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” Persuasive Strategies” by LibreTexts is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA .
Do you think you are easily persuaded? If you are like most people, you aren’t swayed easily to change your mind about something. Persuasion is difficult because changing views often makes people feel like they were either not informed or ill informed, which also means they have to admit they were wrong about something. We will learn about nine persuasive strategies that you can use to more effectively influence audience members’ beliefs, attitudes, and values. They are ethos, logos and pathos.
Ethos
Ethos refers to the credibility of a speaker and includes three dimensions: competence, character, and Charisma (the 3 C’s). The two most researched dimensions of credibility are competence and character (trustworthiness) (Stiff & Mongeau, 2003).
Competence refers to the perception of a speaker’s expertise in relation to the topic being discussed. A speaker can enhance their perceived competence by presenting a speech based in solid research and that is well organized and practiced. Competent speakers must know the content of their speech and be able to effectively deliver that content.
Character (trustworthiness) refers to the degree that audience members perceive a speaker to be presenting accurate, credible information in a nonmanipulative way. Perceptions of character come from the content of the speech and the personality of the speaker. In terms of content, trustworthy speakers consider the audience throughout the speech-making process, present information in a balanced way, do not coerce the audience, cite credible sources, and follow the general principles of communication ethics. In terms of personality , trustworthy speakers are also friendly and warm (Stiff & Mongeau, 2003).
Charisma (dynamism) refers to the degree to which audience members perceive a speaker to be outgoing and animated (Stiff & Mongeau, 2003). A major component to charisma is energy. Charisma refers to a mixture of abstract and concrete qualities that make a speaker attractive to an audience. Charismatic people usually know they are charismatic because they’ve been told that in their lives, and people have been attracted to them.
Unfortunately, charisma is difficult to intentionally develop, and some people seem to have a naturally charismatic personality, while others do not. Even though everyone can’t embody the charismatic aspect, energy is something that everyone can tap into. Communicating enthusiasm for your topic and audience by presenting relevant content and using engaging delivery strategies such as vocal variety and eye contact can increase your energy and create a charismatic impression for the audience.
The video below will discuss Ethos and the 3 C’s. Note this video is a little longer than the others (about 15 min) because it takes you through an exercise in determining credibilit