“Our military is powerful, and it’s prepared. Our emergency teams are working in New York City and Washington D.C., to help with local rescue efforts”
By stating an obvious fact, “emergency teams are working in New York City and Washington DC”, Bush creates a situation where the American people can make an emotional link from a “cold” fact to a sense of security. However, using too much of logos can be a drag as too much facts and statistics makes a speech mundane.
This is why ethos is equally used in a persuasive speech. Ethos uses credibility to persuade the audience. The speaker credits the audience by complimenting them in various ways. In J.F.K’s Berlin speech, his starting sentence clearly shows Ethos,
“I am proud to come to this city as the guest of your distinguished Mayor, who has symbolized thoroughout the world the fighting spirit of West Berlin. And I am proud to visit the Federal Republic with your distinguished Chancellor…”
In the starting speech, J.F.K uses personal pronouns to include the audiences in his speech. Kennedy also repeats the word “distinguished”, which is an evident compliment to the country. J.F.K also addresses positions of authority like Berlin’s Mayor and Chancellor to make it seem respectable. Ethos is very useful when it comes to persuasion, as one tends to take pride in praises which others say to them.
Likewise, pathos is another technique used to persuade the audience emotionally. Although emotional appeals are not popular in some formal arguments, it still remains the most powerful persuasive factor, as ethos and logos sometimes do not appeal to the audience. It is used most effectively when the audience just suffered from an emotional trauma, like George Bush’s 911 speech.
“Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shatter steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve”
The choices of words are very important in pathos. Bush uses phrases such as “shake the foundations”, “acts shatter steel” and “dent the steel” to connect emotionally with the audiences. Bush also contrasts negative and positive facts in the same sentence to let the audience know that the worst has been over, and that the audiences should be strong at heart, and not give up.
Another very good example of the use of pathos can be found in Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech,
“When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholic, will be able to join hands and sing…”
This was the last paragraph from Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech, and by using pathos, King successfully used the emotions of the audience to create a lasting impression in his speech. Similarly to Bush’s speech, King used the contrast in the extract to appeal to the audience’s hearts.
Additionally, repetition is a common persuasive technique used in most speeches. IT enables the speaker to emphasize his point that he is trying to make. A very good example would again be Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech
“I have a dream that one day this nation… I have a dream that one day on the red hills… I have a dream that one day even the state… I have a dream that my four little children… I have a dream today… I have a dream that one day the state”
The repetition lasted throughout most of King’s speech, and although each “dream” he stated was different, he wanted to stress the point that his dream was that African-Americans would have equal rights. King used the repetition of “dreams” to invite his audience to share his “dream”. The above extract also incorporates pathos.
Another persuasive technique is the list of three. List of three helps the audiences make the speaker’s points easier to remember. List of threes can be heard in Kennedy’s Berlin speech.
“The force, the hope and the determination of the city of West Berlin”
As well as Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream speech”
“Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholic, will be able to join hands and sing…”
Both speakers’ use of the list of three adds a certain rhythm in their speech; this is very useful for a speaker as it allows the speaker to give examples without sounding short. Since list of three add to the rhythm of the speech, it will allow examples to be remembered by the audience for a long time.
Of course, every persuasive speech should have a strong, powerful ending. This helps the speech end effectively. This can be seen in Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech
“Free at last! Free at last! Thank God alight, we are free at last!”
Such a strong ending will definitely leave a strong impression and a lasting effect on the audience; it also helps sum up the whole speech without sounding weak.
There are many different kinds of persuasive techniques, and although writing a persuasive speech using only one technique can be done, it will not be a very good speech. The best speeches always use a range of persuasive techniques and integrate them together.
