Introduction

Ethos, as defined by Aristotle, means what is revealed about a speaker or writer by the style and tone of the message. Aristotle showed that anyone who wished to be listened to and taken seriously by others must demonstrate good will, good judgement, and good character.
 
Credibility is defined as the way in which others judge you as a professional, which depends on how you communicate with them, and your correspondents will judge your professionalism.
 

5 easy steps to help a speaker build credibility with their audience:

1. The way you dress should reflect your speech topic and audience

The way you present yourself to your audience is an extension of yourself and your speech. If you dress to match your speech topic, you give the impression you understand and believe in the subject about which you are speaking thus building credibility. Jivan, pictured in the middle below, gave a speech on dressing up and putting effort into developing one’s style and appearance. When presenting this speech she dressed to reflect her topic choice, adding footing to her argument.

Pictured Below: Jivan presenting her speech with the aid of models Slade and Ellen. 

2. The words you use matter (Layman vs Technical)

When delivering a speech, it is important to choose which words you use carefully. The speaker is going to be very knowledgeable on the topic that they are presenting but the audience may not know certain terminology or keywords. You should clarify any of these keywords that you may say or refer to more than once. It is also important to avoid saying acronyms before saying what the acronym stands for or means. In our RCM 401 class, we have seen this done twice: Steven with Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) and Mike with Every Day Carry (EDC). By clarifying what keywords and acronyms mean, it allows the audience to understand exactly what you are trying to say thus increasing your overall credibility of the topic.

3. Build on logic and experience

According to Wikipedia, logic describes the use of valid reasoning in some activity. Logic is important to have in your speech because it increases your ethos by showing your audience you can properly explain your topic. Logic usually comes with knowledge and experience. If you have experience in your topic or action, then the audience is more likely to believe you and be willing to follow through with your action.

4. Understanding the audience in relation to the speaker (having everyone feel included)

For RCM 401, researching your target audience before coming up with a topic is very important so your audience will pay attention to your topic. Using various tactics to build connections with your target audience is going to pay off with better participation from your audience.

For example, Mike suggested talking to an international student before travelling internationally. Most students would like to travel abroad after their graduation from university as a celebratory trip. He believed his action could benefit the audience by providing them with an opportunity to seek and find information so that they can be more prepared and have a more enjoyable travel experience by talking to international students who are familiar with the local area.

The audience in RCM 401 class is divided into Engineering and Agriculture students. Because of this, Mike used pictures along with an explanation in order to build a connection with the audience by sharing the impressive German Autostadt in Wolfsburg, Germany and the discovery of oversea agriculture operations.  These two topics should be interesting for the engineering and agriculture students respectively.  

5. Structure makes a speech easier to follow and understand

When you begin your speaking career, a solid structure is one of the key tools you can use to make the audience understand your speech. If the audience knows where you are going, and where you are within your speech, they can spend more effort relating to the meaning of your speech, not trying to figure out where you are going. This relates back to the logic of giving a speech, that you present your information in a clear and orderly fashion. As you gain more experience at giving speeches, you may try to present your structure in more subtle ways and keep the audience interested.

These are 5 easy steps to help a speaker develop their point and give a persuasive talk.