EMOTIONAL COMMUNICATION

Emotional Connection Through Communication

Kristoffer J. Klock
Antioch University Santa Barbara

EMOTIONAL COMMUNICATION

Emotional Connection Through Communication

Communication is arguably the most valuable tool we have as humans
as it allows us to transfer information, ideas, and values. Nonetheless, as
many great things that can be achieved through effective communication, it
can also be treacherous and act as a source of great confusion especially
when there is no room for discussion and clarification. In written marketing
and promotion of businesses it is particularly important to convey the right
message and make sure that you are communicating the vital information,
and even more so for ideal organizations with limited financial recourses.
Arts for Humanity! is a Santa Barbara based non-profit organization with the
mission of empowering marginalized community members through the
creative connection of art. Powerful written material is essential in the
pursuit of surviving financially and to communicate the beliefs and values of
the organization. Arts For Humanity! makes effective use of pathos in their
written brochures, newsletters and grant applications to raise awareness
about their cause among anyone who is willing to help. This is the most
effective style of writing to illuminate the central notion in the organization:
to empower disabled and marginalized people by cultivating creativity.
Santa Barbara offers a lot of natural beauty and joyful activities; it is
easy to overlook present issues in the community. In fact, it is shocking to
think of the social gaps that exist between privileged community members
and the marginalized. Community members should not feel guilt because of
these harsh facts, but they can become more aware and help organizations

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that are working actively to close the gaps and fight for a healthier
community. Arts for Humanity! creates a social bridge between marginalized
community members and the privileged by making arts more accessible for
both.
Arts For Humanity! experienced an unmet need in the community to
enrich lives and empower at risk youth, people with disabilities, and the
elderly through visual arts programs. The objective is to foster unity and
their tool of choice is creativity. The organization was founded in 1997 by
Karsen Gould and has since its birth successfully pursued its mission.
However, it is a constant battle to raise awareness about how creativity is
elevating marginalized people beyond their struggles and disabilities.
With the goal to learn more about the organization I got the
opportunity to interview the founder Karsen Gould about Arts for Humanitys
mission and how they attempt to attract anyone who is willing to help
through written material. In addition to the interview I retrieved four grant
applications, a brochure, and a newsletter. All these documents represent
different genres and are characterized by different styles of writing. Yet, they
all have a common theme where the style attempts to evoke empathy and
emotional reactions. All documents are products of many hours of Karsens
writing and her idea of how the organization should be presented. Although
she can support many of her arguments and ideas with ethos (credibility)
from 10+ years of operation, it is evident that pathos (emotion) best
embodies Karsens idea of how the organization should be approached. After

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conducting the interview with Karsen I recognized her strong emotional

connection to the central ideas of Arts for Humanity! This contributes to the
fact that the use of pathos in written material is generating the most impact
on the organizations audience.
Karsen explained in the interview how she is lacking knowledge about
effective and audience tailored writing. This has indirectly forced her to
depend on emotional appealing arguments. In the discussion of ethos,
pathos and logos she clarified how the organization is compelled to make
logical sense of the things they do, yet it is difficult because of the abstract
nature that embodies the organizations work. She further explained, Lead
with emotion, but also try to simplify the organizations work to make logical
arguments. Although it could be desired to make logical appeal, it is
important to consider the confusion that can occur if this fails. According to
Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz logical arguments has to be supported by good
reasons and reliable evidence (2012, p. 103). Although Karsen might find
ways to do this, trying to emotionally involve her audience is a safer bet in
many of her writings. The emotional argumentation doesnt require any
reliable evidence; but rather it is a matter of winning over the reader with
good intentions although the argumentation might not be fully supported by
factual evidence (Lunsford & Ruszkiewicz, 2012, p. 98). Some might claim
that a combination of different argumentative styles is the way to go.
However, this suggested distinction between arguing using ethos, pathos or

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logos is important because it helps Arts for Humanity! streamline and

interconnect written material in different genres.
In the discussion of connecting different written materials it is worth
mentioning the tag line of this organization: Celebrating Humanity through
the arts. This phrase is of the outmost importance because it constantly
presents and communicates what the organization is trying to achieve. It
acts as a reminder both for organizational members and prospect
contributors. It is cleverly formulated because it allows for personal
interpretation. Specifically, celebrating is an effective choice of word; it
makes a claim using pathos because it appeals to humans emotional bond of
celebration. Celebration is done in happiness, unity and passion. Arts for
Humanity! applies the act of celebration to the arts and lets people
understand that Arts is used as a tool to reach these sensations.
The tag line is reminding Arts for Humanity! of its emotional strength,
and although this acts as a great foundation for shaping written material, it is
also very important to consider genre. Kerry Dirk explains how, Learning
about genres and how the function is more important than mastering one
particular genre. He continues to explain the value understanding of genres
because it better prepares a writer to communicate appropriately in different
situations (2010, p. 12). This means that knowing more about genres and the
conventions that follow could benefit Karsen in her writing and facilitate the
process of trying to adapt writing to different audiences.

