1.    1. Ethos - appealing to the credibility and ethics of the speaker. It involves the authority, self-confidence, respect and personality or the speaker. In other words, to believe what is being told us, we need to also think that the speaker is trustworthy. Often investors say that they are not investing money into ideas, but great teams. You might have a fantastic business idea, but if the investor is not convinced that you and your team are right people to implement the idea, they will not support you.

2. Pathos - appealing to the audience’s emotions (both positive and negative). In other words, to be convincing, the pitch or speech needs to make the audience feel something. It can be a feeling of happiness, sadness, hope, fear, pride, intrigue, anything. If we as audience is left sitting coldly and our hearts are not touched, we will not passionately support the speaker.

3. Logos - appealing to the logics and arguments. That means you need to have your facts right! Do your homework, be clear, be exact, be ready to answer questions. If your investor believes in you and feels passionate about your idea, he needs to see that you understand the business model, the revenues, the business climate and regulations, and that you have done your calculations.

Most of the effective convincing speeches follow a specific formula:

· Firstly, you need to gain the ATTENTION of your listeners. Attention is the capital of any speech and without attention there is no convincing possible. The same with the advertising – what is the use of company investing into making the best commercial ever, if the viewers are going to the kitchen to prepare a sandwich at the same time?

· Then you need to create the need by showing there is a PROBLEM that affects the listener. Think strategically what would your audience need, what is that they are looking for, what are the problems or challenges facing them, how can you connect your topic or theme with what your audience is going through. Most successful startups are addressing a particular problem in the society or a need that customers feel.

· Then you have gained attention and created the specific need, you need to provide the SOLUTION for the problem. You need to also show why your solution is better than the alternatives. Connect the solution clearly with the need of the audience. When you manage to convince the audience that you really have a solution (product, idea, system, knowledge etc.) that answers their needs, you have almost sold it.

· When the listener is convinced, you need to clearly call the people to ACTION! It is not enough if people know what is best, if they don’t act upon it. Make it easy for the audience to follow-up. Here is where you give them clear overview or suggestions for next steps – where to find additional information, the important details or logistics, simple way to participate or contribute. Usually people start with these elements, but before your audience is really convinced there is no point in talking about it.

The same model works for advertising (look at the commercials and the logic behind them), but also by selling confidence (elections), advocating for change (campaigns to change people’s behaviour), etc.