Under construction...

Rhetoric describes the ability to persuade an audiences with arguments. To quote the Oxford English Dictionary:

1a The art of using language so as to persuade or influence others; the body of rules to be observed by a speaker or writer in order that he may express himself with eloquence.

Aristotle (384 BCE-322 BCE) classified three types of rhetoric:

• Ethos: the use of the speaker's character and credibility,
• Pathos: the use of emotional appeals, and
• Logos: the use of logical appeals.

The first type, ethos, should not be explicitly used in a technical presentations—a professional decision should not be based simply on one person's word; however a speaker who appears to be knowledgeable and prepared will present ethos. The second type, pathos, is at all times inappropriate for technical presentations—decisions cannot be based on emotions (anger, awe, contempt, desire, envy, fear, etc.). An engineer should focus on using the third type of rhetoric: logos, or the appropriate appeal using logical arguments. Logical arguments (specifically informal logic) are described in the next section.

The astute reader will note that this section is, in a sense, an appeal to authority. There are different definitions of rhetoric and different classifications. Since Aristotle, numerous philosophers and theorists have elaborated on the practice of rhetoric. There is insufficient space and time to properly define a theoretical background for rhetoric; however, the author feels that this is an appropriate introduction and the reader may be impressed by the antiquity of the analysis of rhetoric and some readers may be encouraged to further their readings in this field.