Rhetoric
What is rhetoric?
The linguistic talent, the mastery
of communication, the skill needed
for orators, writers, politicians,
or even anyone… yes, YOU!
How to win arguments?
Want to influence others?
Can you make them adore you?
Those are your questions, right?
well… let’s learn something
Greek today.
Listen to what Aristotle taught.
There are 3 important elements
when you’re delivering arguments.
- Logos
- Pathos
- Ethos
***
Logos is about the FACT AND LOGIC.
Are you saying the right thing?
And.. where are the sources of info?
How can those facts be concluded?
And.. what’s the summary of all?
Can these be proven to be true?
And.. what if in the end it’s wrong?
Those are the simple questions,
ask yourself before you’re preparing
any presentation.
***
Pathos is about how you WIN
your listeners’ HEART.
It’s about appearance, gesture,
dressing or grooming, speaking
the proper language and how
you present yourself to be
acceptable to the audience.
When Fabio Capello was introduced
as new England coach, the first
thing he did.. learn how to speak
English.
When Jimmy (Eminem, in 8 Mile)
was about to perform as rapper
on a duel of insults,
he put on the right costume,
speak with black accent and
using slangs which familiar to
the hip-hop community.
Or as the famous quote from St.Paul
said, "When in Rome, I behave like
Romans."
Now we know this proverb:
When in Rome, do as Romans do.
***
Ethos, is about WHO YOU ARE
Character, personality, experience,
background of education, reputation,
expertise, specialization, achievement,
existence, etc.
Those things are also important.
Are you trustworthy, capable,
deserved, the right and suitable
figure.. to say something?
That’s the explanation.
"Where are we going?
What will we do?
How will we solve the crisis?"
These phrases….
They would have different meanings,
if it said by the someone
to his/her spouse.
Context: Their relationship
And compare it if
it’s said by the same person as
president in front of his/her cabinet.
Context: Meeting to make new policy
That’s what ETHOS, it’s about
who you are… related to what
you’re going to say.
***
Those are the three elements, now
if you stil have more time…
I’ll teach you how to win the
battle of LOGOS
A good argument must have reasoning
and backed-up with the right
examples, facts or evidences.
A-R-E-C
Argument-Reasoning-Examples-Conclusion
"This blog is very useful and
interesting (A)
Because it gives me a lot of information (R)
Here I can read nice articles and
poetries. For example, this one (E)
I’m gonna read further and I will
send the link to my friends. (C)"
That’s DEDUCTIVE.. from a general
concept, explained into details,
and concluded.
now the opposite is INDUCTIVE…
Many examples listed, then all those
facts are indicators of something
and here comes the argument, which
is also the conclusion.
E-R-A-C
Examples-Reasoning-Argument-Conclusion
"I’ve read some of the poems here,
some are written and several languages,
in English, Italian and Spanish
This blog is not only about fancy
words, I also learn about many
life-skills I’ve never been taught
before (E)
Only few people can speak more
than one language, and the materials
he wrote here.. he can conclude
the core from books he read,
he read and write a lot.. (R)
And that’s why he wrote a title
for his blog "Read, write, re-write…"
(A) The writer of this blog must be
a brilliant guy (C)."
How self-serving and narcissistic
is this guy… (another conclusion)
Haha…
The lesson is… make sure you
deliver something in the format
of A-R-E-C or E-R-A-C
Don’t just suddenly jump into conlusion!
***
Be careful with absolutism…
Select words wisely.. especially
when you use:
-all, none
-always, never
-everything, nothing
"All men are liars."
What if there is an honest guy,
me for example…
"You never read my blog."
But now I can make you read more
and more… read also the poem
"Never believe in never"
"She’s smart, she can do everything."
Everything without limit, I doubt that.
***
The next is.. NON SEQUITUR, it’s
a latin phrase, literally it says
"Not following"
Give the right examples from
your argument. Make the right
conclusion out of your gathered
facts.
If you fail, that’s what is called
as NON SEQUITUR
***
Generalization and localization.
Ingat iklan ini?
"Semua orang pakai oli …."
(Pelumas nomor satu, katanya)
"Semua orang pakai … ngapain beda?"
(Iklan penyedia jasa sambungan ponsel)
Gimana kalo ternyata ada yang
pake merek yang beda?
Atau sebaliknya
"Nyamuk sini cuma takut…"
Gimana nyamuk yang di sana?
***
Unproven facts
Sesuatu yang belum terbukti
ga bisa dijadikan bahan argumen.
Inter Milan adalah tim terkuat
karena belum terkalahkan.
But last weekend, Napoli crushed
them. It’s not proven yet.
***
Korelasi
Dua peristiwa berurutan, namun
ga menjamin ada keterkaitan atau
hubungan sebab-akibat.
"Tuh kan jadi turun hujan,
habis dari tadi kamu nangis terus sih."
Apa hubungannya?
Hujan terjadi karena awan ngumpul,
ga nyambung deh…
"Lalu lintas macet karena ada
demonstrasi di depan Monas."
Mungkin ada hubungannya, tapi
masih bisa dibantah. Tiap hari
walau ga ada demo pun, jalanan
sering macet, bisa aja karena
ada sebab lain (lampu merah rusak,
jumlah kendaraan terlalu banyak, dll)
***
Let’s move topic into PATHOS…
Learn the value of your audience.
When a president of a country
in front of church members, he spoke
"We believe…"
"We are called…"
"It is the price that we must pay…"
"We must sacrifice…"
Those phrases are what appealing to
the ears of Christian community.
"We believe we must attack ..
(other country who was accused
as the terrorists)
We are called to defend our country.
It is the price that we must pay
to see the bright future.
Therefore we must sacrifice, and
our soldiers already did as we
sent them to that country."
Remember a name? and the country?
Use local dialect if you can.
When Frank Rijkaard signed as
coach of Barcelona, in the first
press conference.. he greeted with
Spanish. But.. there, they speak
Catalan. The next occasions, he
used more Catalan dialect.
Dress-up accordingly.
Remember.. when in Rome, dress-up
also like Romans
Try to do mirroring.
Imitate some part of the other’s
gesture, mimic and movement.
But not too obvious… this isn’t
for a comedy show.
Be a good listener and paraphrase.
Ask when you don’t understand, make
the other felt proud as able to
explain and act smart.
***
Now… ETHOS, is about your
personality and skill.
It would be silly to preach about
how dangerous cigarettes are, while
the audience know you’re a smoker.
Compare this, me (an ordinary
employee) to a well-known figure
who had wrote a lot and has established
companies…
Let’s say,
Mr.Hermawan Kartajaya or
Mr.Rheinald Kasali
We are teaching about marketing,
let’s say in a seminar.
The content is the same, but
WHO SAYS IT makes the contrast!
People will pay more to listen
to a famous figure in a speech.
***
Develop those three aspects…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modes_of_persuasion
Improve your LOGOS to deliver
your message.
Make them feel "we are alike"
by appealing to PATHOS
Build your ETHOS so that
people will trust you and
what you’re saying.
Thanks to Aristotle who had inspired
Jay Heinrichs who wrote
THANK YOU FOR ARGUING.
Nice book!
+ yoDi +
