Being a visionary is a task in and of itself, without having to inspire and ignite others. But like with becoming a visionary, being able to ignite others requires a certain degree of knowledge, time, and practice before getting it right.
By making use of Aristotle’s modes of persuasion, or sometimes known as rhetorical appeals, you will communicate your vision to others to ignite and inspire them. In short, the ways of persuasion are Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. These three sit at the foundation of rhetoric and can make or break anyone’s speech.
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Simply put, logos appeals to a listener’s reason, allowing them to understand the logic behind your vision. Pathos, on the other hand, aims to appeal to the audience’s emotions. It is probably an even more powerful tool than logos. Metaphors, smiles, and passionate delivery are all excellent examples of pathos put into practice.
Lastly, ethos stands for the authority and credibility that the orator emanates. In other words, you will need to be the physical embodiment of your vision, for it to ignite others.
By making use of Aristotle’s modes of persuasion, you will communicate your vision to others to ignite and inspire them.
Discovering Yourself
Albert Einstein once said that “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” It means that to unleash your passion and inspire others, you will need to gain the necessary clarity about your own beliefs and values. In other words, you will need to know yourself.
One exercise that can help you tap into your inner self is to write down your obituary. As funny or as dreary as this may sound, writing down your last words, so to speak, will allow you to reflect deeply on your life and what’s truly important to you. Ask yourself about your most significant accomplishments, who will you miss the most, who has helped you in your life, and what was the biggest question that life asked of you. The exercise will help you develop your ethos.
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The Language You Use
The language you use when you intend to bring people on board with your ideas plays a crucial role in its success. The way your message ignites people is by using specific words that do the same.
Powerful verbs – Verbs represent the action within a sentence. In other words, they do the heavy lifting and give energy to your statement. Powerful and energetic verbs will ignite others in taking action, themselves.
Setting the Scene – There is a reason why PowerPoint presentations are generally dull. They bring too many facts and statistics to the table and do not give the audience the necessary stage where they can envision what’s being said. Instead of providing numbers, use your imagination to set the proper scene.
Metaphors – These will not only help you in setting the scene above, but they also bring a much needed emotional connection. These metaphors need not be predefined examples or various proverbs, but also things that you see around you. “The future is like a computer. It changes and evolves with the users’ wants and needs.”
Storytelling – As a means of tying everything here together, you will need to use a particular type of story – personal anecdotes. In the words of Brené Brown, a research professor at the University of Houston, “Stories are data with a soul. Data wrapped in stories have the ability to move people, to inspire people to take action.” When you use personal anecdotes, you not only say something about your character, but you also move the conversation from the mind and into the heart.
Allow sufficient time
All of the steps necessary to ignite the required passion within your listeners are presented here. Nevertheless, things will not happen overnight, nor will they provide the desired result if they are not practiced over and over again. If you feel that you can’t handle it, I believe I can help. Let’s connect: https://meetme.so/GregNichvalodoff or greg@inscapeconsulting.com.
