The speech “Are We Ready for Tomorrow, Today?” was delivered by Muhtar Kent, the president and CEO of the Coca-Cola Co, at the 2009 Investor & Analyst Event held in the world global conference in Atlanta. As this speech is specifically structured to present a business plan for upcoming year of 2020, Kent uses the majority of ethos and logos artistic appeals as means of an effective persuasion. The argument surrounds a careful and logical analysis of past failures and successes backed up with statistical and visual references designed to “inform, provoke, challenge and inspire” the audience (Kent 2009), followed by an orderly presentation of numerous strategies on how they will shape the future as the leading “business of non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages.” (119) The appropriate artistic and inartistic appeals applied in the speech not only polish the essence of an effective argument, but also increases credibility as an influential speaker. It is evident that Kent tries to avoid using pathos, an appeal of emotion, as a form of appeal to prevent logical scrutiny from the audience. Instead, the speech follows a strict pattern of stating logical reasoning after presenting each inartistic proof and thus, succeeds in gaining compliance as a credible speaker. Apart from impressive statistical numbers on its company’s accomplishments, the content of the speech relies heavily on ethos, served as appeals to values and speaker’s credibility, exerting a strong and dependable impression on their corporation. One of the major proofs Kent constantly uses is expressing the common notion the company has made in the past years. For example, Kent reminds the audience that they are a system that have always been, and always will be a “business of non-alcoholic ready-to-drink beverages…where we lead, excel and create value.” (119) Although this may sound ordinary, it adds fuel to an enormously growing fire of potential in expanding their global beverage leadership. It implies that they are competent enough in achieving even the most challenging aims and gaining customers’ full support, as Coca-Cola lies under a title of the leading beverage company. Most importantly, he intends to persuade the audience by virtue of a good character, which makes it very efficient. Aristotle suggested that this is the most effective artistic appeal in persuasion as it involves a matter of trust. (Washington 110) He is conveying that the company has the authority to lead as a globally recognized business and become the number one beverage seller by year 2020. This statement however, is not a proof that every single person in the world serves Coca-Cola as the best soft drink, but the most important factor that portrays this as an effective ethos appeal is that this is something that has been approved, believed and accepted by the majority. The fact that Coca-Cola is the leading supplier for beverages automatically portrays potential, credibility and reliability in a speaker. He simply borrows the title of a ‘top beverage seller’ in creating a positive brand image and in gaining audience’s appreciation. Expressing Kent’s interest in giving a “laser-focused attention on targeting the right consumers (Kent 120) and articulating an image of a fast worker building a unified and aligned system equipped for long-term sustainable growth”, (121) adds another important layer on ethos appeal. It estimates that they are reliable and thus, move as a one whole cooperative group, purely by providing their target group with efficient marketing system along with divine attention customers deserve. Giving the audience plenty of trust and a positive energy of reliance always arouse encouraging atmosphere in a public environment. This speech serves as a business plan holding in-depth analysis of statistical values; therefore, it does and should not carry heavy amount of pathos, putting the audience in a certain frame of mind. On the other hand, emotional appeals may bring strong impacts on some required cases. At the time this speech was delivered, economy worldwide was suffering from recession leading many businesses down to bankruptcy. When persuading the consumers to continue to purchase Coca-Cola in the most devastated situations, one needs to attack people’s emotions and beliefs, planting a silver lining of hope and joy in their minds against the “backdrop of opportunity and challenge.” (Kent 119) Kent states that 2020 will be a “world where more of our marketing and communication takes place on digital platforms, world where innovations in packaging use less energy and leave a minimal imprint on the environment, world where consumers are getting older and younger…” (Kent 118) As Muhtar touches on various forms of changing trends, it brings the audience to think ahead through their eyes and picture the possibilities of outcome in the future. He evokes people’s compassion by showing the audience what it would be like to live in an environment as mentioned. When introducing an idea that may be unfamiliar to everyone, one is best advised to tell someone personal stories that may help people to understand the human element. This not only brings audience to silent sovereignty, but also fills their hollow mind with a tint of hope and joy. Promising the wide variety of media footsteps they are going to trace and the vibrant environment they are willing to create softens people with trust and hope, which makes it easier to persuade their beliefs and values. Furthermore, the last closing sentence “our journey has begun and it continues today with all of you” (Kent 121) plants encouraging seeds in people’s mind. This is an effective form of pathos, working towards a way of giving people an impression that Coca-Cola does not act as an individual, but as a one whole mind moving along with their targeted consumers. By stating this, it gives people a pleasant feeling and an acceptance that Coca-Cola is a friendly soft-drinks company; who are willing to share their ears and eyes with everyone at anytime. Giving an impression that the audience of consumers is always needed and worthy brings appreciative feelings, and thus, are easier to get persuaded. An economist, such as Muhtar Kent relies heavily on logos, making logical arguments to back up claims. Basically, Kent plans out a strategy that meets the demands of Coca-Cola, strictly based on historical precedents, prevailing wisdom and informal logic. (Washington 2009) After every evidence or claims posed follows a clear logical reasoning on why certain factors are applicable under such circumstances. The most evident example featured in the speech is as Kent lists the five massive global forces reshaping the world. To briefly mention these, the features include ‘a powerful shift in the epicenter of economic growth, rapid urbanization, world wrestling with energy and resource scarcity, reset of consumer attitudes and values, and an emerging new era of innovation.’ (Kent 118) Realizing that these five forces may not be agreed by everyone, Kent describes the following trends in a little more detail attempting to bring understandable and an acceptable logical reasoning for each. By supporting the argument with a firmly established knowledge, it not only presents people with a debatable analysis of why these claims are critical to consider, but also provides those with no business background a better way to visualize the whole picture. In an effective speech, the most important factor to consider is to deliver the same message to everyone, no matter what professional field they are pursuing their career in. A persuasive speech must be able to give everyone in the room the same perspectives that are visible behind everyone’s eyes, (153) which is the reason why logos appeal is imperative, especially when a company aims to gather as many target audiences as possible. Kent uses these tactics in his speech, thus, manages to deliver a message that is understood and heard by everyone. In order to leave the room with strong impressions or interests that could be understood by everyone without reasoning, or, to add an extra tint of sparkle in a finely polished speech, an inartistic appeal of evidence is needed. This clearly serves as a fact behind all the appeals that have been made so far. For example, a maxim introduced by Victor Hugo “the future has several names… for the thoughtful and valiant, it is the ideal.” (Hugo 117) Derived from the first opening sentence, the last paragraph of the speech continues to emphasize the importance of this quote, and reminds the audience once again claiming “we are not dreamers, we are driven by a clear, compelling and actionable vision, we are ready for tomorrow-today.” (Hugo 121) Maxims are an alternative way of planting a long-lasting impression and an effective way to end a speech leaving people with time and space to think through. It is also an effective way of summing up the whole element of the speech. The second piece of crucial evidence repeatedly used in the speech is testimony, an immediate and legally proved piece of verification. Through the past years, Coca-Cola Company has been named “America’s Most Admired Company” by Fortune magazine. As Fortune magazine is publicly accepted as a globally known channel of media, it can be claimed that it holds somewhat legal rights in holding such claims. As much as the name carries its values, the magazine must have gone through reliable methods of research and development process in a professional manner in gathering data for making such proclaims. Any piece of evidence considered as a fact has the power of winning over people’s compliance, without having to argue any disagreements posed. Therefore, presenting a crystal clear and a nationally accepted fact, or bringing in evidence from a reliable source is always an effective way of attracting a wide group of audience whilst it also serve as a common ground for people who may hold different values or beliefs. Like many other business plans, Kent uses videos, roadmaps and statistics providing the audience with both visual and arithmetical examples of evidence. Filling line by line with words may be tedious, therefore adapting to different channels of media is always an effective way to engage with the audience. For example, Kent presents a set of key goals for year 2020 on a timeline and named it “Roadmap for Winning Together”. According to the content, Kent held up the roadmap at the time the speech was given and briefly discussed the following plans they have crafted for future references. This can be set up as an illustration example as it involves the speaker setting up a diagram in a form of tables, charts and graphs. It is viewed as an enhanced way of delivering information in a practical, professional and efficient manner. Additionally, he presents a short clip at the beginning and constantly reflects back to it as an example throughout the speech. This also is an effective approach as it provides people with visual; real-life moving images that augments people’s memory. It is imperative to give people visual illustrations as the majority is likely to recall things if they are given comprehensible illustrations rather than relying purely on verbal evidences. Overall, the speech is effective and persuasive as it provides the audience with mixture of emotional, logical and credible appeals in appropriate situations. Kent adapts wide variety of media in presenting his examples, which throws away its dryness of the speech. As he is initiating a new business plan, it can become a monotone and may easily get tricked into relying heavily on facts and statistics. However, by applying personal perceptions and with his backed up logical statements using maxims and visual illustrations, he avoids forming a dry element of the speech. He also adjusts to great use of ethos as he repeatedly reminds the importance of their existence as a beverage company to the audience. The speech sounds confident and gains credibility by relating to applicable sources, such as Fortune magazine, in rewarding the accomplishments of Coca-Cola. Lastly, because he has logical explanation behind every strategy posed, it gives people a better picture in grasping the full concept and enables those who do not think like businessmen to comprehend what is going on. Acknowledging how to think, talk and see from the audience’s perception, and controlling people’s mind is something that is achieved by those who are ‘ready for tomorrow – today’ and certainly rewarded to those who know how to move with the crowd as one.