What Aristotle and Joshua Bell can teach us about persuasion - Conor Neill

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Transcriber: Andrea McDonough Reviewer: Bedirhan Cinar

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9th of January, 2007

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Joshua Bell, one of the greatest violinist in the world,

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played to a packed audience

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at Boston's stately Symphony Hall of 1,000 people

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where most seats went for more than $100.

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He was used to full, sell-out shows.

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He was at the peak of his abilities and fame.

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Three days later,

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Joshua Bell played to an audience of

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nobody!

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Well, maybe six people paused for a moment,

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and one child stopped for a while looking,

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as if he understood that something special was happening.

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Joshua said of the experience,

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"It was a strange feeling that people were actually ignoring me."

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Joshua Bell was playing violin in a subway station.

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"At a music hall, I'll get upset if someone coughs

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or if someone's cell phone goes off,

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but here my expectations quickly diminished.

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I was oddly grateful when somebody threw in a dollar."

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What changed?

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Same music,

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on the same violin,

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played with the same passion

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and by the same man.

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Why did people listen and then not listen?

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Aristotle would be able to explain.

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What does it take to persuade people?

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2,300 years ago,

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Aristotle wrote the single most important work on persuasion,

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Rhetoric,

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the 3 means of persuasion:

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logos,

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ethos,

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and pathos.

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Logos is that the idea makes sense from the audience's point of view.

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This is usually different from the speaker's point of view,

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so work needs to be done

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to make the idea relevant to the world view,

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the pains and the challenges of the listeners.

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A good argument is like good music.

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Good music follows some rules of composition;

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good arguments follow some rules of logic.

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It makes sense to the audience.

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Ethos is reputation, what are you known for;

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credibility, do you look and act professional;

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trustworthy, are your motives clear,

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do you show the listener that you care about them as much as yourself?

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Authority is confidence plus a concise message,

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a clear, strong voice.

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Pathos is the emotional connection.

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Stories are an effective human tool for creating an emotional connection.

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There are moments where an audience is not ready

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to hear the message.

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A speaker must create the right emotional environment for their message.

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What changed?

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Why did people travel for miles to hear him play one night,

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and not even pause for moment to listen the next morning?

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The answer is that ethos and pathos were missing.

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Ethos

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The fact that the great concert hall hosts Joshua's concert

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transfers its trust to Joshua.

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We trust the institution, we now trust Joshua.

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The subway does not have our trust for musical talent,

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we do not expect to find great art,

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great music,

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or great ideas,

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so it confers no trust to Joshua.

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Pathos

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The concert hall is designed for an emotional bond

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between an audience and an artist,

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a subway platform is not.

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The hustle and movement and stress is just not conducive

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to the emotional connection needed between performer and listener.

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Logos,

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ethos,

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pathos,

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the idea is nothing without the rest.

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This is what Joshua Bell learned

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on that cold, January day in 2007.

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If you have a great idea,

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how do you build credibility and emotional connection?