Ethos is the “proof” or quality of being believable, credible, ethical, or of having character. Ethos rests with the audience’s perception of you as a speaker and a source of valid information. There are 3 “types” or areas where credibility or ethos can be developed, initial credibility, derived credibility, and terminal credibility.

• Initial credibility through prior knowledge, experiences, or reputation establishes your credibility as a speaker as you begin the speech.

  • Example: Your audience may have heard you speak before and due to the eminence of your speech, you may therefore have high initial credibility. On the other hand, your reputation as a mediocre speaker precedes you, and your audience is skeptical of your upcoming speech.

• Derived credibility is the ability to be believable by what you say and how you say it as you speak.

  • Example: It may be established through your physical presence, your evidence, your arguments, your support, your use of appeals (if included), your vocal aspects, and if you practiced/rehearsed your speech well. All these elements tie into the perception held by the audience of your abilities as a speaker.

• Terminal credibility is the impression or perception you leave after you are done speaking; it’s the final impact you make with your audience.

  • Example: Did you tie up the speech for your audience? Did you leave them wanting to hear more about your topic? Do they want to listen to you speak again?

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          Credibility varies from situation to situation, speech to speech. Of course, you would like to maintain high credibility all the time, but it is virtually impossible to do so every time. Not all your speeches will be brilliant or incredibly successful, and this will influence the rising or falling of your credibility. Don’t be too harsh on yourself if you don’t do well on a particular speech, you will have many opportunities to increase your credibility throughout your speaking career.

          In his book The Rhetoric, Aristotle stated the sources of ethos are:

• Intelligence: Show (or prove) to your audience your intelligence through reasoning and logical thinking.

  • Example: You have researched your topic thoroughly; you are using the most current pieces of information; your arguments are sound and tailored to your audience.

• Character: Show (or prove) you are a fine, upstanding person, worthy of belief based on your past actions and statements.

  • Example: The associations you belong to, how you treat other individuals, your moral fiber as seen by others (perception) may determine if an audience will believe you when you speak. You are an ethical person.

• Goodwill: Show (or prove) you have the best interest of the audience at heart by giving them the ability to be better off after you speak.

  • Example: In a speech about lifestyle, you discuss the ways we can all eat healthier and provide ways we can change our eating habits to improve our physical life.

Note: The Machiavellian principle from the 1500s, using sneaky underhanded ways to gain acceptance or acknowledgement, suggests a low moral character and may not lead to the best credibility for you as a speaker. You must ask yourself “do the ends justify the means”? Showing Aristotelian traditions of ethos may serve you better as you progress as a speaker and citizen.

          In contemporary times, sources for credibility build upon Aristotle’s three areas to provide a wider explanation of ethos by breaking them down into five categories or areas. They may be viewed as an updating of terminology for a modern society:

• Competence: Show you are a valid source of ideas and information (intelligence).

• Trustworthiness: Show you are someone they can trust, or earn their trust and show you have their best interests at heart (character).

• Similarity: You want to look for similarities between you and the audience. We tend to want to do things for/with people who share the same interests, hobbies, thinking patterns, or groups we belong to. Often speakers want to convey they are “like” the audience (that we are all the same) by sharing the same background, experiences, situations, values, or belief systems. However, it is important to remember we are not all alike—we each have our own frames of reference determining our perceptions by which we evaluate information to determine its validity for us.

• Attraction: We move toward people we think are attractive as we “value” their opinion and behavior more because we like how they look or act. Just like the damp sponge, like items attract like items—the same can be said for people. Do I like what you say?... How you look?... The clothes you are wearing? Peer pressure is a result of this desire to connect with people or thoughts we find pleasing.

• Sincerity: As with goodwill, we must exhibit the audience’s best interests in our arguments, solution/plan, evidence, or reasoning.

Our credibility is dynamic and fluid, dependent on situation/context, what you do, or how the audience perceives you. Credibility changes constantly. Never fear though, you can increase your credibility by doing things differently.