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Establishing Ethos (J. Kathy Barbeire Commentary)

3 min read

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More than 2,300 years ago, Aristotle defined the first formal theory of persuasion. I was first exposed to persuasive theory 20 years ago as an undergrad student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. At the time, I was struck by both the simplicity of Aristotle’s theory and by the insight it provided. Persuasive theory has played an important role throughout my career. As I share some examples, I hope you find applications in your own career.

Aristotle’s theory defines three modes of persuasion: ethos, pathos and logos. Ethos is an appeal to ethics, where the speaker establishes himself or herself as a credible source of information. Pathos appeals to the audience’s sense of empathy or emotion. Logos appeals to logic.

Of these three, the most important is ethos. It doesn’t matter how passionately you argue or how logical your argument is: If the audience doubts your credibility, they will disregard your message. You can see the war of ethos playing out in politics with claims of “fake news.” Your personal perception of what is fake depends on which news sources you deem as credible and ethical.

A recent study by the Pew Research Center reports that the “millennial” generation is less trusting than older Americans — with just 19 percent saying that most people can be trusted, compared to 31 percent of Gen Xers and 40 percent of Baby Boomers. These changes in attitudes make it increasingly challenging for employers to establish ethos with their employees and their customers. How do you gain employee buy-in for a new initiative or invite consumers to engage with your company’s brand when you are starting from a position of distrust? According to Jay Conger’s “The Necessary Art of Persuasion,” there are two ways to establish credibility: through expertise or through relationships.

Throughout most of my career I worked with nonprofits whose missions involved alleviating poverty. When I worked at the Our House shelter, my role included providing direct services to homeless families and individuals. Oftentimes, our homeless guests would view me with suspicion during our first meeting. I was a young, white female dressed in professional attire. They assumed I could not relate to them, expected me to judge them and disregarded my advice.

Then I shared stories about my own experience with homelessness. Once they knew that we shared a common journey, they were more open to listening because they could see that I had found a pathway to success and they could, too. From there, they respected my expertise, and we could build a relationship as partners working towards their success.

Establishing ethos through relationships means associating yourself or your idea with someone who is credible with your audience and substituting their credibility for your own. After more than a decade working in the nonprofit arena, I changed careers and faced the challenge of establishing credibility in a new company within an entirely different industry.

In 2015, I became the marketing manager for CAT Squared, a software company in Conway that develops manufacturing execution systems for industrial-scale food producers. To effectively promote my company’s brand, I needed to project the image of our company as a knowledgeable leader in software development that improves efficiency, profitability, and quality and safety practices in the food-production industry.

To accomplish this, I relied on industry experts. Since I had little exposure to manufacturing processes, I found customers willing to let me write case studies about their software implementations, including the companies’ names, logos, and direct quotes from their managers and executives. By doing so, I borrowed the credibility associated with their companies’ industry knowledge and experience. Through being a patient and attentive listener, I’ve slowly developed my own voice and have begun publishing my own articles about the industry.

Trust is essential in establishing ethos. We trust those that we know. To build relationships with your audience, be genuine and transparent. If you must establish ethos but don’t have time to build a relationship, then borrow credibility either by quoting someone your audience trusts or by asking that person to speak on your behalf. If your audience doesn’t trust you, your message will not be heard.


J. Kathy Barbeire is the marketing manager for CAT Squared of Conway and an MBA student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Email her at KathyBarbeire@Gmail.com.
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