Ethos
By: Claudia Dunn
What is Ethos?
When do you use Ethos?
You should use ethos when you are wanting to create persuasion among the audience and when you want to show credibility and ethics. Ethos is different from Pathos and Logos because it is creating credibility, not emotion or evidence. Ethos is an effective persuasion tool that will help you with the rest of your life and in any aspects of it wether it be in school or not. Ethos is commonly scene in our everyday lives like on commercials for example. Professional athletes present athletic products, beautiful women present beauty products, and doctors present prescription or non-prescription drugs. Ethos can be seen in Politics, the court room, hospitals, lectures, and much more.
How do you use Ethos?
One way a speaker can show Ethos is through showing the audience that they have an onset knowledge about the topic they are sharing. Before addressing the audience about their topic, the speaker should first indicate that he knows the topic very well or that he has read many resources about the subject. Another way to show Ethos is by the speaker sharing that they have close association with the topic. For example, if the writer is arguing that secondhand smoking should be banned in public places, he may tell his readers that although he is a non-smoker he has developed emphysema after having been exposed to secondhand smoke in bars for more than five years. This will show that the writer has actual experience that directly relates to his contention, thereby giving his readers that what he is saying has substance.