…of “Logos”, “Ethos” and “Pathos” have stood the test of time, and are even more relevant today.

Imagine yourself preparing for a TED Talk. If you are like most people, you will be dreading this event. Public speaking is the no. 1 fear in the world across several surveys, trumping the fear of death itself.

For an important speaking event, most people want to “get it done well” (We will come back to this statement in a later lesson). To get the speech done well, you may start thinking about all the things that need attention in public speaking. You may ask a friend, what should I keep in mind? And she may respond by saying “Be confident”. Yes, confidence is important. And if you continue to listen, she may say “Have good body language”. And “Know your content well beforehand.” Then you ask another friend. and he may add “good eye contact” and “leadership presence” to the list. Add a couple more opinions, and the list will get longer. Soon, you may have jotted a laundry list of items, including “gestures”, “breathing”, “pacing”, “volume”, and so on. Each of these seem important. But the list can keep getting longer the more time you put into this.

What does such a daunting list do to an already stressed speaker? It adds to the stress. So what do we do here, and how do we solve for this list?

We go back to Aristotelian times. To the three Greek words mentioned above.

The brain can process well in three’s. And what Aristotle shared for Greek rhetoric and politics, applies well to public speeches today. Let’s break down Aristotle’s three appeals into a modern adaptation.

Logos - The Logical Appeal of your speech / presentation
The content that you choose to share. Its structure, with its claims and supports. If the content of your speech is not solid, it won’t resonate. This is fairly intuitive, and hence logos is typically what speakers spend most or all of their time on.

Ethos - The Appeal through Credibility of the speaker
This one is often underestimated. And there is a subtle art to this. Some of your credibility is established before you speak, given your background, experience and expertise. But that only lasts for so long. You have to find ways to bolster your ethos within your speech. This is not by reciting parts of your resume. You want to find the right line between credibility and likeability. We will illustrate ethos in several speeches in our book. But look for it yourself. Where and what did the speaker say to bolster his or her credibility in the speech?

Pathos - The Emotional Appeal of your speech / presentation
Now this does not mean that you need to get “emotional” in every speech or presentation. Indeed, many speeches may not involve a story that easily lends to an emotional hook for the listener. But I interpret “pathos” as a string that pulls you to your audience (vs. towards your slides behind you). Basically, everything that you can naturally do outside of your script to form a human connection with your audience. This can be different for different people. And the art of communication is to find what is both natural to you and powerful and catalyzing to the audience. As my friend and colleague Ben Zander says in his TED talk: “Who are you being if you are not finding the shine in your audience’s eyes?”

I would argue that any good speech needs all three of the above.

Logos, Ethos, Pathos. Fancy words for Content, Credibility and Connect. 3 things to check off…and check on…during your preparation. For a speech that truly resonates.

Start to apply these to our speeches in the book.

Let’s start with Rachel Baer in her speech Grief and Grit….

Next let’s look at Adhiraj Arora, and his speech Persevering with Destiny…

Finally, analyze Leland Lazarus’ speech, Why I Smile….