not only is a better understanding of them useful for composing your own arguments, but it’s also beneficial when seeing other people’s arguments. When you understand how ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos work, you’re less susceptible to them.

Advertising is one of the places we see the modes of persuasion most often. Looking at each of these advertisements, you can see how they use each mode of persuasion to convince audiences to convince an audience of something.

Using celebrities is a classic example of ethos, which uses authority or recognition to convince an audience of something. In this case, celebrities like Michelle Obama, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Janelle Monáe discuss the importance of voting.

It doesn’t matter that they’re not politicians or political scientists; audiences find them appealing and genuine. When they speak of the importance of voting, audiences listen because they like what these figures have to say . If talented, famous people like this are taking the time to vote, it must be important!

Historians or those well-versed in politics might make different arguments about why audiences should vote, but in this case, the goal is to inspire people. When we see people we admire doing things, we want to do them too; hence the reason that ethos works so well.

ASPCA’s commercials are some of the most infamous examples of pathos in advertising. Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel” plays over footage of abused animals in shelters, encouraging viewers to donate money to support the organization.

It’s not hard to understand why it works; both the song and the imagery are heartbreaking! You can’t help but feel sad when you see it, and that sadness, when followed up by a prompt to donate, encourages you to take immediate action.  And these ads are effective— the campaign raised millions of dollars for ASPCA .

By appealing to our emotions and making us feel sad, this advertisement encourages us to act. That’s a classic use of ethos—it influences our feelings through the one-two punch of sad music and imagery, encouraging us to perform the desired action.

In some cases, emotion and authority aren’t the right tactic. Logos often appears in tech advertisements, such as this one for the iPhone XS and XR.

Notice how the advertisement focuses on product shots and technological terms. Most audiences won’t know what an A12 bionic neural engine is, but it sounds impressive. Likewise, that “12 MPf/1.8 wide-angle lens, with larger, deeper 1.4 micron pixels” is pretty meaningless to most people, but the numbers suggest that this phone is something special because it uses scientific-sounding language.

It doesn’t matter whether audiences really understand what’s being said or not. What matters is that they feel confident that the ad is selling them something they need —in this case, impressive technological specifications that make this phone an improvement over others.

Kairos should ideally factor into all uses of the modes of persuasion, but timeliness can also be a big selling point. In this Christmas-themed M&Ms advertisement, the company uses timely humor to forge a connection between the holidays and M&Ms.

Because these commercials have been running for such a long time, there’s also a nostalgic attachment to them. Just as people look forward to new Budweiser advertisements during the Super Bowl, others look forward to seeing M&Ms or the Coca-Cola polar bear during the holidays.

Though this commercial doesn’t go out of its way to tell you the benefits of M&Ms, it does forge a connection between M&Ms and Christmas, encouraging people to purchase them around the holidays.

Examples of the Modes of Persuasion

Now that you’ve had some exposure to how ethos, pathos, logos, and kairos function and what they can do, you can test your ability to recognize them using the images below!

There are a few things to notice about this image:

• The anonymous figure
• The language
• The use of a statistic

Can you figure out which mode of persuasion this represents?

The fact that the figure is anonymous tells us it’s probably not ethos. While we might be influenced by a person who’s in shape, there’s not really an appeal here based on the person—they’re just an image to support the ad.

“DOMINATE” is a pretty loaded word, suggesting that this may have elements of pathos.

However, take a look at that statistic. Whether it’s true or not, a hard statistic like that suggests that this ad is using logos to appeal to viewers. You can draw out an argument from there—75% of users lose weight within weeks. You’re a user. Therefore, you will likely lose weight within weeks.

What do you notice about this image?

• The way the text frames the woman’s body
• The name of the perfume
• The color choice

What mode of persuasion is this?

Again, we don’t know who the model is, and perfume isn’t going to make us look like her, so we can count ethos out.

The ad seems pretty intent on making us look at certain things—the woman’s lips and chest in particular. What is it trying to make us feel?

“FORBIDDEN FRUIT” has a connotation of sensuality.

Red is a color commonly associated with passion.

When you combine the photo, the framing, the perfume name, and the color, you get a strong sense of sex appeal from the advertisement. This makes it an example of pathos—the ad is trying to make us feel a certain way . If we buy this perfume, maybe we would feel attractive, too.

How about this advertisement?

• A serious-looking photo
• Text promising “no more back pain”
• “Doctor recommended.”

Seeing a doctor might make you tempted to think the answer is logos, but there’s no appeal to logic here.

“No more back pain,” is a nice promise, but there’s no attempt to appeal to emotions, so it can’t be pathos.

What’s important in this image is the combination of the doctor in the image and the line “doctor recommended.” This doctor might not be famous, but he does have authority, making this an example of ethos.

Our confidence in this treatment grows because we trust that a doctor understands how to address back pain.

What mode of persuasion is this?  Think about:

• The framing

She does look fashionable and the ad mentions stylists, so it’s possible that this is ethos.

There are no statistics or arguments being made, so the answer probably isn’t logos.

Pathos is possible, but despite having a heavily made-up model, this ad is far less about sex appeal than the previous one.

But the text mentions a specific holiday—New Year’s—suggesting that this is kairos. Kairos can, and often should, be combined with all the modes of persuasion to be even more effective. In this case, the model’s appearance could suggest either ethos or pathos in addition to kairos. The message here is that you should act now, at the beginning of the year, to take advantage of the deal and to start the year off with a new style, much like the one the model is sporting.

Key Tips for Identifying Ethos, Pathos, Logos, and Kairos

Now that you know the difference between all the modes of persuasion, you’ll have a much easier time identifying them. If you run into trouble, you can always ask questions about what you’re seeing, hearing, or reading to understand what mode of persuasion it’s using.

#1: Is It Related to a Specific Time?

If the argument is based on a specific day or context, such as Valentine’s Day or appealing only to a select group of people, such as people with dogs, it’s more likely to be kairos.

#2: Does It Involve a Celebrity or Authority Figure?

Celebrities are often a dead giveaway that an argument is using ethos. But authority figures, such as doctors, dentists, or politicians, can also be used to appeal to ethos. Even regular, everyday people can work, particularly when combined with pathos, to appeal to you based on a mutual connection you have.

#3: Does It Involve Statistics?

Statistics are a huge clue that an argument is using logos. But logos can also just be a logical argument, such as that if plants need water, and it’s hard to remember to water them, you should buy an automatic plant waterer. It makes perfect sense, making you more likely to buy it, rather than changing your habits to remember to water your plants more frequently.

#4: Does It Influence Your Emotions?

If an argument tries to change your emotions, whether by making you sad, happy, angry, or something else entirely, it’s a good indicator that it’s using pathos. Sex appeal is one of the biggest examples of pathos in advertising, appearing everywhere from makeup ads to car commercials to hamburger advertisements.

What’s Next?

Need help understanding the historical context for The Great Gatsby to perfect your kairos-based argument?

You can always combine the modes of persuasion with literary devices to make your arguments even stronger!

Learn how to say "good morning" in Japanese ! Even if it's not a mode of persuasion, it's just good manners.

Melissa Brinks graduated from the University of Washington in 2014 with a Bachelor's in English with a creative writing emphasis. She has spent several years tutoring K-12 students in many subjects, including in SAT prep, to help them prepare for their college education.

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• Writing Tips

Pathos: A Guide to this Literary Device

4-minute read

• 15th December 2022

Have you ever had your feelings and emotions influenced by a piece of writing? If so, you’ve experienced pathos.

But what exactly is this literary device, and how do you identify it in a text or use it in your own writing? Read on to find out.

What’s Pathos?

Pathos is a literary device that appeals to the audience’s emotions. Writers use pathos to evoke a certain response, feeling, or connection in their readers.

For example, an advertisement for a charity might use pathos to appeal to your sense of compassion:

A horror novel, on the other hand, might use it to stoke fear and suspense:

The origins of pathos can be traced back to the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, who presented it as one method of persuasion in his book, Rhetoric .

Aristotle also came up with two other persuasive tools: ethos, which is about building credibility and moral standing, and logos, which is about appealing to logic or reason.

To create a sound argument , pathos should be used in balance alongside the concepts of ethos and logos.

Otherwise, you may end up with writing that appeals to an emotion but has no factual basis, or a text written with authority that gives all the right figures but doesn’t create an emotional connection with the audience.

There’s no right or wrong way to use pathos. How much a writer uses this technique depends on the format, genre, and topic of a piece of writing.

How to Identify Pathos in a Text

To identify pathos when analyzing a piece of writing, first consider the text’s purpose.

If it aims to convince the audience of something or to entertain the reader, it will probably frequently use pathos.

Look out for these common techniques for building pathos:

●  Using personal experiences or anecdotes

●  Strong visual imagery that invites the reader to imagine themselves or others in a certain scenario

●  Passionate, emotive language

●  Similes and metaphors that connect to an emotion

●  Using the second-person pronoun you or the first-person plural pronoun we to connect with the reader.

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●  Characters with emotion-driven goals, arcs, or backstories

●  A narrative voice that shares characters’ internal monologues or feelings

Writing that uses pathos will also often adopt a subjective rather than an objective tone .

When and How to Use Pathos in Your Writing

Pathos can be used in most types of creative, literary, or emotion-driven writing. This includes:

●  Marketing copy , or other writing designed to make readers take an action.

●  Poetry.

●  Novels and short stories.

●  Creative nonfiction like memoirs or travel writing.

●  Political speeches.

To create pathos in your own writing, you’ll need to use the same techniques we’ve identified above. The specific tools you use, though, will depend on what you’re writing.

If you want to use pathos in your writing, consider these three questions:

• What emotion do you want to appeal to? (e.g., anger, sadness, shock, hope).
• How will you make the audience feel this emotion? (e.g., through emotive language, imagery, or second/third-person plural pronouns).
• How can you make this emotion feel believable? (e.g., through anecdotes or carefully written characters).

However, pathos is only one method of persuasion; ethos and logos must also be considered. In some types of writing, relying too heavily on pathos alone can undermine your credibility or imply that you have no evidence to back up your arguments.

For this reason, you should avoid overusing pathos in writing, like:

●  Professional documents

●  Most academic or scientific essays

●  Any piece of writing that is more formal or objective

If you’re not sure if you’ve used pathos correctly in your writing, our expert proofreaders can help. Submit a trial document and get your first 500 words proofread for free.

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Examples of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos in Persuasive Speeches

Ever fumbled for words while convincing someone to sign up for your club or buy something you're promoting on stage?

It happens. For this reason, Aristotle came up with three essential tools you can use in your everyday speech to persuade people for almost anything: ethos, pathos, and logos.

Here are some vivid examples of ethos, pathos, and logos to help you understand what they are and how to use them in your arguments.

