A speaker that I admire is the current president of my sorority. Her power to persuade comes from ethos. She uses personal character when she is speaking to everyone during our weekly meetings. Just by having the title of “president” makes people more apt to listen and take the things she says into consideration. I too, hold a high position in my sorority, so I speak at our weekly meetings also, but when I think of myself as a persuasive speaker, I think I tackle all three of Aristotle’s classifications. I’m in charge of academics and scholarship, so I like to use logos to make everyone realize that the benefits of getting high GPAs are amazing, with proof from past semesters. I use pathos only occasionally to make the girls feel like they need to do well on a test or assignment, and ethos because girls are respectful because of the position I hold.
Hi Kylie,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed getting your perspective on persuasive speaking. I think your post is the first one to touch on the concept of power of speech in conjunction with holding a prestigious position. You said that, "Just by having the title of “president” makes people more apt to listen and take the things she says into consideration." In relation to your Sorority President and in your own speech you say that the girls are respectful of the position you hold. The reason this is so interesting to me is because it brings up the question, Would yourself, the sorority president, or anyone else for that matter command the same respect when speaking if the position was taken away? I would like to think that part of the reason you two got your positions is due to your great abilities as communicators. Ethos comes not only from the respect from holding a high position but the earned respect from peers that comes over time.
-JPP