Aristotle teaching about rhetoric
o move, motivate, or change your
audience. Aristotle taught that rhetoric, or the art of public speaking, involves the faculty of
observing in any given case the available means of persuasion.1
In the case of President Obama,
he may have appealed to your sense of duty and national values. In persuading your parents to
lend you the car keys, you may have asked one parent instead of the other, calculating the
probable response of each parent and electing to approach the one who was more likely to
adopt your position (and give you the keys). Persuasion can be implicit or explicit and can have
both positive and negative effects. … presenting your audience with arguments in orderto
motivate them to adopt your view, consider your points, or change their behavior.
Principles of Persuasion
by Scott McLean
Six principles
1. Reciprocity
2. Scarcity
3. Authority
4. Commitment and consistency
5. Consensus
6. Liking
2. Think Win-Win
by Stephen R. Covey