The Three Tools That Guide Your Speech

Ethos, pathos, and logos are Greek words that make up the rhetorical triangle. Aristotle was the first to come up with them and wrote these concepts in his book, Rhetoric .

You can use them in any argument if you want to drive your point across or sell something: an idea, a product, or a brand.

Whether it is a sales pitch, a compelling argument, or a speech, these three modes of persuasion can sway your audience's perspective. Their presence since ancient times depicts their strength and significance.

Ethos is Greek for “character,” "credibility," or "authority." It refers to a person's character when they are presenting an argument.

The stronger the character or, the more influential the speaker is, the more they can change someone’s point of view regarding a particular subject.

You wouldn’t be enraptured, hanging on to her every word when J.K Rowling was giving a TED talk if she wasn’t a famous author, right?

Therefore, many brands and companies try to get celebrities to advertise for them. When people become fans, they religiously love what the celebrity loves and hates what the celebrity doesn't like.

This is the power of ethos. Here is how to establish ethos in a speech .

There are tons of examples of ethos in advertisements, movies, speeches, and daily life. Highlighted below are some of them.

Albus Dumbledor used ethos in the movie The Goblet of Fire when he went against the Ministry of Magic to tell his students how Cedric Diggory died. He knew they would believe him because he was Headmaster. He said:

"I think, therefore, you have the right to know exactly how he died. You see, Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort. The Ministry of Magic does not wish me to tell you this. But I think to do so would be an insult to his memory."

In a commercial, you’d see 4 out of 5 dentists recommending a particular toothpaste. That's how brands convince viewers to buy their products by backing them up with credible people.

As a physics student, you tune in to a TED talk by Brian Greene and believe everything he says because he’s a theoretical physicist and a string theorist.

Pathos is Greek for “emotion,” “suffering,” or “experience.” This rhetorical strategy appeals to people's feelings when used in an argument.

It invokes people’s senses, nostalgia, memory, and experiences. It is used in ads and videos to persuade people to follow a call to action.

When pathos is embedded in a message, it moves people, driving them to take action. Pathos can trigger any intended emotion in people, such as sympathy, pity, and empathy.

Why do you think romance sells so much, be it novels, movies, or stories? It pulls at the reader’s heartstrings, connects them to the characters, and makes them want something similar.

Below are some examples of pathos in everyday life, movies, and ads.

An excellent way to convince people to donate to a puppy shelter is to show them how brutally they'll die if they don't donate.

The Evian commercial in which adults look like toddlers when they look at their reflections depicts the "bandwagon effect." Light-heartedly, it uses feel-good emotion to convince people to buy their water.

In their ad, IKEA convinces people to opt for home delivery for £3.95 by showing a person stuck in traffic after buying from the brand. This appeals to people because we like comfort, right?

Unlike ethos and pathos, logos rely on logic. It is a Greek word that means “logic” or “reason.” It uses logical reasons to convince people about something.

When you use logos in your everyday speech or arguments, you try to mention facts or data to support your idea.

While ethos uses the speaker's credibility to persuade people about something, pathos uses emotion to trigger people. Logos simply relies on logic and cuts to the chase.

You can easily persuade an audience using reason and logic in your argument; however, emotions do get the best of us as humans. For this reason, there are three modes of persuasion.

The following are a few examples of Logos.

Al Gore, a renowned environmentalist, used logos in his speech “The Climate Crisis Is the Battle of Our Time, and We Can Win,” in 2019. He tells people what exactly is happening that is causing climate change and cites scientific research and experts in his speech as well:

"I often echo the point made by the climate scientist James Hansen: The accumulation of carbon dioxide, methane, and other greenhouse gases—some of which will envelop the planet for hundreds and possibly thousands of years—is now trapping as much extra energy daily as 500,000 Hiroshima-class atomic bombs would release every 24 hours. This is the crisis we face."

In the Versatile Stain Remover ad by OxiClean, you see Billy Mays use the stain remover to clean different products to showcase the product's ability as a stain remover.

An iPhone commercial shows the smartphone's different features that make it stand out from the rest.

Some More Examples of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos

Almost everyone uses these three modes of persuasion in one form or the other in their arguments. Let’s see how famous people have used them through time.

"During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife.

Pixar went on to create the world's first computer-animated feature film, Toy Story and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.

In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance."

—Steve Jobs, 2005

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, relies heavily on ethos here. He uses his authority as a founder of successful tech companies to show people why they should listen to him.

"I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations.

Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality."

—Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1963

Martin Luther King Jr. was famous for fighting for civil rights. In the above excerpt from his speech “I Have a Dream,” he uses pathos to empathize with his audience.

He informs them that he understands they have suffered a lot and have come out of a painful time. This evokes emotion in the audience, and they can connect with King easily.

"Let it be remembered how powerful the influence of a single introduced tree or mammal has been shown to be.

But in the case of an island, or of a country partly surrounded by barriers, into which new and better-adapted forms could not freely enter, we should then have places in the economy of nature that would assuredly be better filled up if some of the original inhabitants were in some manner modified; for, had the area been open to immigration, these same places would have been seized on by intruders.

In such a case, every slight modification, which in the course of ages chanced to arise, and which in any way favored the individuals of any of the species by better adapting them to their altered conditions, would tend to be preserved; and natural selection would have free scope for the work of improvement."

—Charles Darwin, On the Origin of the Species, 1859

Charles Darwin appeals to logic or logos in his book Origin of the Species by talking about the rationale of natural selection.

He talks about how species have evolved with time to better adapt to their environment, a.k.a survival of the fittest. You can see how he uses a logical argument to talk about natural selection.

Conclusion: Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Ethos, pathos, and logos have survived the test of time and are used almost everywhere today. You can find them embedded in commercials, movies, speeches, TED talks, and day-to-day arguments.

These three tools of persuasion appeal to different aspects of humanity: authority, emotion, and logic. When used together, they form a solid argument that can convince anyone of its gist.

Ethos uses the speaker’s authority or credibility to persuade the audience. Pathos uses emotion to trigger people to take action. On the other hand, logos rely on facts and logic to drive a point across.

All three are very important to use in any argument.

Table of Contents

Ai, ethics & human agency, collaboration, information literacy, writing process, using pathos in persuasive writing.

• CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 by Angela Eward-Mangione - Hillsborough Community College

Incorporating appeals to pathos into persuasive writing increases a writer’s chances of achieving his or her purpose. Read “ Pathos ” to define and understand pathos and methods for appealing to it. The following brief article discusses examples of these appeals in persuasive writing.

An important key to incorporating pathos into your persuasive writing effectively is appealing to your audience’s commonly held emotions. To do this, one must be able to identify common emotions, as well as understand what situations typically evoke such emotions. The blog post “ The 10 Most Common Feelings Worldwide, We Feel Fine ,” offers an interview with Seth Kamvar, co-author of We Feel Fine. According to the post, the 10 most commonly held emotions in 2006-2009 were: better, bad, good, guilty, sorry, sick, well, comfortable, great, and happy (qtd. in Whelan).

Let’s take a look at some potential essay topics, what emotions they might evoke, and what methods can be used to appeal to those emotions.

Example: Animal Cruelty

Related Emotions:

Method Narrative

In “To Kill a Chicken,” Nicholas Kristof describes footage taken by an undercover investigator for Mercy with Animals at a North Carolina poultry slaughterhouse: “some chickens aren’t completely knocked out by the electric current and can be seen struggling frantically. Others avoid the circular saw somehow. A backup worker is supposed to cut the throat of those missed by the saw, but any that get by him are scalded alive, the investigator said” (Kristof).

This narrative account, which creates a cruel picture in readers’ minds, will evoke anger, horror, sadness, and sympathy.

Example: Human Trafficking

• Sadness (sorry)
• Sympathy 

Method: Direct Quote

“From Victim to Impassioned Voice” provides the perspective of Asia Graves, a victim of a vicious child prostitution ring who attributes her survival to a group of women: “If I didn’t have those strong women, I’d be nowhere” (McKin).

A quote from a victim of human trafficking humanizes the topic, eliciting sadness and sympathy for the victim(s).

Example: Cyberbullying

Method: empathy for an opposing view.

The concerns of some people who oppose the criminalization of cyberbullying are understandable. For example, Justin W. Patchin, coauthor of Bullying Beyond the Schoolyard: Preventing and Responding to Cyberbullying , opposes making cyberbullying a crime because he views the federal and state governments’ role as one to educate local school districts and provide resources for them (“Cyberbullying”). Patchin does not oppose cyberbullying itself; rather, he takes issue with the government responding to it through criminalization.

Identifying and articulating the opposing view as well as the concerns that underpin it helps the audience experience a full range of sympathy, a commonly held emotion, as a consequence of sincerely investigating and acknowledging another view.

The method a writer uses to persuade emotionally his or her audience will depend on the situation. However, any writer who uses at least one approach will be more persuasive than a writer who ignores opportunities to entreat one of the most powerful aspects of the human experience—emotions.

Works Cited

“Cyberbullying.” Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection . Detroit: Gale, 2015. Opposing Viewpoints in Context . Web. 21 July 2016.

Kristof, Nicholas. “To Kill a Chicken.” The New York Times . The New York Times, 3 May 2015. Web. 20 July 2016.

McKin, Jenifer. “From victim to impassioned voice: Women exploited as a teen fights sexual trafficking of children.” The Boston Globe . Boston Globe Media Partners, 27 Nov. 2012. Web. 20 July 2016.

Whelan, Christine. “The 10 Most Common Feelings Worldwide: We Feel Fine.” The Huffington Post . The Huffington Post, 18 March 2012. Web. 21 July 2016.

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Understand The Difference Between Ethos, Pathos, And Logos To Make Your Point

• What Is Ethos?
• What Is Pathos?
• What Is Logos?
• Examples Of Each
• What Are Mythos And Kairos?

During an argument, people will often say whatever is necessary to win. If that is the case, they would certainly need to understand the three modes of persuasion, also commonly known as the three rhetorical appeals: ethos , pathos , and logos . In short, these three words refer to three main methods that a person can use to speak or write persuasively. As you’re about to find out, the modes of persuasion are important because a speaker who knows how to effectively use them will have a significant advantage over someone who doesn’t.

The terms ethos , pathos , and logos and the theory of their use can be traced back to ancient Greece to the philosophy of Aristotle . Aristotle used these three concepts in his explanations of rhetoric , or the art of influencing the thought and conduct of an audience. For Aristotle, the three modes of persuasion specifically referred to the three major parts of an argument: the speaker ( ethos ), the argument itself ( logos ), and the audience ( pathos ). In particular, Aristotle focused on the speaker’s character, the logic and reason presented by an argument, and the emotional impact the argument had on an audience.

