Rhetoric

Three kinds of persuasion

Ethos

Appearing knowledgeable about the topic, and being a person of good character

Should be established prior to speaking

Establish common ground:

Live a life of virtue - avoid hypocrisy at all costs

The Appeal to Emotion

Emotion is more powerful than rationality.

People remember stories over facts, because stories tap into emotion.

Figures of speech:

antithesis: two contrasting ideas juxtaposed
aposiopesis: breaking off suddenly in the middle of speaking, usually to portray being overcome with emotion
assonance: repetition in which different words with the same or similar vowel sounds occur successively in words with different consonants ("I feel the need, the need for speed")
conduplicatio: repetition of a word or words in adjacent phrases of clauses, either to amplify the thought or express emotion
enargia: vivid description
energia: the vigor with which one expresses oneself
epistrophe: repetition that occurs when the last word or set of words in one sentence, clause, or phrase is repeated one or more times at the end of successive sentences, clauses, or phrases ("...and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth")

The appeal to reason

Syllogism: "All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal."

Make sure it's sound. An argument is sound if:

Reversing the example syllogism is a logical fallacy - a subset may be part of a superset, but the superset is not a subset of its own subset.