Aristotle's Persuasive Rhetoric

I found it interesting that Aristotle was focused on how successful arguments could be built upon persuasion. I have had persuasion described to me in many different ways in the past. Coming from a business environment in work it has been something that has had a lot of focus in leadership trainings. I’m very surprised that it has never been presented to me in the way Aristotle broke persuasion down into three categories: ethos, pathos, and logos. These three methods are eloquent in their simplicity. Ethos is said to persuade through personal character where a presenter would try to exhibit their qualifications to speak on a subject. Pathos is where a speaker would try to appeal to the audience’s emotions. Lastly logos is the use of logical facts to support an argument. Each method has the ability to stand on its own or be used in conjunction with one another. Persuasion is such a powerful tool in speech that it is often misconstrued and used for purposes of attaining desired outcomes instead of the truthful conclusions Aristotle focused on. It’s almost as if the mere mention of persuading another individual is scrutinized for its ability to mislead instead of being embraced for its ability to reveal.