For this blog entry, I shall be reflecting upon Alex Perlman titled “How to Sound Smart”. I chose this particular entry of his because I know that verbal communication is very important, and not necessarily something I have always been good at, so I will always 
take time to try and improve it. His post was based of a Tedtalk he watched called “How to sound smart in your Tedtalk” by Will Stephen.
The list that Alex lists as major takeaways are a solid list of things one can do while giving a speech to make themselves sound more intelligent and therefore more persuasive, as the person will have a larger perceived ethos from the viewpoint of others. I know I personally am more likely to listen to someone I consider smart, such as Neil Degrasse Tyson or President Obama.
Alex then takes this revelation a step further, attempting to apply it to his own writing, laying out another list of definite steps he will take to improve his writing. I think that his list is a very solid list with actual benefits that could be produced by following his rules. What I find fascinating is how strongly the ideas of Logos, Ethos, and Pathos reflect themselves in the rules he created for himself.
Ethos is particularly important for intelligent writing, as the need for people to think what you are writing is credible is the main way to convince them of your point. The rules he created, such as “Cite very credible sources that strengthen your argument.” are direct ethos tie-ins, and “Cite less credible sources to show what certain organization, people, or society is saying about bla.” is another way to create a sense of ethos to ensure people that your argument are right.
Overall, I approve of the ideas that Alex outlines, trying to reinforce the need for strong ethos in academic writings, and will certainly attempt to incorporate some of his rules into my own writing.
Nate Miller