Aristotle talked about the ‘three pillars of persuasion’ in his famous essay “Rhetoric”. He labeled the three pillars: logic (or fact), pathos (or emotion) and ethos (or credibility). We can still learn today from the wise men of old as is illustrated by the following update on Aristotle produced shortly after the turn of the millennium (McIntyre-Birkner 2001).

Pillar 1:  Logic

Fact—to be believable, you must present truthful information and show how your facts (or logic) can be used to logically arrive at a conclusion.

Pillar 2:  Pathos

Emotion—to be persuasive you must push your listener’s emotional ‘hot buttons’ in a way that supports your cause/desired outcome.

Pillar 3:  Ethos

Credibility—you must come across as honest, sincere, knowledgeable, competent, capable, and trustworthy.

Building Aristotle’s three pillars of persuasion into your voir dire and case presentation is easier said than done. There are so many pieces of evidence, so many details, so many facts to be introduced that it is easy to lose sight of the goal to tell a logical, gripping, and credible story that allows jurors to understand what happened, how it was wrong, and how to make it right.

Remember to tell the story to non-lawyers: your spouse, friends; significant others; your teenagers; focus group participants; and others who can help you determine the most important elements of the story. Your goal is to bring clarity to the listener and to build their confidence in the action needing to be taken in order to right the wrong done.

Logic, emotion, or credibility alone are not persuasive—blending the three into a coherent frame will tell your story in a manner that leads the listener to action.

McIntyre-Birkner, R. (2001). “Communicating to persuade.” Occupational Hazards 63(6): 10.

Related posts:

1. Simple Jury Persuasion: Don’t confuse argument with persuasion
2. Simple Jury Persuasion: Avoid ‘oops you did it again’ errors
3. Simple Jury Persuasion: Be credible
4. Simple Jury Persuasion: Alpha and Omega Persuasion Strategies
5. Simple Jury Persuasion: “I’m not a doctor, but I play one on TV”