Ethos
Credibility, authority, trust, and character.
Use ethos when the audience needs to believe that you are competent, honest, or worth listening to.
Understanding ethos
Ethos answers a question the audience is asking before they consciously ask it: why should I listen to this person at all? Every message carries an implicit ethos, whether or not the speaker addresses it directly. Ignoring the question does not make it go away, it just means the audience answers it on their own, often less favorably than you would.
Ethos is not the same as bragging. Strong ethos is usually specific and understated: a track record, a relevant scar, a standard you hold yourself to. Weak ethos leans on titles, credentials, or vague claims of expertise. The strongest ethos often comes from naming a limitation or a hard lesson, because it signals honesty rather than salesmanship.
What specific experience, result, or standard makes you credible on this topic? Say it plainly instead of implying it.
How to strengthen ethos
Replace a general claim of expertise with one specific, checkable detail: a number, a duration, a named outcome.
Say what you got wrong before, or what you would do differently. Admitted limits build more trust than unqualified confidence.
Match your ethos to the specific claim you are making. Being credible in general does not make you credible on this exact point.
Combine ethos with other tools
No single tool carries a message on its own. Ethos works best alongside these.