Hoa Sen University

Vatel Program - Hotel & Tourism Business School

FINAL ASSIGNMENT
[NEGOTIATION]
[NGO 301]

Student: Nguyen Thuy Duong

Class: MA3 - 2019

Date: 31/03/2022
 Topic: Aristotle’s 3 pillars of negotiation

Over 2300 years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote the single most important work
on persuasion which shaped the whole study of rhetoric. It is what takes to persuade human
beings to do something. He combined all the previous thinking into three tools. These three
persuasion appeals are the same modes of persuasion used today by politicians, advertisements,
and public speakers alike. They remained to this day among the most useful ways to get people
from no to yes in personal life or in work life.  The 3 persuasive appeals are Logos, Ethos, and
Pathos. It is designed to help others accept or believe a particular point of view. 
Persuasion is an important technique and skills of negotiation. It has the power to make
others listen, change attitudes and opinions, also influence their behaviors or actions. The
Rhetoric of Aristotle has a treatise on the art of persuasion. If the negotiators are able to practice
and apply the three pillars in any negotiation, he or she could achieve desired goals.
Aristotle's first pillar of persuasion is Ethos or the Ethical appeal means to convince an
audience of the author’s credibility or character. Ethos is
 reputation, what the speaker is known for;
 credibility, whether his/her appearance and behavior are professional;
 trustworthy, whether his/her motives are clear;
 authority is confidence plus a concise message
Ethos is considered a method to establish trust with others, it is the most important part of
the persuasion process.  People will not be persuaded unless they trust the speaker and what is
said is reliable.
Ethos can be promoted by using appropriate language and vocabulary, paying attention to
behavior and appearance, and documenting areas of competence. Finally, ethos can be difficult
to acquire and sustain, it might take years to develop a strong, credible reputation and enrich the
knowledge.
The second pillar is Logos. Logos is an appeal to logic, which refers to the effort to convince
your audience by using logic and reason. In order to use logos, the speaker would probably
support the argument or speech with facts, figures or statistics. The public would pick apart the
supporting evidence of the argument to determine if it is logical for them to be
persuaded. Logos means to document the point through storytelling, logical arguments, facts,
recorded evidence, historical data, and literal analogies. When using logos in persuasion, you
should make sure that you have found facts, information that is related to and support the
argument and present them in a way that makes sense to the audience.
The last pillar is Pathos which is arguably the strongest and most effective form of
persuasion. Pathos is an appeal to emotions, which refers to the effort to persuade the audience
by making an appeal to their feelings. People are more receptive to being persuaded by someone
with whom they can identify. Pathos can be used in a variety of ways (to promote positive and
negative feelings) as it is the Greek word for referring both to “suffering” and “experience”.
When using pathos to persuade the audience, you need to make them feel an emotion in order to
act.  Stories are an effective human tool for creating an emotional connection. However, pathos
is neither inherently good nor bad, but it may be irrational and unpredictable. Any emotion can
cause people to act, it can easily rally people for peace or incite them to war. Simple and
meaningful language, emotional tone of voice, pauses, and emotional metaphors or stories can all
help to enhance pathos. Remember that most people are aware when you are attempting to touch
their emotions, therefore it must proceed with caution and responsibility.
What the speaker can do to increase the likelihood to persuade others? The answer is in the
combination of Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. Any one of these approaches used in isolation is not
nearly as powerful as when it is used in combination with the others. The three modes of
persuasion can be used in any form of communication. So how to use ethos, pathos, and logos?
First, establish ethos. It is the first element that needs to be started long before. You need to
build your reputation by developing deep expertise in the area you are interested in or your field.
For example, a long-standing hotel with a good reputation and image will have more bookings
than others that do not.  Also, you need to demonstrate you are a reliable and trustworthy source.
You can reveal your biases, beliefs, and values as appropriate; explain where your expertise
comes from, and show why should you be considered an authority. Aristotle said that we tend to
trust a speaker, who is "wise, honest, and kind-hearted." If you can express yourself in a way that
gives a positive impression to others, you are able to gain trust from them.
Secondly, you should develop pathos. The ability to tell stories is important to pathos. First,
decide which emotion you want to elicit. While some people are great at bringing people on a
rollercoaster of emotions, it’s often better to stick to one main emotion. Second, choose which
part of the message will serve as an emotional trigger. Pathos works best when used sparingly.
Finally, use some of the many rhetorical tools at your disposal to bring the emotion to life: rich
words, analogies, metaphors, humor, surprise. Body language is also a great communication tool.
When talking, remember to use appropriate eye contact, facial expression or gesture to match the
emotion. However, there is one thing that you need to pay attention.  Evaluation the contact from
the view point of audience, is dangerous because it can easily become a victim of manipulation:
after all, the decisions often are not based on rational reasoning - the strongest impact on human
decisions, according to Aristotle, has anger, pity, fear, and contrary to their feelings. 
Finally, convey logos. Logos is designed that speaker with accurate and clear words can
convince listeners, affect them by professional freedom of thoughts and speech logic, wisdom
and the right words seeking to their goals. Avoid technical jargon and complicated words. Be as
explicit and concrete as possible, using examples and comparisons with facts the listener is
already familiar with. Outline each steps and connections in your reasoning. Insist on the most
crucial points. While facts are important, a lot of the power you will get from logos lies in how
you connect these facts to get the desired results.
What is the right sequence in which to use Ethos, Pathos and Logos when
persuading someone? There are many approaches that can work. One that is tried and true is to
first use Ethos, then Pathos, then Logos. Use ethos in the start to establish your credibility and to
let listeners connect with you. To debate and build your claims, use logos, or logic. Finish with
pathos, or emotional appeal, because people will behave based on their emotions, which is your
ultimate purpose after all. However, ethos, pathos, and logos are not necessarily used in that
particular order. In some cases, you could be better off appealing to their emotions first, then
reassuring them that the appeal is coming from a trustworthy source, and finally providing your
argument for why they should take a specific action. One thing is certain: if you try to persuade
someone with logic before you have addressed emotion or credibility, you are not going to get
very far.
Understanding the Ethos, Pathos and Logos and how they work is the first step in improving
persuasion and negotiation skills. The next step would be to put them into practice and how you
can use them to achieve the target.  While some may argue that one pillar is more important than
the others, if you know to balance the combination of all three pillars, it will bring more
successful than only focusing on one.