From Aristotle (Rhetoric, c. 350 BCE), with the stasis theory of Hermagoras of Temnos (2nd century BCE) and the five canons of Cicero and the Rhetorica ad Herennium (1st century BCE).
Checks a persuasive message on three appeals (credibility, feeling, and argument), names which kind of speech the audience needs, and settles the earlier point of dispute first.
When to reach for it
Before delivering a proposal, town hall, or crisis statement, and afterward to find which appeal failed.
How it runs
- Name the audience and the change in view sought.
- Decide whether the talk concerns the past, the future, or the present.
- Find where the dispute lies: fact, definition, seriousness, or who decides.
- Rate credibility, feeling, and argument, and strengthen the weakest.
- After delivery, find which appeal failed.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- Rhetoric, c. 350 BCE
- Stasis theory, 2nd century BCE
- De Inventione; Rhetorica ad Herennium, 1st century BCE