Pathos, ethos, logos

By Effie Giannakouri, Attorney-at-law, MBA

The lawyer, the politician, the teacher, the businessman, the scientist, the mother; we all, to varying degrees, need to communicate and inspire others with our words. We all know that speaking in front of others, arguing constructively and effectively, and expressing a point of view in a simple discussion are critical modern skills.

The sheer breadth and momentum of technological development in the last Demi century, the unpredicted and unprecedented Covid19 pandemic crisis, have revolutionised how we communicate, but while our messages can be heard faster and by a  larger audience the quality of that message has deteriorated. With technological advancement comes passivity and reliance. With a move from letter writing, reading and note taking comes a loss of institutional memory on the value of those skills. The preservation and investment of speech and oral communication is a priority  in maintaining and advancing human development and conscience.

The absence of basic democratic education has had a profound negative consequence on a political level in the world. People who cannot appreciate and deconstruct arguments or know to question the premise of a message have been and will continue to be swept away by shrewdly stirred sentiment and populism. Social media, a potential force of extraordinary positive change, has become a vehicle for sensation and fiction in place of reliable and accurate information. If we aspire to see a more democratic world, educating young and older people on the value of truthful and structured communication is an obvious and necessary channel through which the tide might be
turned.

In reflecting on opportunities for change we must consider where we learn how to effectively and graciously communicate? We no longer grow up in communities which appreciate the company of others or teach around the “estia”; the social value in the beauty of storytelling and the excitement of critical and cordial disagreement.  Although valued by schools and seen as essential to a modern communicator; public speaking, discussion and oral skills are not central to the curriculum of any educational system. Hence, there is an obvious, current, unmet global need between supply and demand for an institution where people can learn and practice these vital communication skills.

Logos Academy aspires to become the obvious choice where people can develop or hone their communication skills. Naturally placed in the birthplace of democracy and rhetoric, where “pathos, ethos, logos” were first described as necessities for any kind of persuasive speech, Logos Academy is an International Center, the fulcrum of communication education, where the interpersonal values are cultivated while creating an energetic forum of different people, talents and ideas.

As a Center, Logos Academy is a hybrid of both a place and an online service. The 2020 pandemic has been the mother of both restrictions and opportunities in the education field. Restrictions, since an Institution in the form of a locus, is no longer adequate as the sole provider of instruction. Opportunities, as the world has, out of sheer need, caught up with the preexisting media of elearning and working remotely, realising even further the absolute need for efficient communication skills. We utilize the limitless and borderless nature of an online educational program, reaching out to the invaluable source of international instructors whilst acknowledging that public speaking skills are ultimately honed when having an audience, hence creating all the possible parameters for such an opportunity to occur. 

The participants of Logos Academy usually are:

Professionals, who want to invest in these skills for their professional development, but also companies who deem these skills necessary for their employees, providing the necessary tools to those who aspire towards innovation, entrepreneurship and leadership. We have worked with a wide range of professions, from politicians and lawyers, to CEOs, top level managers and entrepreneurs. There is no one size fits all approach. We customize all programs according to the needs, but also to the talents of the people who want to learn how to communicate better. We respect the time and the resources individuals and companies allocate to this education.

University Students, who require these skills for their immediate academic enterprises and for their future careers. There is no Public Speaking class at most Law Schools, nor is there such instruction at most universities; surprisingly it is not mandatory at most Business Schools across the globe. These students are ‘cold-called’, asked to present, graded on their ability to do so, but no one teaches them how to succeed or to progress. We believe that university students have the rare opportunity to learn with and through their classmates and we encourage and facilitate the creation of public speaking/ debate clubs in their institutions.

Schools and educators: In all educational systems around the world, communication is a valued skill, one which all educators desire to develop and instill in their students. Activities exist, and there are resources online. However, teachers desire training in how to actually develop these skills in a classroom setting consistently, effectively, and continually. Through this center, with the assistance of trained educators, we develop public speaking clubs and curricula, from high school through business school, with activities, worksheets, assessment, tailored to the needs of the subject teachers and the level of the students, with training and support for teachers and professors, ensuring that communication is advanced.