While they have ancient roots, these modes of persuasion are alive and well today. Put simply, ethos refers to persuasion based on the credibility or authority of the speaker, pathos refers to persuasion based on emotion, and logos refers to persuasion based on logic or reason.

By effectively using the three modes of persuasion with a large supply of rhetorical devices, a speaker or writer can become a master of rhetoric and win nearly any argument or win over any audience. Before they can do that, though, they must know exactly what ethos , pathos , and logos mean. Fortunately, we are going to look closely at each of these three ideas and see if they are really as effective as they are said to be.

⚡️ Quick summary

Ethos , pathos , and logos are the three classical modes of persuasion that a person can use to speak or write persuasively. Specifically:

• ethos (character): known as “the appeal to authority” or “the appeal to credibility.” This is the method in which a person relies on their credibility or character when making an appeal or an argument.
• pathos (emotions): known as “the appeal to emotion.” Pathos refers to the method of trying to persuade an audience by eliciting some kind of emotional reaction.
• logos (logic): known as “the appeal to reason.” This method involves using facts and logical reasoning to support an argument and persuade an audience.

What is ethos ?

The word ethos comes straight from Greek. In Greek, ethos literally translates to “habit,” “custom,” or “character.” Ethos is related to the words ethic and ethical , which are typically used to refer to behavior that is or isn’t acceptable for a particular person.

In rhetoric, the word ethos is used to refer to the character or reputation of the speaker. As a rhetorical appeal, ethos is known as “the appeal to authority” or “the appeal to credibility.” When it comes to ethos , one important consideration is how the speaker carries themself and how they present themselves to the audience: Does it seem like they know what they are talking about? Do they even believe the words they are saying? Are they an expert? Do they have some experience or skills that tell us we should listen to them?

Ethos is important in rhetoric because it often influences the opinion or mood of the audience. If a speaker seems unenthusiastic, unprepared, or inexperienced, the audience is more likely to discount the speaker’s argument regardless of what it even is. On the other hand, a knowledgeable, authoritative, confident speaker is much more likely to win an audience over.

Ethos often depends on more than just the argument itself. For example, a speaker’s word choice, grammar, and diction also contribute to ethos ; an audience may react more favorably toward a professional speaker who has a good grasp of industry jargon and enunciates clearly versus a speaker who lacks the necessary vocabulary and fails to enunciate. Ethos can also be influenced by nonverbal factors as well, such as posture, body language, eye contact, and even the speaker’s choice of clothing. For example, a military officer proudly wearing their uniform bedecked with medals will go a long way to establishing ethos without them saying a single word.

Here as a simple example of ethos :

• “As a former mayor of this city, I believe we can solve this crisis if we band together.”

The speaker uses ethos by alerting the audience of their credentials and experience. By doing so, they rely on their reputation to be more persuasive. This “as a…” method of establishing ethos is common, and you have probably seen it used in many persuasive advertisements and speeches.

What are open-ended questions and how can you use them effectively? Find out here.

What is pathos ?

In Greek, pathos literally translates to “suffering, experience, or sensation.” The word pathos is related to the words pathetic , sympathy , and empathy , which all have to do with emotions or emotional connections. Aristotle used the word pathos to refer to the emotional impact that an argument had on an audience; this usage is still mainly how pathos is used in rhetoric today.

As a rhetorical appeal, pathos is referred to as “the appeal to emotion.” Generally speaking, an author or speaker is using pathos when they are trying to persuade an audience by causing some kind of emotional reaction. When it comes to pathos , any and all emotions are on the table: sadness, fear, hope, joy, anger, lust, pity, etc.

As you probably know from your own life, emotions are a powerful motivating factor. For this reason, relying on pathos is often a smart and effective strategy for persuading an audience. Both positive and negative emotions can heavily influence an audience: for example, an audience will want to support a speaker whose position will make them happy, a speaker who wants to end their sadness, or a speaker who is opposed to something that makes them angry.

Here is a simple example of pathos :

• “Every day, the rainforests shrink and innocent animals are killed. We must do something about this calamitous trend before the planet we call our home is damaged beyond repair.”

Here, the author is trying to win over an audience by making them feel sad, concerned, or afraid. The author’s choice of words like “innocent” and “calamitous” enforce the fact that they are trying to rely on pathos .

What is logos ?

In Greek, the word logos literally translates to “word, reason, or discourse.” The word logos is related to many different words that have to do with reason, discourse, or knowledge, such as logic , logical , and any words that end in the suffixes -logy or -logue .

As a mode of persuasion and rhetorical appeal, logos is often referred to as “the appeal to reason.” If a speaker or author is relying on logos , they are typically reciting facts or providing data and statistics that support their argument. In a manner of speaking, logos does away with all of the bells and whistles of ethos and pathos and cuts to the chase by trying to present a rational argument.

Logos can be effective in arguments because, in theory, it is impossible to argue against truth and facts. An audience is more likely to agree with a speaker who can provide strong, factual evidence that shows their position is correct. On the flip side, an audience is less likely to support an argument that is flawed or entirely wrong. Going further, a speaker that presents a lot of supporting evidence and data to the audience is likely to come across as knowledgeable and someone to be listened to, which earns bonus points in ethos as well.

While Aristotle clearly valued an argument based on reason very highly, we know that logos alone doesn’t always effectively persuade an audience. In your own life, you have likely seen a rational, correct speaker lose an argument to a charismatic, authoritative speaker who may not have the facts right.

Here is a simple example of logos :

• “According to market research, sales of computer chips have increased by 300% in the last five years. Analysis of the industry tells us that the market share of computer chips is dominated by Asian manufacturers. It is clear that the Asian technology sector will continue to experience rapid growth for the foreseeable future.”

In this paragraph, the author is using data, statistics, and logical reasoning to make their argument. They clearly hope to use logos to try to convince an audience to agree with them.

Do you need persuading to take this quiz on identifying ethos, pathos, and logos? We think you’ll be a champion at it.

Examples of ethos , pathos , and logos

Ethos , pathos , and logos can all be employed to deliver compelling and persuasive arguments or to win over an audience. Let’s look at a variety of examples to see how different speakers and authors have turned to these modes of persuasion over the years.

“Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral. He was my friend, faithful and just to me […] You all did see that on the Lupercal I thrice presented him a kingly crown, Which he did thrice refuse: was this ambition?” —Marc Antony, Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

In this scene, Marc Antony is trying to win over the Roman people, so Shakespeare has Antony rely on ethos . Antony is establishing himself as both a person of authority in Rome (having the power to offer Caesar a crown) and an expert on Caesar’s true character (Antony was Caesar’s close friend and advisor).

“During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the world’s first computer animated feature film, Toy Story , and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple’s current renaissance.” —Steve Jobs, 2005

Here, Steve Jobs is providing his background–via humblebrag – of being a major figure in several different highly successful tech companies. Jobs is using ethos to provide substance to his words and make it clear to the audience that he knows what he is talking about and they should listen to him.

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“Moreover, though you hate both him and his gifts with all your heart, yet pity the rest of the Achaeans who are being harassed in all their host; they will honour you as a god, and you will earn great glory at their hands. You might even kill Hector; he will come within your reach, for he is infatuated, and declares that not a Danaan whom the ships have brought can hold his own against him.” —Ulysses to Achilles, The Iliad by Homer

In this plea, Ulysses is doing his best to pile on the pathos . In one paragraph, Ulysses is attempting to appeal to several of Achilles’s emotions: his hatred of Hector, his infamous stubborn pride, his sympathy for civilians, and his desire for vengeance.

“I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest—quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality.” —Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., 1963

In this excerpt from his “I Have A Dream” speech, King is using pathos to accomplish two goals at once. First, he is connecting with his audience by making it clear is aware of their plight and suffering. Second, he is citing these examples to cause sadness or outrage in the audience. Both of these effects will make an audience interested in what he has to say and more likely to support his position.

Dr. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech is recognizable and noteworthy for many reasons, including the rhetorical device he employs. Learn about it here.

“Let it be remembered how powerful the influence of a single introduced tree or mammal has been shown to be. But in the case of an island, or of a country partly surrounded by barriers, into which new and better adapted forms could not freely enter, we should then have places in the economy of nature which would assuredly be better filled up if some of the original inhabitants were in some manner modified; for, had the area been open to immigration, these same places would have been seized on by intruders. In such case, every slight modification, which in the course of ages chanced to arise, and which in any way favoured the individuals of any of the species, by better adapting them to their altered conditions, would tend to be preserved; and natural selection would have free scope for the work of improvement.” —Charles Darwin, On the Origin of the Species , 1859

In this passage, Darwin is using logos by presenting a rational argument in support of natural selection. Darwin connects natural selection to established scientific knowledge to argue that it makes logical sense that animals would adapt to better survive in their environment.

“I often echo the point made by the climate scientist James Hansen: The accumulation of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases—some of which will envelop the planet for hundreds and possibly thousands of years—is now trapping as much extra energy daily as 500,000 Hiroshima-class atomic bombs would release every 24 hours. This is the crisis we face.” —Al Gore, “The Climate Crisis Is the Battle of Our Time, and We Can Win,” 2019

In this call to action, Al Gore uses logos to attempt to convince his audience of the significance of climate change. In order to do this, Gore both cites an expert in the field and provides a scientifically accurate simile to explain the scale of the effect that greenhouse gases have on Earth’s atmosphere.

What are mythos and kairos ?

Some modern scholars may also use terms mythos and kairos when discussing modes of persuasion or rhetoric in general.

Aristotle used the term mythos to refer to the plot or story structure of Greek tragedies, i.e., how a playwright ordered the events of the story to affect the audience. Today, mythos is most often discussed as a literary or poetic term rather than a rhetorical one. However, mythos may rarely be referred to as the “appeal to culture” or the “appeal to myth” if it is treated as an additional mode of persuasion. According to this viewpoint, a speaker/writer is using mythos if they try to persuade an audience using shared cultural customs or societal values.

A commonly cited example of mythos is King’s “I Have a Dream” speech quoted earlier. King says:

“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men—yes, black men as well as white men—would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable rights’ of ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ ”

Throughout the speech, King repeatedly uses American symbols and American history ( mythos ) to argue that all Americans should be outraged that Black Americans have been denied freedom and civil rights.

Some modern scholars may also consider kairos as an additional mode of persuasion. Kairos is usually defined as referring to the specific time and place that a speaker chooses to deliver their speech. For written rhetoric, the “place” instead refers to the specific medium or publication in which a piece of writing appears.

Unlike the other modes of persuasion, kairos relates to the context of a speech and how the appropriateness (or not) of a setting affects how effective a speaker is. Once again, King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is a great example of the use of kairos . This speech was delivered at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the 100th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation at the end of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Clearly, King intended to use kairos to enhance the importance and timeliness of this landmark speech.

