Long before then-candidates Obama and McCain debated each other in the recent campaign, the ancient Greeks held forth on democracy (they invented it), the court system (they invented that too), and politics (Ok, that’s been around forever).  Along the way, they learned a good deal about public speaking and presentations.  Here are five of the best tips from a couple of millennia ago.

1.  Rather than organizing a speech around your data, organize it around the audience’s problem.  The Greeks were shrewd psychologists, and they recognized that speakers who talked too much about themselves or held forth too much on the subject they were expert in were boring.  So they invented the “problem-solution” structure for persuasive speaking.  Begin by talking about the audience’s problem, they recommended, and then move on to the solution – which is where you get to strut your expertise stuff.  That’s inherently interesting for the audience because it’s about them.

2.  Aristotle said you can persuade three ways:  by appealing to reason, to emotion, or to character (logos, pathos, or ethos).  Which one – or ones – you use depends on the audience.  To know which method will work best, and in what mixture, requires great insight into the state of the audience’s mind.  But we make decisions, in the end, emotionally.  So any attempt to persuade had better include at least some appeal to emotion.  We use logic to explain to ourselves why we made the emotional decision we did.  The appeal to character is generally a last resort.  “Do as I say because of who I am.”   

3.  Give reasons, examples, and lists in groups of threes.   The Greeks realized that a group of three sounds complete to use, perhaps for the same reason that a tripod stands firmly on the ground.  So organize your thinking – and persuading – whenever possible, in groups of threes.  The audience will find you more persuasive and will be less likely to argue with you. 

4.  In argument, don’t be fooled by the “either-or” choice.  The Greeks were canny debaters, and realized early on that a great trick was to give your opponent a choice between two unappealing alternatives:  “My worthy opponent is either soft on crime or ignorant of the reality on the ground.”  There is almost always a third way in life, so look for it.  On the other side, giving an audience a choice between two alternatives in a persuasive speech will almost always dissuade them from looking for a third choice, because it’s hard to do live in real time.  “You can either invest with us or die a pauper.” 

5.  In the end, humor is the short cut to persuasion.  The Greeks made great use of ridicule, irony, wit, and other forms of humor.  While their sense of humor would strike us today as a little heavy-handed, their insight, that if you can make people laugh, you can persuade them, still stands.  Don’t start your speech with a joke, because if it falls flat you’re off to a very bad start and it’s hard to recover.  But do let your natural wit shine through.  If you can get your audience laughing, they will go a long way with you. 

 

Comments

[CK]

Great post, Nick !

I was delighted to know the Greeks endorsed humor as a persuasive tool.I use humor liberally in my sessions and when used well, it helps me connect better and makes my message more memorable.

Like someone said, "I like to make people laugh so they take me seriously !

cheers
CK