The 5 Canons of Oration, from Cicero’s De Oratore, can be used as a blueprint for organizing persuasiveness:

inventio ~ finding what you want to say, your argument

dispositio ~ arrangement of saying it

Five sub-components for building rhetorical power into your argument’s disposition:

-> Exordium (introduction)
-> Narratio (statement of the case)
-> Divisio/Partitio (outline of points)
-> Confirmatio (evidence)
-> Confutatio (rebuttal)

elocutio ~ style of rhetoric

memoria ~ memorization of the oration (applicable if reciting)

pronuntatio ~ pronunciation

Also according to the ancient author Cicero, rhetorical eloquence is founded on a vast knowledge of the liberal arts.

VI. [20] In my opinion, indeed, no man can be an orator possessed of every praiseworthy accomplishment, unless he has attained the knowledge of everything important, and of all liberal arts, for his language must be ornate and copious from knowledge, since, unless there be beneath the surface matter understood and felt by the speaker, oratory becomes an empty and almost puerile flow of words. [21] (De Oratore, Book 1)

Oratory grace & artfulness, eloquence, concentrates this knowledgeability into a beam of rhetorical force that “must be employed in allaying or exciting the fears of those who listen” (between [17]&[18]). Thus, Cicero’s rhetorical method was oriented pathologically, targeting audience emotions. Cicero’s effect, as we will momentarily examine, employed the Canonical structure to strike audiences’ emotions, and build his persuasiveness over that effect.

Quintilian, attempting to further Cicero’s principles, demonstrates moral character as an even greater factor in rhetorical elegance. Without trust, our ability to appeal to one another on a rational basis is a treacherous, uncivilized talent not worth cultivating.

For it would have been better for us to have been born dumb and to have been left destitute of reasoning powers than to have received endowments from providence only to turn them to the destruction of one another. (Book 12, Ch 1)

So Quint’s methodology counter-weighs Cicero’s, although they intuitively merge along Aristotle’s rhetorical elements:

(1) Emotional appeal

(2) Knowledgeability or logic, coupled with

(3) Credibility 

Constructing a persuasive rhetoric is an integration of these three elements and the Canonical structure. In the Prima Oratio, Cicero makes a vehement case for Catiline’s expulsion from Rome, employing several opening rhetorical questions:

When, O Catiline, do you mean to cease abusing our patience? How long is that madness of yours still to mock us? When is there to be an end of that unbridled audacity of yours, swaggering about as it does now? (The First Oration, Cicero)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLFu45VifuY

A pleasant Latin rendition of the Prima Oratio.

Cicero prioritizes emotional impact, only later establishing credibility & presenting his reasoning for Catiline’s indictment. And it appeared effective; he won his case.

However, even compared to Aristotle, Cicero was as verbose as he was vehement. Quintilian hovers around the limit. Ancient rhetoricians’ clever points read as if they’re coming undone–undulating around crucial details that could be delivered more efficiently & thus with swifter impact. (Did Cicero need to state more than three rhetorical questions? Could he have thwarted a potentially greater degree of eloquence?) Modern people demand efficient deliverance.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNCCOIu7DfM

Secrets of great (modern) orators: Economize your words.

So pathos, logos, ethos are the three appeals of rhetoric; but rhetorical eloquence emits from both:

(a) A legitimate grasp of ones facts and knowledge basis to work from, and

(b) A conscientiousness of their path of conveyance.

This conscientiousness can be constructed via the 5 Canons (plus five sub-components of dispositio). But consider pathos, logos, ethos to be the infrastructure of your persuasion–the intuitive filling of methodical deliverance. Organizing your formal claim–the basis for your need to persuade–will develop your argument. But when you bake a cake, you don’t forget icing: Cultivate eloquence through your integration of Aristotle’s rhetorical trifecta into the rhetoric’s organization. The desired effect is a compelling argument.