Aristotle is the father of these three terms of persuasion. The Greek terms may be unfamiliar to you, but I’ll bet you know these concepts by other names. Ethos, pathos and logos make up some of the most commonly used methods of persuasion. Are you using these concepts in your marketing?
Ethos involves selling yourself. You establish your credibility by detailing your clinical experience, certifications, and client base.
You demonstrate your credibility by sharing your knowledge when you meet with clients to discuss cases or create content for books, articles, and blogs. You use ethos when you stress your character, credibility, or authority. Or you may be on the witness stand and persuasively arguing to make your point.
Use testimonials to establish your credibility. They are more believable when they are in writing. Also, it is helpful when the testimonial comes from a person with authority or good character. In that case, you borrow credibility from other people.
Here is an example of a testimonial.
Pathos involves swaying people by emotions. You share stories (closed cases you or others have worked on) and demonstrate how the legal nurse consultant made a difference. You share a poignant story or case and draw out the lessons learned.
Pathos appeals to the emotions. Use a story or an analogy or something that has some emotion in it, that is going to tug at people’s heart strings.
Here is an example of the use of pathos.
Logos involves solid reasoning. You use statistics, logic or reasoning to lead the reader to the conclusion you desire. Logos involves using facts and figures and statistics, such as a scientific fact.
Pat Iyer MSN RN LNCC is president of the Pat Iyer Group.
How do you use ethos, pathos or logos in your marketing? Write a comment below.