Business Communication Analysis: Ethos, Pathos, and Logos for Success

This essay examines the significance of ethos, pathos, and logos in business communication. It defines these rhetorical proofs as Aristotle's methods for effective communication, focusing on ethics, emotional appeal, and logic. The essay emphasizes the importance of ethos in establishing credibility and trust, highlighting its role in convincing audiences. Pathos is presented as crucial for establishing emotional connections and influencing the tone and engagement in communication, especially in digital contexts. Logos is discussed as vital for ensuring clarity, conciseness, and logical arrangement of information to facilitate audience understanding. The essay concludes that all three elements are equally important for clear information flow, improved organizational and individual performance, and successful business outcomes. The essay also references several academic sources to support its claims and provide context.

Running head: BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Business Communication
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Business communication allows the business organizations to share information and
ensures the clear flow of information both internally and externally. Effective business
communication ensures the commercial success of the business organizations, as this provides
an opportunity for negotiations, positive relationships and working environment thereby,
improving the morale and employee efficiency. This essay highlights the concept of ethos,
pathos and logos and its significance in business communication for the business organizations.
Ethos pathos and logos are considered as Aristotle’s form of rhetorical proof that
highlights the ethics, appeal to emotions and appeal to logic while communicating. As
commented by Tran (2016), individual credibility, expectation and reference highlight the
concept of ethos in business communication. Thus, ethos highlights the ability of the
individuals to appeal to ethics thereby, convincing someone of the character of the persuader.
Ethos provides an opportunity for the individuals to convince other with their idea and follow it
appropriately. The main features of ethos are character and expertise that provides an
opportunity for the individuals to convince others. The word credibility highlights the individual
qualities such as the power to elicit the audience believe in the character of the persuader.
Thus, highlighting the character of credibility allows the individuals to convince others by using
humour.
On the other hand, pathos is defined as the ability of the individuals to establish an
emotional connection thereby, highlighting the reason why people tend to believe the speaker
of the persuader (Shanahan & Seele, 2015). Emotional connection is highly significant while
communication, as this provides an opportunity for the speaker and the audience to ensure
engagement by emphasizing on the tone of communication. The cognate strategies involved in
the case of pathos include tone, emphasis and engagement. The choice of words largely
influences the tone of communication. Thus, it is essential to consider the voice, words and
confidence while judging the appropriateness of the communication tone. Emphasis is another
characteristic of pathos as this provides an opportunity for the individuals to stress on
particular points thereby, ensuring easy understanding (M. Brennan & M. Merkl-Davies, 2014).
For instance, as it is difficult to understand if everyone speaks at the same time similarly it is

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difficult to understand if all the points are presented equally. Thus, the speaker needs to stress
on the significant points that will help in communicating the message more effectively. This
ensures better engagement of the speaker or the persuader with the audiences.
However, people fail to connect them with the ongoing communication if they lack
understanding about the topic or the deduced conclusions. Thus, logos highlight the appealing
mode to others. According to Tirdatov (2014), the concept of logos highlights the significance of
logic while communicating, as this provides an opportunity for the audience to relate to the
communication logically and ensuring better understanding. The cognate strategies of logos
include clarity, arrangement and conciseness. According to this, it is essential for the speaker to
ensure clarity, as this helps the audience to decode the message more efficiently. Clarity in idea
and information highlights better connection of the speaker with the audience, as they are able
to understand the logic behind the idea. Conciseness highlights to be on point and disregarding
the points that would distract the audience from understanding the main point by arranging
the visual and verbal elements in a manner that the audience is able to interpret correctly
(Baccarani & Bonfanti, 2015).
In today’s digital age, communication is the key to success that helps in the clear flow of
information within and outside the business organization. Ethos, pathos and logos are
significant in ensuring effective business communication. As commented by Shao (2013), logos
provides an opportunity to ensure clarity, conciseness and arrangement of the topic of
communication in business. As a result, the different stakeholders are able to ensure clarity
while presenting their idea in the business. As a result, the audience is able to decode the
message of the speaker more effectively. This is because the audience is able to relate them to
the topic from the logical perspective of the speaker. Additionally, being conciseness allows the
speaker to emphasise the main point by avoiding unnecessary factors. In digital business
communication, conciseness is necessary as this ensures to cascade the main point more
effectively. However, as argued by McCormack (2014), being conciseness also restricts the
audience to consider the additional valuable points that are necessary. Appropriate

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organization of visual and verbal elements is essential in business communication, as this helps
in engaging the audiences effectively.
On the other hand, pathos is more significant in digital communication, as this considers
the tone and emphasis in engaging the audiences. As commented by Carroll (2014), the tone of
the speaker helps in establishing a connection between the speaker and the audiences. The use
of appropriate expression helps in establishing a positive relationship by focusing on the tone,
and the words used for communication. This helps the speaker to implement a formal approach
to the audience and forming an emotional connection. Emotional relationship between the
speaker and the audience helps in effective communication thereby, convincing the audiences.
However, as argued by Weiss (2015), in business, communicating the key business idea is
extremely crucial. Thus, emphasis allows the speaker to communicate the key points by
stressing on them and pointing them in the eye of the audiences thereby, convincing them. As
the audience is able to establish an emotional relationship and stressing out the significant
points, the audience is engaged more effectively thereby, buying the idea and working on it.
Ethos in business communication is essential as this provides an opportunity for the
speaker to develop character and trust by emphasizing the character and trust. In business, the
audience expects that their demands and needs will be fulfilled by the business organizations.
Thus, ethos in business communication is necessary as this makes the audience believe on the
speaker (Jorgensen & Isaksson, 2015).
In this essay, it can be concluded that ethos, pathos and logos are equally significant in
business communication, as this helps in convincing the audience of the credibility of the
speaker by forming a positive emotional relationship in a logical manner. Thus, in business this
ensures better and clear flow of information and idea thereby, improving organizational and
individual performance.

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