The key activities of Logos Academy are, but not limited to, the following:

  • Classes during the week
  • Seminars for Companies
  • Corporate Training retreats for International customers
  • Debate and Speech Competitions
  • Debate and Speech Camps
  • E-learning classes
  • Creation of Materials/ Programs designed to create 21st century communicators for a Greek/IB School
  • Creation of Curricula for Speaking Programs

The founder and director of Logos Academy is Effie Giannakouri, an attorney-at-law and a businesswoman. She has worked as a public speaking coach all her adult life, working with high school and university students, professionals, politicians, schools, companies, and the Greek Ministry of Education. She has served, amongst other positions, as the Coach of the Greek National Debating Team and the Convener of the 2009 World School Debating Championship. 

Nikos Kazatzakis famously said: “You have the colors, you also have the paintbrushes, draw your own paradise and jump into it.” So many factors may contribute to us not reaching for those colors and paintbrushes, or when we do, not being able to. Attaining the necessary skills is one of them. The ability to communicate your thoughts, feelings, plans and ambitions, is probably the most important of those skills. Being able to speak and communicate should not be a luxury reserved for the bold and the lucky. Our vision, in Logos Academy, is to turn this rare luxury into an accessible opportunity for all.

Thank you.

Effie Giannakouri

Attorney-at-law, MBA

eg@logos.academy

www.logos.academy

Comments

Post a Comment

Editorial

Editorial
George Kazoleas, Lawyer

Top Stories

Ombudsman inquiry on Commission President’s text messages is a wake-up call for EU

Image
The European Ombudsman inquiry into the Commission’s handling of a request for text messages between its President and the CEO of a pharmaceutical company is a wake-up call for all EU institutions about ensuring accountability in an era of instant messaging. One year after the initial request by a journalist, the Commission has still not clarified whether messages reported to concern major vaccine procurement deals exist and whether the public is entitled to see them. The Ombudsman had asked the Commission, in a finding of maladministration in January, to conduct a more thorough search for the text messages. The Commission’s recent response failed to say whether it had looked directly and correctly for the text messages and if not, why not. While the response recognised that work-related text messages can be EU documents, it reiterated that the Commission’s internal policy is, in effect, not to register text messages. The Ombudsman has closed  the inquiry  and upheld...
Read more

Intellectual property: the figurative sign consisting of the phrase ‘RUSSIAN WARSHIP, GO F* *K yourself’ in Russian and English cannot be registered as an EU trade mark

Image
In its Judgment in Case T-82/24 (Administration of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine v EUIPO) (RUSSIAN WARSHIP, GO F**K YOURSELF) the General Court ruled that the figurative sign consisting of the phrase ‘RUSSIAN WARSHIP, GO F* *K yourself’ in Russian and English cannot be registered as an EU trade mark. That phrase, which has become a symbol of Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression, is not perceived as an indication of a commercial origin.  The Administration of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (Kyiv, Ukraine) requests the General Court of the European Union to annul the decision of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) of 1 st December 2023, which refused registration of the following figurative sign as an EU trade mark: ‘RUSSIAN WARSHIP, GO F* *K yourself’ That mark is a war cry uttered by the Ukrainian border guard on Snake Island on 24th February 2022, the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Registration was sou...
Read more

