15 Dec 08 @ 10:00 am
A Commentary on the Theory that Guides Us: Aristotle’s Rhetoric, Part III
This is the third installment of a four-part series.
Pathos (Personal Connection)
Aristotle was highly-attuned to the fact that the persuasiveness of a message is thoroughly connected to the state of mind of the audience. He reminds us to take the emotional temperature of a given audience prior to communicating with them. He also encourages us to deconstruct the contents of whatever emotion we find. If an audience is angry, is it because they desire something, or are they experiencing pain in one way or another? Is there a way to address this pain or desire without inflaming it further? Attending to these emotional states is fundamental to communicating a message, not an ancillary afterthought. If the tone of our message can make headway toward soothing an angry audience—or at least not make things worse—then the odds of the message getting through are exponentially increased.
Coaching Points:
- You can take the emotional temperature of a given audience through a more or less formal interview process, depending on your time, resources, and interest. Sometimes, a handful of conversations might be enough to make a situation clear. If you discover a group is angry, don’t stop there. The more precisely that you pinpoint the exact reason for why an audience is hostile, the better you will be able to address it and ultimately communicate successfully with them. For example, I spoke with a number of people in an organization who were angry, because they felt that they were left out of the loop with regard to a major change taking place. In this case, the anger was misplaced. The higher-ups had no problem sharing information in real-time; they just didn’t think to do it. So we came in and said to everyone that a new communication process will be put in place to describe the changes, which put everyone in a great mood. Then we were able to communicate the message that we set out to communicate in the first place. Having changed the mood from hostile to pleasant, they were naturally much more receptive.
- Another lesson to learn from Aristotle’s idea of Pathos is the importance of emotionally connecting with your audience. One tip for giving criticism, and I need to give John Cook credit here, is to acknowledge that you have made a similar error in the past, or that you empathize with a person’s behavior in a given situation, but nonetheless need to give them negative feedback.
- If you are speaking with a group that you don’t know, it is important to find touchpoints where your concerns and goals match theirs. Establish early on and often that you are not so different from your audience. For example, take a minute in the hall to hear about someone’s family issues, or talk about the football game. Or, take a minute to illustrate that everyone—yourself included—is in the same boat if a major initiative fails, and that you all stand to gain if the initiative succeeds.
posted in category(s): Miscellaneous