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What Are Logos, Pathos & Ethos?

A straight-forward explainer (with examples)

By: Derek Jansen (MBA) | Reviewer: Eunice Rautenbach (DTech) | June 2023

If you spend any amount of time exploring the wonderful world of philosophy, you’re bound to run into the dynamic trio of rhetorical appeals: logos , ethos and pathos . But, what exactly do they mean and how can you use them in your writing or speaking? In this post, we’ll unpack the rhetorical love triangle in simple terms, using loads of practical examples along the way.

Overview: The Rhetorical Triangle

• What are logos , pathos and ethos ?
• Logos unpacked (+ examples)
• Pathos unpacked (+ examples)
• Ethos unpacked (+ examples)
• The rhetorical triangle

What are logos, ethos and pathos?

Simply put, logos, ethos and pathos are three powerful tools that you can use to persuade an audience of your argument . At the most basic level, logos appeals to logic and reason, while pathos appeals to emotions and ethos emphasises credibility or authority.

Naturally, a combination of all three rhetorical appeals packs the biggest punch, but it’s important to consider a few different factors to determine the best mix for any given context. Let’s look at each rhetorical appeal in a little more detail to understand how best to use them to your advantage.

Logos appeals to the logical, reason-driven side of our minds. Using logos in an argument typically means presenting a strong body of evidence and   facts to support your position. This evidence should then be accompanied by sound logic and well-articulated reasoning .

Let’s look at some examples of logos in action:

• A friend trying to persuade you to eat healthier might present scientific studies that show the benefits of a balanced diet and explain how certain nutrients contribute to overall health and longevity.
• A scientist giving a presentation on climate change might use data from reputable studies, along with well-presented graphs and statistical analyses to demonstrate the rising global temperatures and their impact on the environment.
• An advertisement for a new smartphone might highlight its technological features, such as a faster processor, longer battery life, and a high-resolution camera. This could also be accompanied by technical specifications and comparisons with competitors’ models.

In short, logos is all about using evidence , logic and reason to build a strong argument that will win over an audience on the basis of its objective merit . This contrasts quite sharply against pathos, which we’ll look at next.

Contrasted to logos, pathos appeals to the softer side of us mushy humans. Specifically, it focuses on evoking feelings and emotions in the audience. When utilising pathos in an argument, the aim is to cultivate some feeling of connection in the audience toward either yourself or the point that you’re trying to make.

In practical terms, pathos often uses storytelling , vivid language and personal anecdotes to tap into the audience’s emotions. Unlike logos, the focus here is not on facts and figures, but rather on psychological affect . Simply put, pathos utilises our shared humanness to foster agreement.

Let’s look at some examples of pathos in action:

• An advertisement for a charity might incorporate images of starving children and highlight their desperate living conditions to evoke sympathy, compassion and, ultimately, donations.
• A politician on the campaign trail might appeal to feelings of hope, unity, and patriotism to rally supporters and motivate them to vote for his or her party.
• A fundraising event may include a heartfelt personal story shared by a cancer survivor, with the aim of evoking empathy and encouraging donations to support cancer research.

As you can see, pathos is all about appealing to the human side of us – playing on our emotions to create buy-in and agreement.

Last but not least, we’ve got ethos. Ethos is all about emphasising the credibility and authority of the person making the argument, or leveraging off of someone else’s credibility to support your own argument.

The ethos card can be played by highlighting expertise, achievements, qualifications and accreditations , or even personal and professional associations and connections. Ultimately, the aim here is to foster some level of trust within the audience by demonstrating your competence, as this will make them more likely to take your word as fact.

Let’s look at some examples of ethos in action:

• A fitness equipment brand might hire a well-known athlete to endorse their product.
• A toothpaste brand might make claims highlighting that a large percentage of dentists recommend their product.
• A financial advisor might present their qualifications, certifications and professional memberships when meeting with a prospective client.

As you can see, using ethos in an argument is largely about emphasising the credibility of the person rather than the logical soundness of the argument itself (which would reflect a logos-based approach). This is particularly helpful when there isn’t a large body of evidence to support the argument.

Ethos can also overlap somewhat with pathos in that positive emotions and feelings toward a specific person can oftentimes be extended to someone else’s argument. For example, a brand that has nothing to do with sports could still benefit from the endorsement of a well-loved athlete, just because people feel positive feelings about the athlete – not because of that athlete’s expertise  in the product they’re endorsing.

How to use logos, pathos and ethos

Logos, pathos and ethos combine to form the rhetorical triangle , also known as the Aristotelian triangle. As you’d expect, the three sides (or corners) of the triangle reflect the three appeals, but there’s also another layer of meaning. Specifically, the three sides symbolise the relationship between the speaker , the audience and the message .

Without getting too philosophical, the key takeaway here is that logos, pathos and ethos are all tools that you can use to present a persuasive argument . However, how much you use each tool needs to be informed by careful consideration of who your audience is and what message you’re trying to convey to them.

For example, if you’re writing a research paper for a largely scientific audience, you’ll likely lean more heavily on the logos . Conversely, if you’re presenting a speech in which you argue for greater social justice, you may lean more heavily on the pathos to win over the hearts and minds of your audience.

Simply put, by understanding the relationship between yourself (as the person making the argument), your audience , and your message , you can strategically employ the three rhetorical appeals to persuade, engage, and connect with your audience more effectively in any context. Use these tools wisely and you’ll quickly notice what a difference they can make to your ability to communicate and more importantly, to persuade .

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• Dec 3, 2020
• 11 min read

Ethos, Pathos, Logos: What Are They and How to Use Them

You may have heard the terms ethos, pathos and logos at some point in your life, but what do they mean, exactly? All three are techniques of rhetoric, meant to persuade others toward a particular point of view. You’ll often see them being used in political speeches, commercials, content marketing perhaps, and even movies and literature.

Each technique uses a different approach to appeal to the audience and solidify the argument, whether you’re establishing: the character of the speaker ( ethos ), the emotional state of the listener ( pathos ), or the argument itself ( logos ).

In this article, we’ll look at these three methods in detail, and how to use each effectively.

The three traditional modes of persuasion

Greek philosopher Aristotle first defined these three methods in Rhetoric , where he writes:

Of the modes of persuasion furnished by the spoken word there are three kinds. The first kind depends on the personal character of the speaker; the second on putting the audience into a certain frame of mind; the third on the proof, provided by the words of the speech itself.

Ethos is when a speaker or writer appeals to their authority as a means of persuasion. They use words to convince the audience of their reputation, virtue, intelligence, or even their professional qualifications. This way, the audience is more inclined to believe in the argument presented. Of course, in order to be effective, the speaker or writer doesn’t necessarily have to have these virtues, just appear to. This is something that can be deployed verbally or through writing, including content cowriting.

Pathos is the act of evoking emotions in the audience or readers in order to persuade. The speaker or writer uses words to manipulate people into feeling empathy, desire, anger, joy—virtually any emotion. To do so, they need to understand who they’re talking to and the greater societal context quite well.

Logos is the act of appealing to the logic of the audience or readers. Here, the speaker’s or writer’s effort is focused on the rational validity of the argument proposed. Usually, this comes together with the use of facts, data, statistics and other logical demonstrations. As with ethos , logos doesn’t necessarily have to be logically sound to be effective, but it does have to appear to be. This is also what makes it an essential part of any type of marketing .

These three techniques show up in all sorts of circumstances, from political speeches and courtroom debates, to advertisements, essays, marketing strategies and opinion pieces.

A good and memorable speech will utilize all of them together. For instance, a politician may establish rapport by mentioning her up-by-the-bootstraps childhood ( ethos ), speak about the unifying power of the country’s citizens ( pathos ), and then go on to explain how her election will bring about these ideals in practicality ( logos ). It's also not uncommon to see all three used in the same motivational quote , for example.

“Ethos”: Definition and examples

What is “ethos”.

Ethos is sometimes mistakenly defined as the speaker’s appeal to the audience’s ethics, but, in fact, it has more to do with the speaker’s own values or character. Near the beginning of a speech, the orator may use ethos to establish credibility by delivering a brief biography or selected highlights of their personal history. They may also use their voice, tone, gestures or vocabulary to further ground that they’re qualified to talk about the specific topic at stake. Essentially, it’s about trust.

Famous examples of “ethos”

Example 1: Advertising campaigns

Any advertisement that has a celebrity endorsement uses ethos . Michael Jordan and Nike, Matthew McConaughey and Lincoln automobiles, Oprah and Weight Watchers—all these are examples of leveraging the speaker's reputation as a means to prop up a product or service. This works because the celebrity is commonly seen to possess certain virtues that the brand wants to be associated with.

Example 2: Michelle Obama’s remarks on the 2020 Democratic National Convention

During the 2020 Democratic National Convention, Michelle Obama used ethos when she endorsed presidential candidate Joe Biden by reminding the audience of her own integrity:

Now, I understand that my message won't be heard by some people. We live in a nation that is deeply divided, and I am a Black woman speaking at the Democratic Convention. But enough of you know me by now. You know that I tell you exactly what I'm feeling. You know I hate politics. But you also know that I care about this nation. You know how much I care about all of our children.

Example 3: Jaws by Steven Spielberg

In the 1975 film Jaws , Quint (played by Robert Shaw) delivered his famous soliloquy about the USS Indianapolis. The whole speech oozes with ethos , as Quint tells the story of his experience as a sailor in WWII to explain his vendetta against man-eating sharks:

Y ou know that was the time I was most frightened. Waitin’ for my turn. I’ll never put on a lifejacket again. So, eleven hundred men went into the water. Three hundred and sixteen men come out, the sharks took the rest, June the 29th, 1945.

How to use “ethos”

The next time you’re posting on social media , or give a presentation in the office, try using ethos . Talk about your past experiences and qualifications. Make sure your audience knows who you are, and why they should trust your voice. Actually, though you may not be aware, you use ethos quite often already. Any time you’ve asked a listener to trust in what you are saying, based on your character or expertise, you’re working with your ethos .

To use ethos effectively, you need to remember your audience. What do they need to hear in order to believe in you? What kind of background details can you give them? Keep in mind that ethos is highly relative, since the qualities that are expected in one field aren’t necessarily the ones another audience will value. Remember who you’re talking to and shape your argument accordingly. If you’re a car salesman trying to convince a customer, you can mention you’ve been in the business for 40 years and know what you’re talking about. If you’re applying for a job in a startup, mention your personal attributes that the interviewers might value: flexibility, ambition, and tech savviness.

Focus on what will really build up your character in the eyes of the audience and establish your authority. The more relatable and trustworthy you are, the more effective your speech will be. Equally as important, don’t mention the factors that will destroy your credibility and are unrelated to the topic at hand.

“Pathos”: Definition and examples

What is “pathos”.

