The Rhetorical Triangle

Making Your Communications Credible and Engaging

If your heart sinks at the thought of presenting information to an
audience, you're not alone! Many people struggle with delivering
their message. It's a skill you need to learn and practice.
When trying to get your point across, either in speech or writing, you
often only get one shot – and if you lose your audience, you may not
get them back.
This is why you need to choose your words carefully, and present
your points in a style, manner and sequence that best suits your
message. The Rhetorical Triangle is a tool that helps you to get your
thoughts in order and present a clear position.

Understanding the Rhetorical Triangle

Rhetoric is the ancient art of using language to persuade. If you use it
well, your audience will easily understand what you're saying, and
will more likely be influenced by it.
The three points on the Rhetorical Triangle relate directly to the
three classic appeals you should consider when communicating:
Ethos: building trust by establishing your credibility and authority
(Writer).
Pathos: appealing to emotion by connecting with your audience
through their values and interests (Audience).
Logos: appealing to your audience's intelligence with well-
constructed and clearly argued ideas (Context).
These three elements are shown in figure 1, below.
 Figure 1: The Rhetorical Triangle

The Rhetorical Triangle

These three elements will determine the persuasiveness of your
argument. Your writing, or other form of communication, needs to
consider all three. Let's look at them in more detail.
Ethos (Writer)
The way in which the writer (or speaker) affects the argument is
known as ethos.
From the outset, you need to clarify who you are, why you are
competent to speak on the issue, and where your authority comes
from.
Your audience might be wary that you're trying to change their
opinions or beliefs. If you don't make it clear why you are addressing
them, some people might assume that you are hiding something.
Whether you're presenting ideas for problem solving, analysis, or just
to entertain, your audience will try to figure out your motives,
beliefs, values, and assumptions. This allows them to evaluate your
credibility and decide whether you are being sincere.
Pathos (Audience)
When you communicate, you need to understand your audience and
appeal to their emotions. This is known as pathos.
Consider the audience's expectations – what are they hoping to take
away from what you say? Be clear about why you are communicating
with this audience in the first place, and plan out your
communication style in advance, with the audience firmly in mind.
Knowing your audience helps you to avoid alienating them by using
technical terms or jargon that they may not understand, or by
"dumbing down" the content, if your message is intended for
professionals.
Think about the emotion you want to evoke. Are you addressing a
pain point, seeking their trust, or inviting their loyalty?

Logos (Context)
Finally, your audience will analyze your message by putting it into
context. Here the emphasis is on logic and reason, or logos
(pronounced log-oss).
Your audience will likely consider the background to your
communication, and the circumstances or events that preceded it.
They'll analyze the kinds of arguments you used, their relevance, and
whether you delivered them in a clear, coherent and appropriate
way.
Your audience must be able to follow what you are saying for it to be
believable. They'll be looking for a logical, well-constructed
argument, and evidence for any claims that you make. They'll also be
thinking about any possible counterarguments.
Using the Rhetorical Triangle
When you prepare a written document, speech or presentation,
consider the three elements of the triangle. If your communication is
lacking in any of the three areas, you'll decrease the overall impact of
your message.
1. Establish Your Credibility (Ethos)
For your message to be convincing, you need to demonstrate that
you are a reliable and trustworthy source. Answer the audience's
unspoken question, "Is the source credible?"
First, establish who you are as a person.
Reveal your biases, beliefs, values, and assumptions, as appropriate.
Explain where your expertise comes from.
Use expert testimony.
Show why you should be considered an authority.
Then, consider the purpose of your communication. Is it:
A call to action?
To provide information?
To educate?
To persuade or change a perspective?
To present ideas?
To entertain?
2. Appeal to the Audience's Emotions (Pathos)
Understanding your audience enables you to connect with them, and
gives your message more impact.
Appeal to their emotions (where this is appropriate and honest) and
answer their question, "Is this person trying to manipulate me?"
Ask yourself who the members of your audience are.
What are their expectations?
Why are they reading (or listening) to me?
How will they use this information?
What do I want them to take away?
Consider how you can connect with them emotionally.
What emotions do I want to evoke?
Do I use anecdotes or personal stories?
3. Consider the Context (Logos)
Think about the context of your message, the best channel of
communication, and how to deliver it with a solid appeal to reason.
Answer the audience's question, "Is the presentation logical?"
Think about how you'll present the information.
What type of reasoning will I use?
How will I support my position? With statistics? Evidence?
Observations?
What tone will I use? Formal or informal?
What is the best way to communicate the message? Presentation ?
Email? Blog?
Take into account what events surround the communication.
What background information do I need to supply?
Are there important counterarguments I should bring up and deal
with?
Does the method or location of my communication fit with its
message?
When you take into consideration the three corners of the Rhetorical
Triangle, you're better able to position your points in a way that your
reader (or listener) can understand and get on board with.
By taking time to understand the art of rhetoric, you'll give your
communications more credibility, power and impact.

Key Points
Making persuasive arguments is not always easy. But you can give
your message far greater impact by keeping in mind the three
elements represented by the Rhetorical Triangle. They are:
1. Ethos (writer) – your credibility and authority.
2. Pathos (audience) – how your message appeals to the audience's
emotions.
3. Logos (context) – your logic and reasoning, and how your message
fits with the audience's understanding of the subject.

By paying attention to these points, you can ensure that your

audience receives your message in the way that you intended. And it
can help to address any concerns before they even have a chance to
surface.
Source:
https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/RhetoricalTriangle.htm