My immediate thought was of rhetorical training in the ancient world. On the one hand, training in rhetoric will help you persuade, and on the other, will also

My immediate thought was of rhetorical training in the ancient world. On the one hand, training in rhetoric will help you persuade, and on the other, will also help you become aware when someone else is using those techniques. One of the five parts of rhetoric was called "ethos", which is concerned with how to establish yourself with your audience as trustworthy and sympathetic. In advertising, lots of elements beyond mere words are employed to establish ethos, visual style, sound, editing. But I suppose I never explicitly considered the visual display of an application as an exercise in rhetoric, though upon reflection, it certainly can be. Perhaps we all need visual-rhetorical training.