Stemming from the Greek word for "suffering," "experience," or "emotion,” pathos appeals to the emotions of the audience. Aristotle believed that the orator could use their words to lead the audience to experience virtually any type of feeling. He thought that, in order to succeed, they should be constantly aware of three main factors: 1) the audience’s frame of mind, 2) how emotions vary from person to person, and 3) the influence the speaker has over the audience.

Famous examples of “pathos”

Example 1: Coca-Cola’s Taste the Feeling campaign

Pathos is common in advertisements today. Just look at the McDonald’s I’m lovin’ it and Coca-Cola’s Taste the Feeling campaigns—the emotion is in the slogan. Talking about Coca-Cola, in each commercial from the brand, the people in it are happy, young, generally loving life under the sun, accompanied by bright colors, buoyant music and an atmosphere of energy and positivity. The messaging implies that if you want to be happy, drink Coca-Cola. Pathos is the perfect choice as the other methods of persuasion fall flat. Not logos —there are not many logical reasons to drink sugar-packed beverages. And as for the company’s ethos —the consumers don’t necessarily care about the brand’s values or reputation. Pathos is the only way to sell the product. You’re probably craving one now.

Example 2: I have a dream speech by Martin Luther King Jr.’s

Pathos often appears in the best and most moving political speeches, as in Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous I have a dream speech:

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights: 'When will you be satisfied?' We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating ‘For Whites Only.' We cannot be satisfied and we will not be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

See how he uses repetition with “We can never be satisfied” to drive his point home. His words are chosen carefully to invoke emotion: “unspeakable horrors,” “heavy with fatigue of travel,” “stripped of their selfhood,” and “robbed of their dignity.”

Example 3: Requiem for a Dream by Darren Aronofsky

One example in cinema appears in Requiem for a Dream , when an elderly housewife, played by Ellen Burstyn, appeals to her son to empathize with her sense of loneliness and emptiness:

I’m somebody now, Harry. Everybody likes me. Soon, millions of people will see me and they’ll all like me. I’ll tell them about you, and your father, how good he was to us. Remember? It’s a reason to get up in the morning. It’s a reason to lose weight, to fit in the red dress. It’s a reason to smile. It makes tomorrow all right. What have I got Harry, hmm? Why should I even make the bed, or wash the dishes? I do them, but why should I? I’m alone. Your father’s gone, you’re gone. I got no one to care for. What have I got, Harry? I’m lonely. I’m old. Ah, it’s not the same. They don’t need me. I like the way I feel. I like thinking about the red dress and the television and you and your father. Now when I get the sun, I smile.

Delivered with a wavering voice, the housewife’s sadness and fragility comes across in simple, modest language: “I’m alone,” “I got no one to care for,” and “They don’t need me.” She also uses rhetorical questions to communicate her sense of hopelessness: “What have I got?”

How to use “pathos”

Pathos is a very effective way to bring the audience over to your own perspective, but you have to be keenly aware of 1) the kind emotion you want to elicit, and 2) what truth you’re going to draw on to trigger that emotion.

You have to work backwards, in a way. Then, build a narrative to encapsulate that truth—you can’t simply plop the truth on a platter. Show, don’t tell. Look at all those skateboards in Coca-Cola commercials. They aren’t simply saying, “Coca-Cola will make you feel good.” They show people who feel good.

Moreover, pathos is most effective if used sparingly—you don’t want to be too sappy or forced. An audience can smell a faker a mile away. Don’t forget to use analogies, humor, surprise, body language, maybe even visuals if the forum is right.

Lastly, to take some tips from Aristotle’s own rulebook, here are a few more tools you can use with pathos to make it more effective:

Aposiopesis is the unexpected breaking off in the middle of a sentence. If you are speaking, then, all of a sudden, find yourself overcome with so much emotion that you can’t even finish your sentence—if used carefully, this will invoke empathy in the audience,

Paromologia is when you concede part of your opponent’s point. It has the double effect of making you appear honest and logical, while mitigating your opponent’s argument which ultimately, also creates a feeling of empathy in the audience,

Jokes are often memorable techniques for pathos . A speaker will seem more relatable, and even more intelligent than an opponent who employs only logos or ethos , even if that person’s argument is more sound. It can also be used to make the audience sit up and pay more attention to your point.

“Logos”: Definition and examples

What is “logos”.

Logos comes from the Greek term for “word,” and is a direct ancestor of the English term logic . Logos is the reasoned discourse, the logical demonstration—whether it’s inductive reasoning (drawing general conclusions based on factual evidence) or deductive reasoning (starting with an hypothesis and confirming it with logical reasoning). Data, statistics, facts, figures, and common sense are all tools of logos to convince your audience. It relies wholly on the strength of the argument itself, regardless of the emotions felt by the audience or the expertise of the speaker. An argument with logos should be able to stand up by itself.

Famous examples of “logos”

Example 1: Hamlet , Act I, Scene III by Shakespeare

In Shakespeare’s Hamlet , Polonius counsels his son Laertes to never give money to friends. His logic is that it’s often risky to combine debt with personal relationships, which can result in the loss of both money and friends. By the same token, borrowing can make you complacent, spend money haphazardly, and lose the habit of “husbandry,” that is, being thrifty and mindful of your own expenses.

Neither a borrower nor a lender be,

For loan oft loses both itself and friend,

And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

Example 2: 2012 State of the Union Address by President Barack Obama

In 2012, Barack Obama used logos when discussing the 2008 recession in the State of the Union address:

In 2008, the house of cards collapsed. We learned that mortgages had been sold to people who couldn’t afford or understand them. Banks had made huge bets and bonuses with other people’s money. Regulators had looked the other way, or didn’t have the authority to stop the bad behavior. It was wrong. It was irresponsible. And it plunged our economy into a crisis that put millions out of work, saddled us with more debt, and left innocent, hardworking Americans holding the bag. In the six months before I took office, we lost nearly 4 million jobs. And we lost another 4 million before our policies were in full effect. Those are the facts.

He makes a clear case, explaining how irresponsibility was the direct cause of the loss of millions of jobs and increase in debt nationwide. He gathers his statements and drives his point home by stressing that, indeed, those are the facts.

How to use “logos”

Logos is a powerful tool, because it often stands on irrefutable hard data and statistics. It doesn’t need the charisma of the orator or the emotions of the audience to make a well-reasoned argument. That said, how the audience receives it is another topic entirely—dry facts can come across stilted if not cushioned by the speaker’s charisma.

To use logos most effectively, temper it with common speech that everyone can understand. If your topic is complex, use simple words to explain it. Don’t hide your beautiful argument behind complicated words, jargon or generalizations. Be as specific and concrete as possible, with examples, and stress the most important points.

One method you can use with logos is the syllogism, whether you combine two premises and draw the logical conclusion from them. The most famous example, from Aristotle himself, is: “ All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.” In order to use this type of logic effectively, you should be keenly aware of the accepted premises shared with your audience. You can use what is deemed by your audience to be common sense or social truths to solidify a greater, more universal truth that you want them to accept.

Aristotle was also a fan of using logos in such a way as to guide the audience to reach the conclusion to the argument on their own. By suggesting the conclusion with logic, rather than stating it outright, the audience will be more accepting of your point. Simply put, they will feel more confident in the overall reasoning if they do the work themselves.

In a nutshell

To sum it up:

Ethos is the act of appealing to the speaker’s or writer’s authority as a means of persuasion,

Pathos is the act of evoking emotions in the audience or readers to make your point,

Logos is the act of appealing to the logic of the audience or readers.

Aristotle believed that logos should be the most important of the three modes of persuasion, but to really be effective, a speaker or writer needs to use all three. Ask yourself three questions: Does the audience respect you? Are you able to evoke emotions? Does your logic make sense? If you can answer ‘yes’ to all three questions, then you have a powerful argument.

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Understanding Ethos, Pathos, and Logos: The Foundations of Persuasive Speaking

• Carolyn Manion Kinnie
• January 30, 2024

Table of Contents

Here at The Speaker Lab, we talk a lot about how to launch a speaking business. Usually, we focus on the “business” part. Fundamentals like establishing your pipeline and setting your speaker fee are key to really succeeding as a speaker. But mastering the business side will only take you so far if your talk isn’t persuasive! How do you make sure your message sticks with your audience? That’s what we’re diving into today. Learning how to speak persuasively will help you deliver a compelling talk that listeners remember. And what do we find at the heart of persuasive speaking? Three age old terms coined by an ancient Greek: ethos, pathos, and logos. 

Today we’re breaking down how ethos, pathos, and logos play a role in persuasive speaking in any field, on any topic. If you’re busy crafting your signature talk , it’s easy to get caught up in the weeds and forget to look at the big picture. That’s why we’re getting back to the basics–all the way back to the fourth century B.C.

Aristotle and Persuasive Rhetoric  

Aristotle’s Rhetoric is one of the foundational philosophical works at the basis of what we consider persuasive speaking. In the Rhetoric, he explains that ethos, pathos, and logos are three ways that any speech–no matter what kind of speech–can have a persuasive effect. So what exactly do these words mean? 

Ethos refers to the character of the speaker. Good, bad, old, young, famous, obscure…any attribute that belongs to the speaker as a person . Would you more willingly listen to someone whose character is honest and trustworthy or a well-known con man? The ancient Greeks felt the same way. Listeners are more likely to take advice from a speaker whose character they trust.

Keep in mind that character qualities in a speaker can be positive or negative depending on context. A speaker’s age on either end of the spectrum can give a negative impression of either inexperience or outdatedness. But youthfulness characterized by drive and ambition (or old age characterized by wisdom and self-reflection) comes across extremely favorably, especially to other young people! 

If ethos centers on the speaker, pathos centers on the audience. A speaker leveraging e thos appeals to their own character, one using pathos appeals to emotion. To master pathos, you must influence your audience’s emotional state throughout your talk in a way that contributes to your message. While your credibility goes a long way toward winning their trust, if you fail to evoke the right emotions you will quickly lose their interest. You can be the most rational, data-driven speaker and ruin the impact of your talk by “giving someone the ick,” as the kids say these days! By using vivid words and dynamic nonverbal cues, you can profoundly impact your audience’s feelings as they listen to your talk.

Logos is where the rubber meets the road. This is your argument–how you prove your point with evidence and logic. No good speech can go without logos, though it can play a greater or lesser role depending on the context. Logos is especially important when the desired impact of your talk requires big changes from your audience in thought or action. Industries and events that rely heavily on research and data will also have high expectations for the logos in your talk. 

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Applying ethos, pathos, and logos to your own talk.

Now, we’ll go through a few practical applications of ethos, pathos, and logos to your professional speaking business. As you book speaking gigs, keep in mind how your marketing, content, and delivery can reflect these principles. We don’t intend to burden you with extra steps on the route to your next speaking gig. You don’t have to be a Greek philosopher to figure this out! Often, it just requires a little extra introspection as you compose and rehearse your talk.

