Okay, so 2000 years ago, Aristotle gave us the three principles of a persuasive argument. Those are logos, pathos, and ethos. Ethos is the character and the credibility of the argument and of the speaker. Logos is logic and a just the facts, ma’am, and pathos is emotion.
We usually do a great job with logos. We get our facts straight when we’re telling our story. A lot of us spend a lot of time working on the ethos, which is trying to lend ourselves credibility and look like we’re in a position of character, and that we have an authority to talk about what we’re talking about.
One of the things that gets forgotten most often is the pathos, is the emotion. That’s why humor works so well. That’s why surprise works so well. That’s why family works so well. When you are telling your story, make sure to include your logos, make sure to include your ethos, but remember to tell your story with some passion and tell it with some love.
Speaking of love, thanks very much to Erin Igney. If you’ve got questions for me, email me and email@example.com.