From infomercials to political canvassing to appeals for coveted roles, the most compelling rhetoric uses a mix of ethos, pathos, and logos. These techniques encompass a wide spectrum of human responses to an argument. If you’re trying to sell something to an audience—whether that’s yourself as a performer, your work, or a product or service—using the holy grail of ethos, pathos, and logos will help convince your audience that they want what you’re selling.
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Ethos, pathos, and logos are modes of persuasion that create what’s known as the rhetorical triangle. Aristotle found that a person’s ability to persuade others to accept their ideas is contingent on appealing to:
- Ethos, or sense of authority
- Pathos, or sense of emotion
- Logos, or sense of reason
Some people may be persuaded by one or two parts of the rhetorical triangle. For example, cult members are likely persuaded by ethos and pathos, converts to Thanos’ ideology by ethos and logos, and people who give table scraps to begging pups by pure pathos. Still, the most persuasive arguments hit all three components of the trifecta.
What is ethos?
Ethos, or “character” in Greek, refers to the credibility, reliability, and authority of the person making an argument. It’s why companies use celebrity spokespeople and why students (usually) listen to their teachers. Ethos is often situation-specific. Kanye West has established credibility as a musician, for example, but not so much as a potential presidential candidate.
What is pathos?
Pathos, or “experience” or “suffering” in Greek, appeals to audience feelings to create a strong emotional response. Who among us hasn’t shed a few tears watching Sarah McLachlan’s woefully iconic ASPCA anti-animal cruelty announcement? No matter the specific emotion evoked, the use of pathos makes the audience feel invested in an argument and its outcome.
What is logos?
Logos, or “word” in Greek, encourages the audience to think rationally about an argument by presenting just the facts. For logos to be used, a message must start with a claim: its central point or thesis that functions as a driving force for the entire argument. The claim is supported by reasons that are rooted in evidence. Establishing reasons through evidence ensures that an argument is presented as logical—otherwise, it might be read as opinion.
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Ethos examples
The use of ethos persuades the audience that the person or company behind a message is credible and ethical—nine of 10 dentists agree.
Performers and creators might use ethos to advance their career by highlighting their training with reputable institutions, people, and projects. If Quentin Tarantino has given your script a thumbs up, you’ve trained with the Upright Citizens Brigade, or you have an MFA in theatrical arts, your credibility score increases. You might also align yourself with humanitarian causes to show that you are holistically brimming with credibility.
Brands often use the rhetoric of ethos in advertising through celebrity endorsements, by demonstrating their core mission and values, and by indicating that they may just be more like you than you think.
For example, Corona used the notoriously relaxed Snoop Dogg in a series of commercials focused on promoting the beer as part of “the fine life.” The brand even self-reflexively includes a scene in which Andy Samberg tells Snoop he “might be right”—thus doubling down on the ethos advertisement.
A brand might also affiliate themselves with impeccable ethical values to incur ethos rhetoric. This is seen with shoe company Toms, which popularized the “one for one” model by advertising that they would donate a pair of shoes to children in need for every pair purchased. This alignment helped build trust with potential customers—and made for many a happy humanitarian-hopeful hipster.
Interestingly (and somewhat paradoxically), ethos might also be used to appeal to the comforting idea of the “plain folks.” Implying that a person or brand behaves and believes in similar ways to the common people creates a sense of connection. Dove’s #RealBeauty campaign, for instance, was wildly popular due to its use of a diverse group of non-celebrity models in advertisements.
Pathos examples
Pathos makes its audience laugh, cry, worry, seethe with hatred, or experience any other powerful emotion.
The use of pathos is an integral part of creative production, so it’s inherent to convincing performances and desirable projects. Think of Steve Carell as Michael Scott in “The Office”; his portrayal of the goofy paper company manager is somehow touchingly poignant even though the character is goofy to the point of ridiculousness. Carell’s use of pathos creates an emotional connection with his audience—and garnered him multiple Emmy nominations and a Golden Globe award.
Pathos also creates strong emotions in a brand’s audience, and those emotions often transform viewers into customers. This 2016 Super Bowl pathos advertisement for Heinz had its audience craving condiments like never before due to its inclusion of adorable costumed wiener dogs racing in slo-mo to their own condiment of choice.
Logos examples
Logos rhetoric helps assure audiences that they’re completely reasonable in making the choice to invest their time or money into something.
For performers and creators, logos can be translated to things like the résumé and screenplay pitch, which provide a logical breakdown of why they should be chosen. A good acting résumé, for example, includes up to 10 years of relevant experience, your look, special skills, education and training, awards, references, and a headshot. Together, these elements create a logical argument for why a casting director should hire you.
Brands often use logos to convince consumers that going with their product or service is the rational choice. Ads relying on logos rhetoric might include scientific findings, studies, graphs, and stats. This Billy Mays OxiClean logos advertisement includes multiple visual examples of the product’s ability to remove stains. The claim that saving just one pair of jeans by using OxiClean makes the product pay for itself also assures viewers that purchasing the product is a reasonable choice.