Applying Ethos

Your ethos  is the story your personal brand tells on and off the stage. Focus on establishing expertise, authority, and credibility before and during your talk.  Your audience will find you more persuasive if they already trust you. That’s why it’s important to write your speaker bio effectively with references to your experience in the field.

Relating to your audience in your talk will also establish a powerful ethos. If they know that you are someone like them, they are more likely to agree with your argument. Tell stories that connect your experiences to those of your audience.

Citing data and known authorities also contributes to a positive ethos. Without realizing it, your audience will associate the authorities to whom you appeal with you. Appeal to inspiring figures and well-reputed sources already trusted by your audience–they will trust you. Appealing to a screenshot of a random tweet you found on the internet or treating unverified theories as facts will simply discredit you.  

Offstage interactions play a huge role in  ethos  too. Try to take the time to chat with your audience after your talk, even if it’s just for a few minutes. Make friends with mission-driven speakers in your field who are easy to work with and genuinely care about their audience. Event planners and audience members alike will see you as someone accessible rather than aloof. As your reputation precedes you to each speaking engagement, back it up with the version of yourself who goes onstage.

Applying Pathos 

Swaying your audience’s emotions can rarely carry your entire argument. But it can be a huge help. Feeling a variety of emotions will keep your listeners from getting bored and put them in the right headspace to receive the information you want to communicate. 

Think of your talk as an emotional journey on which you embark with your audience. When you write your speech section by section, think about what you want the audience to be feeling at each point. Anticipation, as you introduce a meaningful story that leaves them breathless? Somber gravity, as you present facts and data about a troubling situation to which you present solutions? Enthusiasm, as you offer a transformative business solution that, while difficult, might get them out of a rut? Amusement, as you tell a funny joke to hook their attention? 

You are their guide on this journey, so it’s up to you to tell them (without literally telling them) how to feel. Delivery and nonverbal communication are key here. Voice intonations, hand gestures, pauses, and facial expressions can add emotional weight to even the driest of phrases. Often, the best way to elicit a new emotion is to tell a story ! Stories can support your message, offer humorous diversion, or transition to a new topic…all while guiding emotions along the way. 

Applying Logos 

Neither ethos nor pathos directly concern the content of your talk, but logos does. Logos is the logical argument you make. You can ruin the effects of great pathos and ethos by failing to adequately support your argument. Sure, if your main purpose is to hype up your audience, you will likely rely more on pathos. But if you fail to connect everything you say to the point or (even worse) cite exaggerated facts or falsehoods, any listening ear will immediately discredit what you have to say. On the other hand, if you struggle to emotionally connect with your audience and have little experience in your field, great logos can still carry your point across and convince a skeptical audience. 

Think of Logos as simply speaking the truth with clarity. Back up your claims and cite any important data or statistics. Use compelling examples from client results you were responsible for with or well-established research. Avoid fallacies and over-fluffy modes of speaking that might throw your audience off. Many speakers try to cover up weak links in their argument with jargon or convoluted palaver. Don’t do that! If the data doesn’t back up your argument, it’s time to reevaluate your argument. 

Many speakers unintentionally obscure a good point by going off track. Your stories, jokes, and elaborations should all support one clear message. If you try to communicate too many messages at once, you’ll leave your audience adrift. Some tips? Replace long tangents with more relevant stories. For a talk on a broad topic, only delve into one or two examples in detail. If you’re speaking about something specific or granular, only give the most necessary background information. 

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Exemplary Persuasive Speeches

To wrap up, let’s look at some classic examples of how speakers use ethos, pathos, and logos to persuade their audiences. 

Winston Churchill’s address to Congress in December 1941 utilizes ethos remarkably well to assure the assembly that he is speaking as a friend, not a foreigner. He reminds them that his own mother was American. He emphasizes his understanding of the American system of representation as a “child of the House of Commons.” Then, he further details that the King himself gave him permission to meet with the president! This way, he appeals to two very venerable heads of authority. As he moves on into a grim but stirring vision of the war, its past present and future, his credibility and trustworthiness are well-established. 

Marc Antony’s speech from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar is a timeless example of powerful pathos . He immediately plays into the emotions of his audience by reminding them that his purpose is not to deliver a panegyric, but to bury a friend. “When that the poor have cried, Caesar hath wept” he reminds the Romans, giving them cause for self-reflection upon whether their empathy matched Caesar’s. As if his appeal “You all did love him once” was not stirring enough? He finishes off “My heart is in the coffin there with Caesar, / And I must pause till it come back to me.” Absolutely gutting! (Incidentally, Marc Antony also leverages some reverse psychology ethos by referring to Caesar’s murderer Brutus as “an honourable man” throughout.)

Frederick Douglass ’ moving address “What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?” is a long speech worth reading. Indeed, it could be used as an example for all three pillars of persuasion! He appeals especially to logos by examining the documents of the American Founding and pointing out the hypocrisy with which they have long been interpreted regarding slavery. Then he declares: “Take the constitution according to its plain reading, and I defy the presentation of a single proslavery clause in it. On the other hand it will be found to contain principles and purposes, entirely hostile to the existence of slavery.” He supports his point with facts (the text of the constitution was easy to fact-check) and clear, concise argumentation. The powerful impact of his words even today stands a testament to his mastery of rhetoric.  

You should always use a combination of ethos, pathos, and logos to speak persuasively. Your niche will likely determine which you spend the most time emphasizing. For example, a motivational speaker in an intensely personal field like relationships, grief, or mental health will likely need to leverage a lot of pathos. A speaker who tries to convince professionals of any kind to make big changes will need a great deal of logos to show why their proposed solution is better than “what we’ve always done.” And any speaker in any field offering a potentially controversial solution will need to establish an ethos that is authoritative and trustworthy.

Ethos, pathos, and logos have played an integral role in the art of persuasive speaking for over 2000 years. Even the greatest speakers continue working on this skill well into their careers. While we are no longer Greek orators in marble amphitheaters, Aristotle’s principles can help you craft your speech and finesse your delivery for maximum impact. 

• Last Updated: March 7, 2024

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Ethos, Pathos, Logos: 3 Pillars of Public Speaking and Persuasion

April 11, 2018 - Gini Beqiri

Persuasive speaking is a skill that you can apply regularly throughout your life, whether you are selling a product or being interviewed. 2,300 years ago,  Aristotle  determined the components needed for persuasive speaking. They are referred to as the three pillars of persuasion – ethos, pathos and logos. In this article, we discuss how to use the three pillars for public speaking.

What are ethos, pathos and logos?

Ethos, pathos and logos are modes of persuasion used to convince and appeal to an audience. You need these qualities for your audience to accept your messages.

• Ethos : your credibility and character
• Pathos : emotional bond with your listeners
• Logos : logical and rational argument

Ethos – The Ethical Appeal

Ethos is Greek for “character” and “ethic” is derived from ethos.

Ethos consists of convincing your audience that you have good character and you are credible therefore your words can be trusted. Ethos must be established from the  start of your talk  or the audience will not accept what you say.

In fact, ethos is often established before your presentation, for example, you may be the CEO of the company you’re presenting to so you’re already perceived as a specialist.

Why is ethos important?

Characteristics of ethos.

There are four main characteristics of ethos:

• Trustworthiness and respect
• Similarity to the audience
• Expertise and reputation/history

1. Trustworthiness and respect

The audience are more likely to be respect you and think that what you’re saying is true if they  perceive you as trustworthy . This judgement is formed using factors such as:

• Ethics and values
• Generosity and sharing
• If you’re part of a group that stands for the above values, such as an NSPCC worker

2. Similarity to the audience

Listeners are more likely to be convinced by someone they can relate to. For example, you may share:

• Age and gender
• Race and culture
• Personality etc

If you do not share traits with your audience you can choose to adjust your:

• Mannerisms and gestures
• Visual aids

But don’t do too much as your listeners will seen you as not being genuine.

Tony Robbins, a well known authority in the life coaching space, giving a TED Talk on ‘Why we do what we do’.

3. Authority

If the audience perceive that you are an expert they are more likely to be persuaded by what you say. Remember that every presenter has authority because they are the speaker.

For example:

• Political authority e.g. a prime minister
• Educational authority e.g. teacher

4. Expertise and reputation

Expertise is your knowledge of the subject.

Reputation is what your audience knows about your knowledge of the subject.

Reputation depends on:

• Achievements or acknowledgments from others in the area, such as, awards and testimonials.
• Your experience and the amount of years you have worked in this area.
• How involved you were with this topic – are you a key character?
• Your expertise should be verified, for example, you may be talking about different therapy treatments and your expertise is shown by you being a successful Clinical Psychologist.
• Your contribution to the area , perhaps through blogs, books, papers and products.
• Your authority

Merging the four characteristics of ethos

Not all of characteristics have to be present to develop high ethos, for example, a university lecturer speaking to her students is most likely perceived as trustworthy as the lecturer is known to provide correct information, she has authority over the 18-21 year olds due to her job title and her age.

But she’s not similar to her students because of this. She has been working in this area for 30 years and at the university for 5 years (expertise) and has contributed largely to the area through a number of studies and subsequent papers (reputation). This is enough ethos for the audience to be persuaded by what she says.

Another person, such as a manager addressing her employees may have a different combination of these traits but still have enough ethos. It’s hard to achieve complete ethos, especially considering that having authority often reduces similarity.

Improve ethos

Authority and reputation are usually predetermined before your presentation so it’s difficult to change the audience’s mind about this. But it’s easier to change people’s perception about how trustworthy and how alike you are during the presentation.

Improve ethos day to day:

• Become an expert in the topics you present on because people are more likely to want to listen to someone who has researched a topic for 10 years rather than 2 years.
• Ensure that people know about your expertise by promoting yourself, for example, ensure that people can easily access testimonials, reviews, papers etc.
• Treat the trustworthy characteristics as your values, so practice being honest, ethical, compassionate etc.

Improve ethos before a speech:

• Research your audience , especially concentrating on the traits you share, so you know how to appeal to them.
• Show up early to the presentation venue to show the audience that you want to be there.
• If, for example, you are speaking at a wider event, such as a conference, try to attend as much of it as possible. This means that you and the audience are sharing an experience so they are more likely to perceive you as similar to them.
• If the venue requires information to advertise your presentation, emphasise your ethos in this material so people will know why they should come and see your talk.

Telling personal stories during a presentation is a great way to increase ethos.

