The Ethos, Pathos, and Logos Combos

“Now let’s examine pathos, or an appeal to the emotions,” Aristotle continued. “There is persuasion when the hearers are led to feel emotion by a speech. Persuasive speakers, as well as good leaders, connect with their audiences and show them that they identify with their point of view. Telling employees, for example, that the new initiative to improve productivity will decrease operating expenses by 5 percent is not as effective as explaining how it will make their jobs easier.”

As Aristotle spoke, the best business leaders I know came to mind, because they have the ability to relate to all types of people and know how to be good listeners and persuasive speakers. Those who are arrogant and can only talk in “CEO-speak” are never as successful.

“And that leads me to my favorite quality, logos,” Aristotle smiled. “Logos means word in Greek. It refers to the internal consistency and logic of the speaker’s message or of the business executive’s leadership. It’s the logical appeal that you offer to your audience or followers. The use of reasoning is the most important technique in persuasive speech, and is the most important technique in business leadership as well. Executives can’t persuade employees to support their vision for the company by simply saying, ‘this is what you have to do.’ Rather, if they give reasons and explain their logic and if the logic holds together, people will feel comfortable with the vision and will begin to understand how it applies to their daily work.

“Besides, you constantly have to prove that you’re smarter than a box of rocks,” he laughed. From what I had learned about Aristotle and his days of debating with Plato, I knew he was speaking from personal experience. I also knew from my personal experience how important it is to have sound logic backing up a vision or a strategic plan, and to communicate it thoroughly, and often.

“These three qualities inspire confidence in speakers and business leaders: Good sense, good moral character, and goodwill play a large part in gaining credibility for your ideas and leadership. And, don’t forget that people judge your ideas by judging your writing skills,” he winked at me. I made a mental note to make sure to run this article through a spell checker.

I noticed that the sun was beginning to melt into the western horizon—it was time for me to head back home. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Aristotle,” I said. I told him that his concepts were timeless, for they are still good advice for people in general, and especially for business leaders living in the year 2007 A.D. We stood up and shook hands as Pegasus softly neighed in my direction. I would never forget this day, but was eager to go home and write about it.

Then, Pegasus and I were traveling through the sunset. The ride back to 2007 was smooth. I patted Pegasus and said good-bye. That’s when I woke up. CC was still sleeping next to me. She looked so content curled up on the sofa with her favorite blanket. Since she was still asleep, I decided I should sit down in front of my computer and write about my trip to ancient Greece. As my fingers flew across the keyboard, I laughed as I imagined the shock on my editor’s face when she read this one.

P.S.: Thanks, Mary Pope Osborne, for this article. Although your books are a favorite of my granddaughter, grey-haired guys like me love to imagine time travel, too!