{"id":430,"date":"2012-03-13T16:16:44","date_gmt":"2012-03-13T15:16:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/leggett\/?p=430"},"modified":"2012-03-13T16:16:44","modified_gmt":"2012-03-13T15:16:44","slug":"what-is-rhetoric","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.iese.edu\/leggett\/2012\/03\/13\/what-is-rhetoric\/","title":{"rendered":"What is rhetoric?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rhetoric can be defined as the \u2018<strong>Art of Persuasion\u2019<\/strong>. It is often seen as the opposite to its counterpart, the dialectic. It is about the persuader, through credibility, emotional appeal and reasoned argument, guiding another or others to a point of view or behavior that both sides will benefit from. It is interactive, and attempts to satisfy the needs of both parties, although not necessarily in equal proportion. Persuasion can also be described as <strong><em>the art of guiding another towards the adoption of ideas, attitudes, or actions \u2013 to win over rather than defeat the other in argument or through argumentation.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Aristotle emphasized that rhetoric depends on the successful use of a combination of the use of three proofs: ethos (<strong>credibility<\/strong>), pathos (<strong>emotions<\/strong>), and logos (message supported by <strong>argumentation<\/strong>). It is not necessary that each proof carries equal weight, but it is necessary that each proof exists. Therefore, our model of persuasive communication or rhetoric is centered round the classical triad:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Communicating the right level of credibility to our audiences (<strong><em>Ethos<\/em><\/strong>).<\/li>\n<li>Creating the right emotional framework through <span style=\"text-decoration: underline\">identity<\/span> and common ground by way of metaphors and storytelling (<strong><em>Pathos<\/em><\/strong>).<\/li>\n<li>Inventing the right argumentation to support our message (<strong><em>Logos<\/em><\/strong>).<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Brian Vickers, the author of <em>\u2018In Defense of Rhetoric\u2019<\/em>, rephrased Aristotle\u2019s three modes of persuasion: <em>\u201cThe first depends on the personal character of the speaker (ethos), the second on putting the audience into a fit state of mind (pathos); the third on the proof, or the apparent proof, provided by the words of the speech itself (logos)\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rhetoric can be defined as the \u2018Art of Persuasion\u2019. It is often seen as the opposite to its counterpart, the dialectic. It is about the persuader, through credibility, emotional appeal and reasoned argument, guiding another or others to a point of view or behavior that both sides will benefit from. It is interactive, and attempts [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":313,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20413],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-classical-rhetoric"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 5.0.1.1 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Rhetoric can be defined as the \u2018Art of Persuasion\u2019. It is often seen as the opposite to its counterpart, the dialectic. 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