ECtHR elects a new Vice-President of the Court and two new Section Presidents

Image
The European Court of Human Rights has elected on 23.9.2024 a new Vice-President of the Court – Judge Ivana Jelić (elected in respect of Montenegro). She will take up her duties on 1 November 2024.  The Court has also elected at the same date two new Section Presidents – Judges Lado Chanturia (elected in respect of Georgia) and Ioannis Ktistakis (elected in respect of Greece). They will also take up their duties on 1 November 2024. Ivana Jelić was born on 17 March 1975 in Podgorica, Montenegro and was elected Judge of the European Court of Human Rights on 12 July 2018. Lado Chanturia was born on 14 April 1963 in Tsalenjikha, Georgia, was elected Judge of the European Court of Human Rights on 8 January 2018 and is Vice-President of Section since 18 May 2023. Ioannis Ktistakis was born on 3 January 1971 in Thebes, Greece and was elected Judge of the European Court of Human Rights on 8 March 2021. (source/photo: echr.coe.int) Read more here
Read more

Prohibiting contact between children and their mother in custody and contact rights case was unjustified (ECtHR)

Image
The case of X and Others v. Slovenia (application nos. 27746/22 and 28291/22) concerned custody decisions and contact rights following the separation of X from her children’s father in 2018. It also concerned the reassignment of X’s court case to a particular judge.  In Chamber's judgment in the case, the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights, as regards X’s right to a tribunal established by law, and violations of Article 8 (right to respect for private and family life) with respect both to:  - the applicant children, as regards the order to remove them from X’s (their mother’s) care in March 2020, their not being represented in the contact and custody proceedings, and their not being allowed contact with their mother;  - X, for not being allowed contact with her children.  The Court found in particular that the President of the District Co...
Read more

Daily Mail publisher wins case against ‘success fees’ paid to lawyers (ECtHR)

Image
Obligation on publisher of the Daily Mail to pay substantial “success fees" in defamation and breach of privacy cases was excessive. The case Associated Newspapers Limited v. the United Kingdom (application no. 37398/21) concerned the fact that Associated Newspapers Limited the publisher of the Daily Mail and the Mail on Sunday had been obliged to pay extensive costs incurred by claimants who had successfully sued it in privacy and/or defamation proceedings following articles it had published in print or online in 2017 and 2019.  Since one of the claimants had entered into a conditional fee arrangement (CFA) with his legal representative, and both had taken out “after-the-event” (ATE) insurance, Associated Newspapers Limited had been liable not only for their base costs, but also for fee uplifts including the “success fee” in the CFA and for their ATE insurance premiums.  In Chamber judgment (12.11.2024) in the case, the European Court of Human Rights held, unanimously, that t...
Read more

European Ombudsman asks Commission to publish details of its handling of senior staff move to law firm

Image
The European Ombudsman has asked the European Commission to publish details about how it has handled the planned move by a former director in its competition department to the Brussels office of a US corporate law firm as a partner. Any restrictions that have been placed on the activities of the former director to mitigate potential conflicts of interest should be made public without delay, said the Ombudsman. She noted that public information about the move came from the law firm and gives the impression that the Commission has allowed a senior official to work for a company that anticipates major benefits from their inside knowledge.  The Ombudsman also noted that the Commission declined to give details about the individual’s professional experience despite the fact that the law firm itself has put out a press release detailing it. The Ombudsman has previously criticised a tendency in the EU administration to underestimate the potential negative effects of staff moves to th...
Read more

European Data Protection Board clarifies rules for data sharing with third country authorities and approves EU Data Protection Seal certification

Image
During its latest plenary, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) published  guidelines on Art.48 GDPR  about data transfers to third country authorities and  approved a new European Data Protection Seal. Αs stated in a press release from the EDPB, in a highly interconnected world, organisations receive requests from public authorities in other countries to share personal data. The sharing of data can, for instance, be of help to collect evidence in the case of crime, to check financial transactions or approve new medications. When a European organisation receives a request for a transfer of data from a ‘third country’ (i.e. non-European countries) authority, it must comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In its guidelines, the EDPB zooms in on Art. 48 GDPR and clarifies how organisations can best assess under which conditions they can lawfully respond to such requests. In this way, the guidelines help organisations to make a decision on whether...
Read more