Simon Hall writes...
You'll probably be familiar with the three pillars of persuasion.
Just in case, they go back to an excellent ancient Greek, Aristotle.
He said that, for a compelling argument, you need:
– ethos, logos and pathos
Ethos is why anybody should listen to you, your credibility in other words.
For you reading my blog, it’s probably that I lead a course in communication skills at the University of Cambridge, I’m a writer, and former BBC news correspondent.
Logos is the logic of your argument.
In this case, it may be that you’ll pick up some useful insights into how to win an argument.
Pathos is the emotion of your case.
Here, it’s that you might be mildly entertained by my strange sense of humour, or feel uplifted by learning a handy new skill (hopefully both!)
But here’s the big question:
- which of the three is the most important?
I ask because I ran an impromptu poll in the most recent lecture for my Compelling Communication Skills course.
We were talking about storytelling, and I wanted to ask the group which of the three pillars of persuasion they thought was the most critical to emphasise.
The answer was interesting.
We had about 30 people in the talk, and around 20, or 2/3, said emotion.
The rest said logic.
No one said credibility.
Food for thought, as the saying goes.
Credibility in public speaking
I’ll deal with credibility first.
It’s certainly vital, but it will usually be the shortest part of your presentation.
When I introduce myself, I only spend about 15 or 20 seconds setting out my credentials.
And that perhaps from an hour long lecture, or even a day long course.
Which brings us to logic and emotion.
Of these two, which is most important?
Here, I would say it depends on your audience.
Logic in public speaking
Imagine you were an academic presenting to fellow scholars.
This is a group of people who are most interested in research, data and analysis.
Which means logic probably wins the day.
But! I still think there should be a measure of emotion.
Imagine, for example, the presentation was about a new way to treat Alzheimer’s disease.
There should certainly be something in the talk about the human impact:
How the new treatment could save so many families from such distressing times with their loved ones.
Emotion in public speaking
This time, imagine you were a climber, talking about scaling Mount Everest.
Here, I think the emotion comes to the fore.
Firstly, why you’re taking on the challenge, and how it feels to do so.
Then describing the ascent, stage by stage, the physical and emotional journey…
Leading to the moment you reach the summit, and that incredible euphoria.
Okay, logic should still come into it.
Outlining your plans, the supplies you take with you, the training, the team around you.
But I think the audience is far more likely to remember the feelings you describe than the analytical details of your expedition.
So for me, my lovely group on the course was absolutely right.
As humans, we tend to be most moved and motivated by emotion.
In fact, there's a wonderful quotation from Maya Angelou, the American writer, poet, and civil rights activist, which sums that up beautifully:
- I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
In summary, ethos, logos, and pathos are all vital for any effective presentation or talk.
Each should be in there somewhere, if to varying degrees.
But for me, for most of the time by far, emotion sits aloft at the top of the terrific trio.
