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Is your audience listening even before you speak your first words? Do they have high expectations? Are they prepared to be convinced by what you have to say? If not, you are suffering from poor ethos. The first article in the Ethos, Pathos, and Logos series introduced these core concepts for speakers. In this article, we define ethos, we look at ways that an audience measures your ethos, and we examine why it is so critical for a successful speech.
What is Ethos?
Ethos was originally defined by Aristotle in On Rhetoric as being trustworthy. He stated that we are more likely to believe people who have good character. Aristotle later broadened this definition of ethos to add that we are more likely to be persuaded by someone who is similar to us, whether by their intrinsic characteristics (e.g. physical age) or the qualities they adapt (e.g. youthful language). Aristotle does not include the concept of either a speakers authority (e.g. a government leader) or reputation (e.g. an industry expert) in his definition of ethos, but this reflects the rather narrow role for public speaking in his world. In our world, where speaking takes so many forms and where we often know a great deal about the speaker, we will include both of these elements in our definition of ethos. So, then, we will measure the ethos of a speaker by four related characteristics: 1. Trustworthiness (as perceived by the audience) 2. Similarity (to the audience) 3. Authority (relative to the audience) 4. Reputation or Expertise (relative to the topic) We will explore each of these characteristics below.
1. Ethos = Trustworthiness
An audience is more likely to be persuaded by someone who they trust, and this is largely independent of the topic being presented. If the audience trusts you, then they expect that what you are telling them is true.
If the audience trusts you, then they expect that what you are telling them is true.
Your trustworthiness is enhanced if the audience believes you have a strong moral character, as measured by concepts like: Honest, Ethical or moral, Generous, or Benevolent Additionally, your audience tends to trust you if you are a member of a group with which these qualities are often associated (e.g. a pastor; a firefighter).
If you are similar to your audience, then your audience will be more receptive to your ideas in the same way that you are more likely to open a door at night if you recognize the voice of the person on the other side.
There are many characteristics which you might share with your audience: Age, Gender, Race, Culture Example: A youthful audience identifies with a youthful speaker, just as a mature audience will identify more with a mature speaker. Socio-economic status Rich? Poor? Educated? Middle-class? Urban? Rural? Citizenship Where you are from, whether in a global sense (what country are you from?), or in a local sense (are you urban, or rural?)
Career or Affiliation Do you share a profession with your audience? Are you a member of the same organization as your audience?
Personality Analytical? Emotional? Reserved? Outgoing? If you are similar to your audience, then your audience will be more receptive to your ideas in the same way that you are more likely to open a door at night if you recognize the voice of the person on the other side.
3. Ethos = Authority
The greater a persons authority, whether formal (e.g. an elected official) or moral (e.g. the Dalai Lama), the more likely an audience is inclined to listen and be persuaded. Authority comes from the relationship between the speaker and the audience and is, in most cases, fairly easy to recognize. Several types of authority include: Organizational authority e.g. CEO, manager, supervisor Political authority e.g. president, political leader Religious authority e.g. priest, pastor, nun Educational authority e.g. principal, teacher, professor Elder authority e.g. anyone who is older than us In addition to these, every speaker has authority just from being the speaker. When you speak, you are the one at the front of the room, often on an elevated platform, sometimes with a microphone or spotlight. You control the moment and thus, have temporary authority.
Expertise is what you knowabout your topic. Reputation is what your audience knows about what you know about your topic.
Your reputation is determined by several related factors: Your experience in the field How many years have you worked with or studied this topic? Your proximity to the topic or concept Are you the one who invented the concept? Were you involved at all? Or are you more of a third-party? Your production in the field Books or academic papers written. Blogs authored. Commercial products developed. Your demonstrated skill If you are talking about money management, are you a successful money manager? Your achievements, or recognition from others in the field Awards won. Testimonials earned. Records achieved. Milestones reached.
not too old nor too young. But, hes a politician and in a socio-economic class which puts him apart from most citizens. A Teacher speaking to his students He probably has a record of trustworthiness, as long as he truthfully announces when assignments are due and exams are scheduled. He hasauthority over the 16year-olds, both by way of position and by age. He has taught in the school for 10 years (expertise), including many of his students older siblings (reputation). Unfortunately, hes not really similarto his students in terms of age, wealth, career, or choice of music. All of them have significant ethos as they score high on several measures. In particular, authority and reputation often are closely related. (The things you did to earn the reputation often earn authority as well.) On the other hand, none have perfect ethos. Indeed, this is very hard to obtain as some measures conflict. For example, your authority relative to your audience often weakens your similarity with them.
You probably have less ethos than Steve Jobs at a technology convention.
The day of your presentation is too late to develop deep expertise about your topic. However, theres much you can do before you say your first words:
You should always write your own introduction. Dont let an event organizer wing it.
Example: Suppose you are delivering user training for employees to introduce the new corporate financial system. Key items to highlight in your brief introduction might be: 1. You were the project manager for implementing the new system (Reputation) 2. You have implemented similar systems twice before in your career (Reputation)
Note: Much more on effective evaluations can be found in the article: How to Introduce a Speaker: 16 Essential Tips for Success.
#9: Tell stories or anecdotes which show you are consistent with your message (Trustworthiness)
Dont be a hypocrite. Nobody will act on your advice if you dont. Example: Suppose you are trying to persuade your audience to support Habitat for Humanity, an international organization that builds homes to eliminate poverty. You can raise your ethos by crafting stories or anecdotes which demonstrate that you are active in the local Habitat chapter. By demonstrating that you follow your own advice, your audience is more likely to believe you on other points which cannot be so easily verified (for example, statistics about Habitat for Humanity).
2. Acronyms are dangerous if you are using ones that your audience doesnt know. Conversely, if everyone in your audience uses the term P.M. on a daily basis, you should use that term rather than project manager.
#12: Choose quotations and statistics from the right sources (All)
Quotations and statistics are common speech tools which, on the surface, may contribute more to your logos (logical argument) than ethos. Nonetheless, if you choose the right sources, you can boost your ethos too.
When you reference a reputable source, you boost your ethos by association.
Example: When researching a speech about cancer research, you discover two statistics that will help you make your argument. 1. The source of the first statistic is some unknown author on Wikipedia. 2. The source of the second statistic is the Mayo Clinic. Which statistic is your audience more likely to believe? If you guessed the Mayo Clinic, youre right. When you reference a reputable source, you boost your ethos by association. So, the general guideline is to use quotations and statistics from sources which have high ethos to your audience, whether by trustworthiness, similarity, authority, or reputation.
#13: Reference people in the audience, or events earlier in the day (Similarity)
Earlier, we mentioned that, if possible, you should try to share the event experience with your audience. When you do, you can increase your ethos by incorporating something from that shared experience (or someone in the audience) into your speech. Your audience sees you as one of them, and a silent bond forms. Example: In the presentation preceding yours, the speaker repeated a memorable phrase Its never too late. If you can do it in a meaningful way, try to weave this phrase into your material.