I recently read that in ancient Greek rhetoric, the skill of persuasion was often broken down into three categories:

Logos refers to the content of the speech; it’s how the speaker uses logic to influence listeners.

Pathos refers to the speaker’s passion and appeal to feelings; it’s how the speaker uses emotion to influence listeners.

Ethos refers to the speaker’s credibility; it’s how the overall trustworthiness of the speaker influences listeners.

Obviously all three are important, but when it comes to persuasion, ethos significantly overpowers pathos and logos.

If your listener does not see you as trustworthy, what you’re saying and how you’re saying it make little difference.

With AI tools becoming ubiquitous, it’s tempting to ignore this reality to lean more heavily on messaging that masterfully articulates the benefits of a logically sound value proposition.

But when that message is delivered by a lifeless piece of software, it rarely persuades.

That takes a trustworthy human.