Aristotle’s Communication Model

Introduction

Aristotle, a famous Greek philosopher, lived more than 2,000 years ago. He studied many subjects, including logic, philosophy, and public speaking. One of his major contributions was his communication model, which explains how people share ideas and influence others.

Aristotle’s model is one of the oldest and simplest models of communication. It focuses mainly on how a speaker can persuade an audience through an effective message. It is a one-way model — meaning the communication flows in one direction, from the speaker to the audience. This model is especially useful for speeches, presentations, and public talks.

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Aristotle’s Communication Model

Aristotle explained communication using four main parts:

1. Speaker
   The speaker is the person who starts the communication. They are responsible for preparing and delivering the message. According to Aristotle, a good speaker should be confident, knowledgeable, and trustworthy. The audience must believe in the speaker’s character for the message to be effective.

2. Speech (Message)
   The speech or message is what the speaker wants to say. Aristotle believed that a good message should be carefully designed to achieve a purpose — such as to inform, inspire, or persuade the audience.
   He identified three ways to make a message powerful:

   • Ethos (Credibility): The speaker’s trustworthiness and authority.

   • Pathos (Emotion): Appealing to the audience’s feelings.

   • Logos (Logic): Using facts, examples, and reasoning.

3. Audience
   The audience is the group of people who listen to the speaker. Aristotle said that understanding the audience is very important. The speaker must think about who the audience is, what they believe, and what they care about. This helps in delivering a message that connects with them.

4. Effect (Result)
   The effect is the final result of communication — what happens after the message is delivered. The goal might be to change the audience’s opinion, inspire them to act, or simply make them understand something new. If the audience reacts as the speaker intended, the communication is successful.

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Example

Let’s take an example of a teacher giving a motivational speech to students before exams.

• The teacher is the speaker.
• The speech is the message, where the teacher talks about hard work, focus, and success.
• The students are the audience listening to the message.
• The effect is that the students feel motivated and confident to do well in their exams.

In this example, if the students feel inspired and perform better, it means the communication worked — just as Aristotle described.