Increase ethos during a speech:

• In your introduction draw attention to your ethos because this is the best way to demonstrate your credentials to that particular audience on that particular day. Highlight vital facts that demonstrate the main four traits of ethos but which are relevant to the topic and the audience. Don’t make the introduction long and irrelevant.
• Tell personal stories  that show the audience that you follow your own recommendations because they are more likely to believe you on other points that cannot easily be confirmed.
• Facts, stats and quotes  should be up-to-date and from reputable sources, for example, between choosing from social media or Mind’s website to quote a statistic about anxiety, you would choose Mind’s website as this has high ethos which in turn increases your ethos.
• Reference people in the audience or previous speakers or events earlier that day. This forms connections with the audience.
• Be unbiased by admitting that you and your opposition’s side agree on at least one matter. This highlights that you are credible because you are treating the topic with consideration and fairness.

Improve ethos after the presentation

• Always stay for as long as you can after your speech in case audience members want to speak with you. This will also help with future presentations as it’s likely that this will become part of your reputation.
• Stick to your promises, for example, during the  questions and answers session  you may have agreed to find out an answer to a question and tell everyone – ensure that you do this to be seen as honest.

Pathos – The Emotional Appeal

Pathos is Greek for suffering and experience. Empathy, sympathy and pathetic are derived from pathos.

Pathos is to persuade by appealing to the audience’s emotions. As the speaker, you want the audience to feel the same emotions you feel about something, you want to emotionally connect with them and influence them. If you have low pathos the audience is likely to try to find flaws in your arguments.

Why is pathos important?

Emotions are motivators so the audience is more  likely to be persuaded  and act on your requests by using pathos. Pathos is more likely to increase the chances of your audience:

• Understanding your point of view.
• Accepting your arguments.
• Acting on your requests.

Example of pathos during a speech

Girls Who Code Founder Reshma Saujani explains how one of her students created an algorithm to detect false positives in breast cancer testing after her dad was diagnosed with cancer.

Watch the full video here:  Why We Need Women in Tech

Improving pathos

• Choose  emotional points and topics , for example “Beat your social anxiety” would trigger more powerful emotions than “Learn how to speak in a group.”
• Use  analogies and metaphors  – linking your ideas with something your listeners already know about and feel strongly about can trigger emotional responses. For example, “They are awful” compared to “They are poisonous.” This will use the audience’s knowledge that poison is bad and therefore this issue needs to be dealt with.
• Use  emotionally charged words , for example, say “This kitchen roll is a life-saver” rather than “This kitchen roll is great”. Another way to make a statement more emotional is to use  vivid and sensory words  which allow the audience to experience the emotion. For instance, “The smell of your grandparents’ house” will increase the recollection of hopefully warm memories, and therefore will trigger certain emotions.
• Positive emotions, such as joy, should be linked with your claims.
• Negative emotions, such as anger, should be linked to your rival’s claims.
• Using  humour  increases the likelihood that the audience are enjoying themselves and so they are more likely to like you and listen to you.
• Visual aids  can sometimes be more powerful than words, for example, showing an image of a scared small child will have more impact than saying that children are often victims of domestic violence.
• Research your audience  and find out what their shared values are. Target these values and beliefs because they are strongly associated to emotions.
• Storytelling  is a quick way to form an emotional connection. It’s often used to link a part of a key message with an emotional response – you’ll be familiar with seeing this in adverts asking for charity donations.
• Match what you’re saying with your body language , face and eyes. People often mirror emotions so by matching your body language with your words you increase the chances of triggering the desired emotions.
• Also  match your voice to your words , for example, if you want to show sadness  speak in a soft voice , if you want to show excitement then increase your pace etc.
• Stand as close as you can to the audience  so the speech feels more personal – don’t hide behind the computer screen.
• Use words that carry suitable connotations , for example, if you asked a group of men whether they would like to be called “tall”, “lanky” or “big”. Even though the words have essentially the same meaning, the men are more likely to choose the word that has the most positive connotation, in this case the word “tall”.
• If you have accidentally  caused a negative emotion find out why and apologise . For example, perhaps there have been severe interpersonal conflicts that you were unaware of and a joke you made upset audience members.

Logos – The Logical Appeal

The word “logic” is derived from logos.

Logos is to appeal to logic by relying on the audience’s intelligence and offering evidence in support of your argument. Logos also develops ethos because the information makes you look knowledgeable. Ask the following questions to decide if you have achieved logos:

• Are my messages coherent?
• Does the evidence support my claims?
• Will the audience’s actions lead to my desired outcome?

Why is logos important?

Essentially, logical arguments that make sense are not easily dismissed.

Improving logos

• Be comprehensive : Make sure your points and arguments can be understood
• Be logical : Ensure that your arguments make sense and that your claims and evidence are not implausible. Have a plan for dealing with opposing viewpoints that your listeners may already believe.
• Be specific : Base your claims on facts and examples as your arguments will be accepted quicker than something nonspecific and non-concrete. The more easily the evidence is accepted, the more easily the conclusions will be accepted.

Be comprehensive

• Use language that your audience will understand. Avoid jargon and technical terminology.
• Use simple figures and charts to make the presentations more understandable.
• Make the relationship between your evidence and conclusions clear.
• Analogies and metaphors  are helpful especially when explaining new ideas and theories.

Engage the audience by asking them questions during your speech to increase logos.

• Ensure that the  audience is involved  by asking them engaging questions. This will make them active listeners so they may even come to your conclusion themselves.
• Talk about opposing views as this allows you to explain why your logical arguments are more reasonable.
• Deductive reasoning  is looking at the evidence and  coming to a conclusion . For example. “I don’t like loud places. That restaurant is really loud. So I won’t like that restaurant.”
• Inductive reasoning  is when you add rational pieces, perhaps beliefs, to the evidence and come to a conclusion. The evidence is used to infer a conclusion but the conclusion is not guaranteed. For example: “All the vegan restaurants I have eaten in have been good. This is a vegan restaurant. So it must be good.”

The audience are using both types of reasoning as you speak, so their beliefs may interfere with them accepting your conclusions. Overcome these by building your argument on the audience’s widely held beliefs – commonplaces. For example, a company’s main value and therefore commonplace may be “Compassion makes us the best company”.

Use the audience’s commonplace like a fact and apply it to a new situation. So if you want to encourage your staff to join a committee, use their commonplace, for example, rather than your belief say: “This committee needs considerate and kind-hearted people.”

Be specific

• Facts and stats cannot be debated and they signify the truth.
• Visual evidence, such as, objects and  videos  are hard to challenge.
• Citing specialists and authorities on a topic increases the quality of your evidence and therefore your claims.
• Tell stories, such as, case studies or personal experiences. The audience would like to hear your own stories if you’re a specialist, for example, “When I was excavating in Nottingham…”

There is uncertainty over which pillar is the most important – Aristotle thought that logos was vital but when used by itself it lacks impact. So ensure that you treat all three pillars with equal importance to succeed in persuading your audience.

Ethos, Logos, Pathos for Persuasion

• Writing Research Papers
• Writing Essays
• English Grammar
• M.Ed., Education Administration, University of Georgia
• B.A., History, Armstrong State University

You may be surprised to learn that much of your life consists of constructing arguments. If you ever plead a case to your parents—in order to extend your curfew or to get a new gadget, for example—you are using persuasive strategies. When you discuss music with friends and agree or disagree with them about the merits of one singer compared to another, you are also using strategies for persuasion.

Indeed, when you engage in these "arguments" with your parents and friends, you are instinctively using ancient strategies for persuasion that were identified by the Greek philosopher Aristotle a few thousand years ago. Aristotle called his ingredients for persuasion pathos , logos , and ethos .

Persuasion Tactics and Homework

When you write a research paper , write a speech , or participate in a debate , you also use the persuasion strategies mentioned above. You come up with an idea (a thesis) and then construct an argument to convince readers that your idea is sound.

You should become familiar with pathos, logos, and ethos for two reasons: First, you need to develop your own skills at crafting a good argument so that others will take you seriously. Second, you must develop the ability to identify a really weak argument, stance, claim, or position when you see or hear it.

Logos Defined

Logos refers to an appeal to reason based on logic. Logical conclusions come from assumptions and decisions derived from weighing a collection of solid facts and statistics . Academic arguments (research papers) rely on logos.

An example of an argument that relies on logos is the argument that smoking is harmful based on the evidence that, "When burned, cigarettes create more than 7,000 chemicals. At least 69 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, and many are toxic," according to the American Lung Association. Notice that the statement above uses specific numbers. Numbers are sound and logical.

An everyday example of an appeal to logos is the argument that Lady Gaga is more popular than Justin Bieber because Gaga's fan pages collected 10 million more Facebook fans than Bieber's. As a researcher, your job is to find statistics and other facts to back up your claims. When you do this, you are appealing to your audience with logic or logos.

Ethos Defined

Trustworthiness is important in research. You must trust your sources, and your readers must trust you. The example above concerning logos contained two examples that were based on hard facts (numbers). However, one example comes from the American Lung Association. The other comes from Facebook fan pages. You should ask yourself: Which of these sources do you suppose is more credible?

Anyone can start a Facebook page. Lady Gaga may have 50 different fan pages, and each page may contain duplicate "fans." The fan page argument is probably not very sound (even though it seems logical). Ethos refers to the credibility of the person posing the argument or stating the facts.

The facts provided by the American Lung Association are probably more persuasive than those provided by fan pages since the American Lung Association has been around for more than 100 years. At first glance, you might think that your own credibility is out of your control when it comes to posing academic arguments, but that is incorrect.

Even if you write an academic paper on a topic that is outside your area of expertise, you can improve your credibility—using ethos to persuade—by coming across as a professional by citing credible sources and making your writing error-free and concise.

Pathos Defined

Pathos refers to appealing to a person by influencing his emotions. Pathos is involved in the strategy of convincing the audience by invoking feelings through their own imaginations. You appeal through pathos when you try to convince your parents of something. Consider this statement:

"Mom, there is clear evidence that cellphones save lives in emergency situations."

While that statement is true, the real power lies in the emotions that you will likely invoke in your parents. What mother wouldn't envision a broken-down automobile perched by the side of a busy highway upon hearing that statement?

Emotional appeals are extremely effective, but they can be tricky. There may or may not be a place for pathos in your research paper . For example, you may be writing an argumentative essay about the death penalty.

Ideally, your paper should contain a logical argument. You should appeal to logos by including statics to support your view such as data that suggests that the death penalty does/does not cut down on crime (there's plenty of research both ways).

Use Appeals to Emotion Sparingly

You may also use pathos by interviewing someone who witnessed an execution (on the anti-death penalty side) or someone who found closure when a criminal was executed (on the pro-death penalty side). Generally, however, academic papers should employ appeals to emotions sparingly. A long paper that is purely based on emotions is not considered very professional.

Even when you are writing about an emotionally charged, controversial issue like the death penalty, you can't write a paper that is all emotion and opinion. The teacher, in that circumstance, will likely assign a failing grade because you haven't provided a sound (logical) argument.

