COmm105- Ethos

There have been many great speakers whose power to persuade came from Ethos and Pathos.  John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King to name a few.  Their moral competence as well as their knowledge and experience made people admire them and support them  because of  their ability to speak in public.  They were great speakers and persuasive in getting people to understand their cause.  Unfortunately they were taken out of this world too soon.  It is ironic when good things start to happen....

My abilities to be persuasive comes from being unpredictable.  I don't like to start and end speech the same way if I can.  I can speak loudly and clearly but I don't think people would take me seriously.  When it comes to speaking at a close proximity, one on one, that's a different story.  It seems that some of my experiences involving relationship advice has helped a few inexperienced people I know.  I try to get them to think about what path they will take, rather than tell them what to do.  I'll give them the tools and they work with them how they see fit.

Aristotle's scheme does work for these people as well as me.  The canons of communication are a good outline of how to communicate.  We've seen it all the time on television with public speaking.  I think its okay to throw in a curveball into this outline as well.  If not to illicit a fresh perspective, then at least experiment for the sake of communication studies.