I
admire a lot of speakers and/or writers, many of whom are my sorority sisters.
When I have conversations with them, or when I hear them give speeches I am
always inspired by their words. One of the key reasons as to why their words
are always so inspiring is because they use a lot of emotion (pathos). They
relate situations or instances or events to their own lives and to the lives of
their audience. I find that I heavily rely on pathos myself when I give
speeches or when I try to give advice to another person or when I am in the act
of persuading. Another very persuasive characteristic of my speaking/writing is
in my choice of words/style or “voice”. I like to have the “voice” I use relate
to my audience. For example, if I were talking to a classroom of school
children I like to talk in a very friendly, approachable, yet authoritative
manner. Or if I were talking to a peer I’d talking more relaxed. “Voice” also
depends on the situation I am in as well. I believe this characteristic fits
into the idea of pathos and it can be a very effective tool of persuasion.
WobbledyWa,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on the fact that Pathos is a very persuasive tool in the art of speech. I wrote about Ray Lewis (a football player) who speaks with a lot of passion. I added however that its not enough to evoke emotion but there needs to be another element. With Ray Lewis its Ethos, his outstanding play has given him respect from the league and his teammates. I think you touch on that as well when you say that your sorority sisters "relate situations or instances or events to their own lives and to the lives of their audience." If you can speak with confidence and passion about the experiences you have in your own life and the audience can relate then you are able to gain both their attention and respect. So in retrospect you can say that your sisters utilize Ethos and Pathos equally and thats why they are effective speakers. Its my opinion that it is very difficult to speak with passion on a subject that you aren't familiar with.
-JPP