• “ What's In a Cigarette? ”  American Lung Association,
• 100 Persuasive Essay Topics
• 100 Persuasive Speech Topics for Students
• Use Social Media to Teach Ethos, Pathos and Logos
• 50 Argumentative Essay Topics
• Logos (Rhetoric)
• Words, Phrases, and Arguments to Use in Persuasive Writing
• Pathos in Rhetoric
• Artistic Proofs: Definitions and Examples
• Definition and Examples of Ethos in Classical Rhetoric
• What Is a Rhetorical Device? Definition, List, Examples
• Persuasion and Rhetorical Definition
• What is an Appeal in Rhetoric?
• An Introduction to Academic Writing
• AP English Exam: 101 Key Terms
• How to Write a Persuasive Essay
• Proof in Rhetoric

Home » Glossary » Logos, Ethos, Pathos: Definition and What It Is

Logos, Ethos, Pathos: Definition and What It Is

Educationally and pedagogically written and reviewed by Academic Writer Maryna Polishchuk, MA, and Academic Writer & Researcher Dr. Maryam Iftikhar, Ph.D.

Logos, Ethos, Pathos : Definition & Meaning

Ethos, pathos, and logos are “modes of persuasion” widely used by authors and speakers to persuade their audience. They are frequently used in persuasive essays and speeches, but their usage can be traced to literature, politics, advertisements, and even everyday speeches.

Logos is the implementation of reasoning and logic in the composition of a persuasive piece of writing or speech.

Ethos appeals to credibility. The speaker or author often demonstrates his authority and trustworthiness to persuade the audience with ethos. This rhetorical device aims to increase trust between the author and the audience.

Pathos is the appeal to emotion, empathy, common beliefs, and values. This literary device convinces readers by intentionally provoking certain feelings that impact their views.

Benefits & Drawbacks

These rhetorical devices are essential to persuade somebody in your arguments. Nevertheless, they have its pros and cons.

Using logos in your writing or speech can help you convince people by providing logical support that always sounds convincing. On the other hand, just listing facts can sound impersonal, and it may look like you took information from an encyclopedia or scientific journal. The audience may get bored with such scientific data and, as a result, lose interest in your speech.

On the one hand, ethos provides credibility, persuading readers that the author has expertise in the subject and that they can rely on their opinion. Controversially, it can have an adverse effect, as some readers may consider that the author tries to boast about their status and authority. This can distract the audience from what the speaker is saying and fail to persuade the reader of anything.

The benefit of using pathos is that it builds an emotional relationship between the author and the audience and creates the impression that the author and readers have something in common, which brings them closer. However, it also has a disadvantage. Since no facts support the author’s position, some may think that the argument lacks logical support.

Examples of Logos, Ethos, Pathos

Logos examples:.

• A scientist presenting on climate change may illustrate the effects of increasing global temperatures on the environment using data from reliable research, attractive graphics, and statistical analysis.
• A friend attempting to encourage you to eat healthily could offer scientific research demonstrating the advantages of a balanced diet and explaining how specific nutrients affect lifespan and general health.
• An advertisement could highlight a new smartphone’s technical benefits, such as a quicker CPU, a longer battery life, and a high-resolution camera, technical details and model comparisons with competitors.

Ethos Examples:

• A fitness equipment company may hire a well-known athlete to promote its products.
• A toothpaste manufacturer may make statements emphasizing how many dentists recommend their product.
• When speaking to a potential client, a financial adviser may display their credentials, affiliations in professional associations, and certificates.

Pathos Examples:

• A charity’s commercial may feature pictures of hungry children and stress their poor living circumstances to evoke empathy and compassion and ultimately increase donations.
• Politicians may play on voters’ emotions like patriotism, unity, and enthusiasm to encourage them to vote for their party.
• You can meet a cancer survivor who tells a heartbreaking story about his health conditions at a fundraising event to evoke compassion to raise donations for cancer research.

Teach Simple’s Perspective

Whether you write a persuasive essay or work on a speech, or create an advertisement for a product knowing how modes of persuasion works is essential. Ethos, logos, and pathos can significantly impact reader/listener perception about what you say or write. It is not obligatory to use all these modes of persuasion in your text; you may choose one or two. Remember that each of them has its drawbacks that can also negatively impact the listener’s reaction about your content and you as an author. So, be careful when using them, and always consider how they can impact your audience.

 If you want to persuade your audience using ethos, consider your expertise, title, position, and authority. You should demonstrate your expertise in terminology in your field. If you already have a good reputation in your field, you may also rely on it.

If you choose pathos, be ready to support your arguments with emotion-evoking examples and stories. You can also apply expressive, emotive language in your speech to establish an emotional connection with your audience. Another way to use pathos is to address your audience’s issues of concern. This will show your empathy and compassion. Pathos is a good instrument that helps to increase the likelihood that your audience will be engaged in what you say.

If you prefer to support your arguments with facts, statistics, or sound reasoning and analysis, then it is better to choose logos. This rhetorical appeal can demonstrate your proficiency in the field. People become more convinced when the author’s speech is supported by reliable sources and facts.

In general, ethos, pathos, and logos are essential instruments that can help you reach your goals in any field. People often use these modes of persuasion in literature, advertisements, TV, and everyday speech. Understanding and knowing how they work will help you better understand human psychology and even avoid being manipulated.

Lutzke J., & Henggeler, M. F. (2009). The rhetorical triangle: Understanding and using logos, ethos, and pathos. School of Liberal Arts . https://www.lsu.edu/hss/english/files/university_writing_files/item35402.pdf

Ting, S. (2018). Ethos, logos and pathos in university students’ informal requests. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies 18(1), 234–251. DOI:10.17576/gema-2018-1801-14

Ting, S. H., Ungau, M., & Jerome, C. (2020). Use of logos, pathos, ethos for persuasion in cancer pamphlets. The Internet Journal Language, Culture and Society , 49, 13–25.

Related Terms

• Reading Comprehension

TechBullion

How to write a comprehensive speech using ai speech writer.

If you are not able to write a comprehensive speech on AI, this tool is available for your assistance. Writing a comprehensive speech can be a daunting task, but with the advent of   AI speech writer , this process has become significantly more manageable. In this guide, we will explore how to effectively use AI speech writers to craft a compelling and comprehensive speech.

Understanding the Basics of a Comprehensive Speech

Before diving into the use of AI tools, it’s essential to understand what makes a speech comprehensive. A comprehensive speech is one that covers its topic thoroughly and clearly, leaving the audience with a full understanding of the subject matter. Key elements include:

• Clear Objective: The purpose of the speech should be clear.
• Engaging Introduction: Captivate your audience from the start.
• Well-Structured Body: Organized into clear, logical sections.
• Strong Conclusion: Summarizes key points and leaves a lasting impression.

The Role of AI in Speech Writing

AI speech writers leverage advanced algorithms to assist in the creation of speeches. These tools can help generate ideas, organize content, and even provide suggestions for improving clarity and engagement. Here’s how you can utilize an AI speech writer effectively:

• Topic Selection: AI can help brainstorm topics that are relevant and engaging.
• Research Assistance: Quickly gather and organize information on your chosen topic.
• Drafting: Generate a first draft that you can refine and personalize.
• Editing and Proofreading: AI tools can help identify errors and suggest improvements.

Step-by-Step Guide to Using an AI Speech Writer

1. define your objective.

Start by clearly defining the objective of your speech. What message do you want to convey? Who is your audience? Having a clear objective will guide the AI in generating relevant content.

2. Input Key Points

Feed the AI with key points you want to cover. This could include specific arguments, anecdotes, or data. The AI will use this information to create a coherent structure for your speech.

3. Generate a Draft

Using the provided input, let the AI generate a draft of your speech. This draft will serve as a foundation that you can build upon. Review the draft to ensure it aligns with your vision and make necessary adjustments.

4. Refine and Personalize

Refine the AI-generated draft by adding your personal touch. This could include adjusting the tone, adding personal stories, or emphasizing particular points. Personalization is crucial to make the speech resonate with your audience.

5. Use AI for Editing

Once you have a refined draft, use the AI’s editing and proofreading features to polish your speech. This includes checking for grammatical errors, improving sentence structure, and ensuring overall coherence.

Tips for Enhancing Your Speech

While AI tools are incredibly helpful, there are a few additional tips to ensure your speech is truly comprehensive:

• Practice Delivery: The way you deliver your speech can significantly impact its effectiveness. Practice your speech multiple times to become comfortable with the content and flow.
• Engage Your Audience: Use rhetorical questions, pauses, and eye contact to keep your audience engaged.
• Use Visual Aids: Where appropriate, use slides or other visual aids to enhance understanding.
• Seek Feedback: Before your final delivery, get feedback from trusted individuals to identify any areas for improvement.

Writing a Reflective Essay

If you are not able to write a comprehensive reflective essay, this tool is available for your assistance. Writing a complete reflective essay  can be hard, but with reflective essay writing service , it becomes much easier. In this guide, we will write for you how to write reflective essays.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: Can AI speech writers replace human creativity?

While AI tools can assist with the structure and content generation, human creativity and personal touch are irreplaceable for making a speech truly unique and engaging.

Q2: How accurate are AI-generated speeches?

AI-generated speeches are generally accurate in terms of grammar and structure, but they may require personalization and refinement to fully align with your vision.

Q3: Are AI speech writers easy to use?

Most AI speech writers are user-friendly and designed to guide you through the process, making them accessible even for those with limited technical skills.

Q4: Can I use AI speech writers for any type of speech?

Yes, AI speech writers can be used for various types of speeches, including informative, persuasive, and ceremonial speeches.

By utilizing AI speech writers and following these guidelines, you can confidently write and deliver comprehensive speeches that leave a lasting impact on your audience.

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Jerry Seinfeld’s Duke University Commencement Speech Spurs Walkouts as Students Chant ‘Free Palestine’

By Ellise Shafer

Ellise Shafer

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Jerry Seinfeld received an honorary degree at Duke University’s commencement on Sunday, but before he could begin his speech, the comedian was met with student walkouts.

According to the New York Times , dozens of students left the graduation ceremony and chanted “Free, free Palestine” in protest of Seinfeld, who has been vocal about his support of Israel. Others in the crowd responded to the protesters with applause and cheers of approval for Seinfeld, who began his speech with, “Thank you. Oh my God, what a beautiful day.”

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In addition to posting about his support of Israel on social media, in December Seinfeld made a trip to Tel Aviv to meet with families of the hostages taken during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Earlier this month, his wife, Jessica Seinfeld, promoted on Instagram a UCLA counterprotest to the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that have been taking place at universities across the country.

Representatives for Seinfeld declined to comment on the matter.

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