This is an amazing article from Fr. Barron’s Word on Fire site explaining Aristotle’s three pillars of a good speech: ethos, pathos, and logos.
This was fascinating to me because it mirrored exactly what I was talking about last weekend at a conference in the Diocese of Springfield–why telling personal stories gives you a credibility and connection with your audience that is essential for your message to be heard and accepted. This is the aspect of ethos.
ETHOS: This first pillar deals with the credibility and the character of the preacher. Do you believe what the preacher is saying? Is he trustworthy? Is he worth listening to? Does he practice what he preaches? Does he have integrity and virtuous character? In other words, is he holy?
Read these posts to see what I was saying about telling personal stories, 5 questions to ask when crafting your stories, and the reason credibility is crucial for evangelization.