source
It was Aristotle who more than 2,000 years ago, revealed that for all persuasive arguments to be effective, they must appeal to the human mind. He called these elements Ethos, Logos and Pathos; the "3 appeals."
Let's look at these 3 elements and what they mean.
Ethos is credibility and character personified. it simply means the characteristic spirit of a culture and community, as is manifested in its attitudes and aspirations. Character and credibility is key factor to persuasion and knowing these makes it an appeal.
Logos means the Word of God as identified in the Gospel of John with the second person of the Trinity incarnate in Jesus Christ. It also means, the principle of reason and judgement, associated with the animus.
Logos is logic, meaning that an argument must appeal to reason.Pathos means emotions. It is a quality that evokes pity or sadness. Pathos which equals emotions is very important in ethos and logos.
Emotion is not a bad thing, and to make these three elements as coined by Aristotle work, we need Pathos. History's greatest movements were triggered by speakers who were gifted at making rational and emotional appeals: Martin Luther King Jr, Theodore Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, all blended science and emotion to inspire the world.
Emotion is the fastest path to the brain. if you want your ideas to spread, you must apply them with stories because, we need to use stories to transfer our ideas from one person to the other.
Of Ethos, Logos and Pathos.
We need these 3 elements in life to help us form lasting processes and procedures that will speak well of us now and in the future. Stories are persuasive and we must be ready to have the right ones that helps us make the right decisions.
Make use of the 3 appeals and you will have the best decision making process ever known to man. Many fail because they just see decision making and story telling as a non-art.
Story telling makes use of the brain and emotional intelligence.
Emotional intelligence when properly applied helps form the process of either good or bad decision.