EMOTIONAL COMMUNICATION

Arts For Humanity! provides an informative brochure available for

download on their website. Its purpose is to briefly inform about the
organizations mission, what they do to fulfill their mission, and how the
readers can contribute. The brochure follows the common theme of
appealing through emotion. The struggle for Arts For Humanity! is that they
cant tailor this type of material to a specific audience since it is intended to
inform anyone who is interested and willing to help, and it can be difficult to
specifically label who this is. However, by adapting to the genre
informative brochure the organization can figure out certain conventions
and adapt the informational communication. It is evident that the brochure
embodies a lot of pathos, supported by some ethos in form of testimonials.
The impact of this brochure relies on the stability of pathos, as the
testimonials are fairly weak and diffuse. The brochure combines visual
elements with strong writing that effectively communicates with the
audience. Furthermore, it is adapted to the conventions of the given genre.
For example, we are informed about how the organizations programs break
through social barriers and raise community awareness about the gifts and
talents within our diverse community. With a lacking appeal through logos,
the effectiveness relies on the impact through pathos. People have to
interpret what could be these social barriers, and why these gifts and talents
could be valuable.
Arts For Humanitys newsletter further exemplifies good understanding
of how to effectively make use of pathos and adapting to a certain genre.

EMOTIONAL COMMUNICATION

Unlike the brochure, it is evident that the newsletter is aimed towards

members of the organization. The newsletter is written with a warm, inviting
tone. It correctly responds to letter convention by starting with a salutation.
Accordingly, a body follows and the letter is closed with a personal signature
from Karsen. In the body, readers are introduced to the term creative
connection that is supposed to embody the philosophy of the organization.
Now this is not only a descriptive term, it is used as an argument. Karsen
who composed this newsletter claims that creative connection is the,
connection we have with ourselves when we engage in the artistic process,
the connection we have with others when creating together, and the
connection Arts for Humanity! creates for the community through the many
groups we serve. Karsen relies on the emotional appeal by highlighting this
connection which readers doesnt necessarily know of. Nevertheless, this
argument underlines the importance to feel this creative connection.
It is interesting to compare the brochure with the newsletter because it
is evident that the genre dictates the writing style, without overseeing the
effectiveness and use of pathos. The brochure is informational and excludes
salutations. Yet, it serves is purpose since it is adapted to a broader
audience with an understandable language. The pictures in the brochure are
appropriate and reminding the audience of the joy that the organization is
creating through its work. The newsletter follows this theme by also
including warm pictures of organizational members and events. The visual
literacy tells a story. The pictures include smiling kids and adults, theatrical

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events and colorful paintings. These pictures are also influences intended to
follow the pathos emphasized arguments. However, in contrast to the
brochure it is more personalized with personal greeting and the use of words
such as we, us and our. What I mean is that the genre conventions
differentiate the writings in a good way since it is delicately tailored to its
audience. At the same time the emotional appeal of the organization is not
forgotten but neatly embedded into arguments and visual litteracy made
both in the newsletter and the brochure acting as a source of
interconnection. This interconnection can also be seen in Arts for Humanitys
grant applications.
The grant applications are essentially money requests intended to
meet some expectations among the grant maker, yet represent the values of
the organization; It can be a difficult task to meet all the requirements and
conventions that is expected in this genre without loosing a personal touch
to the writing. Graff and Birkenstein suggest that it is possible to write
academically and still include your own voice to make the writing more
colorful and fun. They explain that, relaxed, colloquial language often
enliven academic writing and even enhance its rigor and precision (2010, p.
122). Arts for Humanitys grant applications include Karsens voice by
expressing her strong emotional connection to the organizations mission.
All the applications are characterized by the same layout: Background
information about the organization, explanation of current programs, and the
specific funding request. Karsens emotional influence becomes evident in all

EMOTIONAL COMMUNICATION

these sections. For example, in a funding request section Karsen writes,

Creative self-expression is a critical aspect of human service that many
social service agencies are not able to provide. This argument is not
supported by fact, but rests upon Karsens credibility and the emotional
appeal in makes. It strongly reflects the values of Arts for Humanity! and
effectively communicates the desire to make arts accessible to more people.
Arts for Humanitys brochure, newsletter and grant application are all
purposefully created in order to inform and persuade a call to action among
the audience through the appeal of emotional connection. They are
arguments claiming that Arts for Humanity! is providing something valuable
for the Santa Barbara community. Many would debate that arguments of this
nature are best supported by logos. Meaning that this value could be proved
with factual evidence. However, Arts for humanity are achieving happiness
and unity through their work; human reactions that are difficult to
statistically or monetarily measure. Therefore, Karsen successfully crafts
arguments that often focus solely on pathos. Not only does it help Karsen to
streamline her writing, but it also helps readers get a clear understanding of
the nature of the organization. Most importantly understand Arts for
Humanitys mission, which is characterized by what could be described as an
abstract notion a human belief that is problematic to support through
logos.
In conclusion, Arts for Humanity! is successfully producing written
material for different purposes that appeal to the intended audience.

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10

Arguably, the most important aspect of Karsens and Arts for Humanitys
written materials is the constant desire to improve. Karsen has found her
niche by emphasizing pathos arguments, which inevitably gets supported by
ethos from 10+ years of successful operation. Combined, they give strength
to written materials as they are adapted to conventions in different genres
of writing. Although Karsen expressed an uncertainty regarding her writing
for the organization, the material presented in this essay communicates
clearly presented arguments that reflect the values and the mission of Arts
for Humanity!
References:
Dirk, K. (2010) Navigating Genres.

Graff, G., & Birkenstein, C. (2010). They say / I say: The moves that matter in
academic writing (2nd ed.). New York: W.W. Norton &.

Lunsford, A., & Ruszkiewicz, J. (2012). Everything's an argument: With

readings (6th ed.). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin's.