In what ways do you use principles of rhetoric in your teaching, research, service, and/or grant writing today? Where might some of those principles come from, historically?
Well since I am not doing teaching, research or grant writing, I will tell you how the principles of rhetoric are used in my everyday job. I work at TJ Maxx, so customer service, and I am constantly dealing with people. Even though my job takes place in the back room, I am coordinating with my co-workers and using the principles of rhetoric through instruction, conversation and persuasion.
It is to everyone's benefit and our self-interest to get the product off the truck and onto the floor as quickly as possible. Although we all have a common interest, the audience is so small that we must cater to each individual when relaying a message. Thus when communicating, the correct balance of logos, ethos, and pathos must be presented to the individual for the message to be successful and interpreted correctly. Assumptions are made based on the skills and experience we already have and that is the building block of the conversation. The coordinator on duty has established ethos. Reason is critical with the team because we have to perform the task sufficiently based on the message communicated. It is easier to accomplish something when we know the reason behind it and when it makes sense to us. Because of the type of environment and fast-paced work, Aristotle's preparation list of invention, arrangement, style, memory and delivery may not always be traditionally followed and it is definitely a more modern category of public speech than what he initially categorized.
The art of persuasion is also used when I am out on the sales floor helping customers. When I am making my rounds, my audience analysis is done by watching the way customers are behaving and their non-verbal indicators. If a customer needs assistance with an item or has a question, it is my job to inform and persuade them about the item. In these cases the arrangement, style and delivery of my discourse is very important. Since I am a sales clerk I already have pre-established ethos, but the success of the sell is determined by how well I used my words and non-verbals to appeal to the customer's emotions and logic. This sequence of discourse also exemplifies Eighteenth Century rhetorical theory of appealing to our "human nature."
