Technique of the week · Building speeches
Logos
A point they can repeat tomorrow
One clear claim, backed by reasons the audience already accepts.
The idea
Logos is persuasion through the argument itself. Aristotle's insight: a speech doesn't need a full proof, it needs an enthymeme — a short chain where the audience supplies the missing premise. Start from what they already believe, and walk them one step further.
How to do it
- Write your claim in one sentence of fewer than fifteen words.
- Give at most three reasons. Each should be something the audience can check or already accepts.
- Pre-empt the strongest objection and answer it in one line.
In the session
The drill
Claim → because → so: every speaker states a claim, one reason and its consequence in 30 seconds. The group repeats the claim back; if they can't, rewrite it.
This week
Your homework
Before sending your next email, write its point as one sentence at the top.
When you give feedback, ask
Can you repeat their main point in one sentence? Did the reasons hold?
Source: Aristotle, Rhetoric, Book I, ch. 2; Book II, ch. 20–26.