Ethos Pathos And Logos

Thinking about what truly brings you happiness, what can you think of ? Do you think of the old shirt in the back of your closet that you haven’t worn in years, maybe it's time to get rid of it. In the TED talk” Less stuff, more happiness" presented by Graham Hill in October of 2011 he informs the audience about rethinking if you need everything in your life. He gives this speech to the TED audience in hopes to make a difference in their lives. He believes that less is more and he shows this by giving real life examples of him making the change, proving his idea worked by creating a company from it, and showing positive facts and statistics that show how the idea less is more works.

One way Graham is persuasive is through ethos because

Logos persuades the audience through facts and statistics that are real. Proving claims and using facts make an audience believe what the speaker is saying in hopes to agree with them. Graham Hill uses logos when he shows the benefits that less stuff has on your life. He starts by explaining how to first start the process: “First up: crowd-sourcing my 420 sq. ft. apartment in Manhattan with partners Mutopo and Jovoto.com”(2:25). Logos is shown through the idea that he has only a 420 sq. ft. apartment and it works for him. He is perfectly content with only having 420 sq. ft. apartment because it has everything he needs in it. He does not need a bunch of things to find happiness; this proves his idea of less stuff, more happiness. Another way Graham persuades the audience is by explaining how much he is saving by condensing his possessions in his life: “By buying a space that was 420 sq. ft. instead of 600, immediately I’m saving 200 grand(2:26). When he says the fact that downsizing his apartment and saving 200 grand that can really persuade the audience to consider downsizing to save 200 grand. That is a lot of money and can have a great impact on many people's lives. The speaker uses diction when talking to the audience by repeating the word space 10 times throughout the 5 minute speech. This diction allows the audience to feel the emphasis Graham puts on the idea of less stuff, more

In this speech Graham uses pathos when he says: “I bet most of us have experienced at some point the joys of less: college-- in your dorm, traveling--in a hotel, camping--rig up basically nothing, maybe a boat”(1:29). Graham’s use of pathos convinces the audience that less is more through explaining things that many people have experienced. Lots of people have gone traveling before and know what it is like to have less things. This example shows that when you are traveling you are perfectly content with the things you have brought and makes you think if you really need everything else in your life. Graham also shows how less is more in his own life: “Finally, we want multifunctional spaces and housewares -- a sink combined with a toilet, a dining table becomes a bed -- same space, a little side table stretches out to seat 10”(4:02) By Graham showing the different ways to save space people can think about it in their own life and maybe this will change something that they decide to do. The ideas that Graham gives to the audience may really affect their thinking and want to consider the mindset that less is more. Syntax is used throughout this speech many times when he uses longer sentences he wants you to think about what he is saying and feel the effect from