There is something that has been sorely missing in the United States in the last decade — soaring rhetoric. We are lacking leaders who, like Abraham Lincoln, appeal to our better angels through their ability to craft rhetoric that resonates in people’s hearts and minds.
Rhetoric appeals to people’s emotions and logic to persuade, motivate, or inform. In the fourth century B.C., Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote “The Art of Rhetoric,” in which he defined rhetoric as the “ability to discover the available means of persuasion.”
Aristotle outlined three modes of persuasion, each appealing to its audience in different ways: logos, ethos and pathos. Logos is the appeal to logic and reason. It relies on the content of the message, including data and facts, to support its claims. Ethos relies on the reputation of the speaker. The speaker or writer must be notable or a known authority, which establishes credibility. Pathos establishes an emotional connection to the audience. Speakers or writers who use all three modes of persuasion are usually the most successful.
