Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle is his approach of speaking to different types of audiences and speeches. The three different proofs Aristotle identified was logos, pathos, and ethos. Logos is a type of approach in a speech in which the speaker uses logic and verified facts to appeal to their audience. Whenever someone speaks, facts are important because no one likes being lied to.
Logos can be heard/seen as types of scientific evidence, data, statistics, etc. It can also be heard in a conversation in the form of one speaking sharing genuine facts and accomplishments of another individual. This is important as there can be individuals out there that even if they are to be presented with something and they are to see it for themselves, they will insist to be shown more evidence or logical explanations for the reasoning behind your statements.
Pathos is about appealing to one’s emotions. A speech cannot simply just be all facts or else it would be very dull. A combination of facts and emotion strengthens a speech. Especially when a speech touches a sensitive topic, sharing stories and media that creates empathy gets the audience to establish a connection with the speaker.
Pathos, as this is to be known the more powerful one and the most effectively because it appeals with the listeners or audience’s emotions. As it is the most use simply because it can easily connect with their [audience/listener] emotion with either a touching or compelling story or a striking emotional image to give them a better visual.
A lot of people are naturally empathetic and if you pay attention to most media on tv, social media, the radio, etc. a lot of it includes aspects of pathos. When people are empathic, they seem to pay more attention and are eager to hear more.
Last but not least, to have a well said speech for an audience not only do you need logos and pathos, but ethos is needed as well. Ethos is what establishes the credibility of the speaker. The speaker needs to show that they are obtaining their logos (facts) and any stories of pathos from reliable and credible sources. If the speaker cannot be trusted, how can the speech serve its purpose and be effective.This can lead the audience to reject or ignore what the speaker is saying because it doesn’t matter what they are saying.
All three components of Aristotle’s rhetoric triangle, logo, pathos, and ethos are work hand in hand to create a well planned out speech.
In my opinion, the most important of the three is ethos. Ethos is all about credibility and as I mentioned earlier, if the speaker seems to not know what they are talking about, how can you believe a word they say. Establishing trust and that your sources are credible it shows that you are passionate about what you are talking about. Anyone can present a speech with pathos and logos but without ethos, then pathos would not work because that emotion is not genuine and then the audience will know then that logos (the facts) are not to be trusted therefore the entire speech crumbles.
