I’m in Athens exploring the origins of public speaking<\/a>.\u00a0 I’ve always been fascinated by rhetoric, and I’ve finally pulled the trigger and launched myself back into the 5th century BC.<\/p>\n

Because Athens<\/a> was a democracy, they needed leaders who were capable of speaking to large crowds and convincing them to take action together.\u00a0 It was a government that functioned by winning the assent of the governed, just like ours.\u00a0 And public speaking <\/a>was the primary tool of governing.<\/p>\n

They had no radio, TV, advertising, whistle stops, bus tours, microphones, websites, email, or direct mail.\u00a0 Just words in public places, strong voices, and passion for their city and their culture.<\/p>\n

The Athenians believed that there were three keys to being a persuasive speaker<\/a>.\u00a0 The first they called ethos – <\/em>the ethical appeal of the speaker.\u00a0 We get our word ethical<\/em> from the Greek.\u00a0 If you are not perceived as trustworthy, you could not be persuasive.\u00a0 David Brooks, the columnist for the New York Times, has said that Lincoln may be the only U.S. President who could qualify for beatification from the Catholic Church.\u00a0 That’s <\/em>ethical!<\/p>\n

The second key to effective speaking<\/a>, according to the Athenians, is pathos<\/em> – the emotional appeal of the argument.\u00a0 We get our word empathy<\/em> from this Greek word.\u00a0 The Greeks believed that people make decisions using both reason and emotion, and that any speech that does not connect emotionally with listeners will fail to move them.\u00a0 Martin Luther King is a good example of someone in our own history who appealed emotionally to our national desire to live up to our own stated values.<\/p>\n

Finally, logos<\/em> – the logical<\/em> appeal of the speech.\u00a0 You have to be seen as an expert to be persuasive, smart, well-informed, and clear minded.\u00a0 Of course you can be an expert without being trustworthy, and you can be trustworthy without being an expert.<\/p>\n

For instance, Gary Hart, the former Senator from Colorado who self-destructed during his presidential campaign, is an example of someone who was seen as incredibly smart but lacking in the ability to connect with people emotionally.\u00a0 Same with Governor Dukakis, who also ran for president.\u00a0 Both of them were logos oriented individuals<\/em>, meaning that they believed that just because they could prove something to be true, others would accept it.<\/p>\n

The study of rhetoric, or persuasive speaking<\/a>, indicates that logos<\/em> arguments only go so far.\u00a0 Without trust in the speaker, and with no emotional reason to believe, people are not likely to be persuaded.<\/p>\n

Three very large ideas in one short blog, but they have huge practical (and tactical) implications for any speaker.<\/p>\n

Here I am in the land of Pericles, Demosthenes, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle – to name a few of the Greek superstars who thought long and hard about how to speak, govern and live.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m in Athens exploring the origins of public speaking.\u00a0 I’ve always been fascinated by rhetoric, and I’ve finally pulled the trigger and launched myself back into the 5th century BC. Because Athens was a democracy, they needed leaders who were capable of speaking to large crowds and convincing them to take action together.\u00a0 It was… Read More »The psychology of persuasive speaking<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","_ti_tpc_template_sync":false,"_ti_tpc_template_id":""},"categories":[336],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n