Ethos

When a speaker uses ethos, she appeals to her own credibility and her audience’s trust in her. If the audience views the speaker as both personally sympathetic and as a figure of authority on the topic of the speech, the audience will tend to view the speaker as credible and put their trust in her. Therefore, a speaker usually has an interest in seeming likeable, professional and experienced when making a speech, thus efficiently appealing to ethos. Below, we will consider six different ways that a speaker can create this impression.

Firstly, a speaker might make references to her own status - her profession or title - to show that she has special knowledge on the topic she is speaking of. For example, a high school teacher would know something about the reality of life at a high school:

As a high school teacher I see the consequences of these cuts on education on a daily basis.[1]

Secondly, a speaker might emphasize her experience:

I used to work as a teacher before I went into politics, and I know how important it is to have dedicated, attentive teachers in order for the pupils to...