So, the first great speaker that came to mind for me was definitely Martin Luther King Jr. I hope that it does not have to be someone that is presently alive. The first time I heard his, "I have a Dream" speech I believe I was in third or fourth grade and I was moved! I had goose bumps the entire time and I became incredibly emotionally involve in his speech. I believe that King was able to sway his audiences by using all three methods. Through ethos, King was genuinely a humble and good man. He was well educated and had an upstanding personal character. He used words rather than violence to attack the oppressors. Through pathos, he was able to become emotionally involved with his audience as they were all seeking the same thing he was, civil rights and through logos, King was a brilliantly educated man and knew that his actions would have outcomes. He was not willing to sit back and hope change would be made, he realized he needed to be in the fore front, seeking change himself. He relied on many of Ghandi's teachings through his speeches and his demeanor. He knew violence bestowed violence, so he was trying to persuade his audience and people to use logic and skill to seek and make changes. He also realized that being televised when violence was bestowed onto his peaceful protesters would be one of the best forces for his community. When people viewed the televised events of these peaceful demonstrators being victimized it enraged them and they found themselves becoming more and more involved with the fight for civil rights.
People have always told me that I am a great person to speak to. I listen to what people have to say before I reply or comment back. I cannot stand it when you are talking to someone and you can tell they truly are not paying attention to what you are saying but are trying to think of a reply or something else to say. I believe that when it comes down to it, if the situation requires, I possess all three character traits Aristotle was speaking of. My personal character is one of my greatest gifts. I am not quick to judge and I have compassion (probably too much and probably a little underserving at times, but I just cannot help myself). I am definitely a logical thinker. There is no gray for me, everything I believe for the most part is black or white. That is why I didn't fare so well growing up in a strict Christian upbringing. There was just too much gray for me. When the time is right, I feel that I definitely rely on the pathos approach. When giving a speech or just talking to someone, you can become emotionally involved and you would want the other person or people to become emotionally involved in what you are saying (depending on the circumstances of course!).
I hope we are allowed to have the same person to admire cause I also chose to write about Martin Luther King. I completely agree with your whole post! I do think that he used all three methods of pathos, logo and ethos, however like I said in my post, I felt that his speeches were so powerful and moving because of the emotion he had behind his speeches. The courage he had to of had to get up and speak in front of so many people, knowing that so many people were against what he was fighting for, really showed he was very passionate about his speeches!
ReplyDeleteI believe that being a good speaker not only includes the Logos, Pathos, and Ethos, but also includes being able to adapt to the audience. I feel it's important to be able to let the audience see the passion on your face and if they are not feeling the love, or pain, or whatever it is you are trying to portray to the crowd, being able to change the emotion of the speech is important. When a speaker is able to adapt and give a successful speech, then the rest will fall into place. I have seen some bad speeches in my previous comm. classes and they all had the same thing in common... they did not adapt to the audience.
ReplyDeleteIt looks as though a lot of us chose the same speaker because I as well wrote about Martin Luther King. As mentioned in my posting, I believe he used all three methods of pathos, logo, and ethos. I think the most influence he had was the emotion behind his speech and the fact he related to the audience on what he was preaching. To me someone who is passionate and has emotion is definitely a persuasive speaker.
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