ANSWERING QUESTIONS IS A UNIQUE HUMAN CHARACTERISTIC, motivated and compelled by forces embedded deep within one’s character, world view and soul. Answering questions illuminates how we interact with the world. In the movie of that name, Shrek pointed out that ogres have layers. So does answering questions. The process incorporates complex layers of skill, including the capacity for factual analysis, moral reasoning, humility, discipline, knowledge and wisdom. This three-part article presents several skills and perspectives
in the context of media relations relating to athletes in the shooting sports. I emphasize, however, that the article’s themes and methods transcend media relations and are transferable to every interaction in life.
I. Credibility and Your Audience A core goal of media relations
is persuasively conveying a mes- sage with integrity and authority to an audience. There are other goals, to be sure, which will be addressed, but the preeminence of this goal is unsurpassed. Since the essence of media re- lations is persuasively commu- nicating a message, it is helpful to draw upon Aristotle’s three appeals or modes of persuasion stated in his Rhetoric—ethos, lo- gos and pathos—to give insight and awareness into the persua- sion process. Logos, Greek for ‘word,’ refers
to the facts, the content, the in- ternal consistency of the mes- sage, the statement itself. Logic, reason and evidence are, in the- ory but not always, the basis for the appeal to an audience. Pathos, meaning suffering or experience, is often connoted as an emotional appeal to an audience, but the concept of emotion is too limited. Pathos in- corporates concepts of empathy, sympathy, imagination, and bias, prejudice and similar character-
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istics. Pathos creates a binding or sympathetic feeling with the audience that logic and reason alone would not achieve. Nazi propaganda and the image of the Volk are classic examples of pathos, as are appeals based on racial or economic stereotypes. Ethos, Greek for ‘character,’
is the third of Aristotle’s appeals or modes of persuasion. Ethos refers to the trustworthiness or credibility of the speaker. Ethos
dictates the composition of the speaker’s logos and pathos. What the speakers accepts as facts or rejects as facts in the logos or how information is com- municated through pathos di- rectly determines the character, the credibility, indeed, the ethical content, of the speaker. Thus, every athlete should understand that ethos is you: what you stand for; what kind of arguments you make and what kind of argu-
ments you refuse to make. I as- sert that ethos is the most criti- cal appeal in the public relations context. The prudent athlete will use
Aristotle’s three appeals for per- suasion to enhance self-evalua- tion regarding his or her words— what should be said and what should not be said—just as the athlete critically evaluates every aspect of his or her shooting mechanics and mental training.