Ethos, Logos, and Pathos and work in Aristotle’s rhetorical triangle — an interdependency of three – in a powerful way to support political savvy and gain support for your ideas/initiatives.
Each of the three dimensions represent important aspects of the Self And Other relationship in leveraging the “GP” (Greater Purpose) for the 3-poles:
Political Savvy/Persuasive Messaging.
Here are descriptions for each of the 3 multarity poles of this interdependency.:
Ethos
Is about trust and credibility. Here, you can highlight expertise, past successes – and any qualities that enhances support for competence. Think testimonials here.
Logos
Is about the logic and reason side. What are the strong bodies of facts and evidence to support your interest/idea? Here, think in terms of the objectivity or merit or compelling argument.
Pathos
Is about the feelings and emotions. Think story that appeals to the human side of us – the psyche.
Wrapping these three together creates a compelling synergistic effect that can achieve more than the sum of the parts and certainly more so than any single dimension used on its own. Some who are skilled in this method do it intuitively or implicitly. For those of us who don’t come by it so easily, the approach can help us focus on our audience when seeking to get support from others – particularly those who may have resources or power we need!
While this doesn’t guarantee success, at the very least it will demonstrate you care, why you are passionate, and that you are enthusiastic about creating a powerful WIN/WIN outcome for you and others.
This multarity compliments well with two other 3-pole multarities:
- The Project Management Triangle:
Cost, Quality, Speed; and, - Conversational Intelligence
Ask/Tell (transactional), Advocate/Inquire (positional), and Share/Discover (transformational).
