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How we Use Rhetoric in Everyday Life
Rhetoric is everywhere — on TV, on our phones, in conversations. Learning how to use rhetoric can help you better understand messages while effectively communicating in any situation.
By Madeleine Mulford | January 31, 2023
The word "rhetoric" is hard to pin down. Often, it's negatively associated with political speech and dubious agendas. But like magic or "The Force," rhetoric is merely a tool that can be used for good, evil and neutral purposes to influence the world around us. Rhetoric is how we use language to achieve a goal in any situation, whether that's to persuade, inform or entertain.
"Very simply, language shapes our world and puts names to objects and behaviors so we can talk about them, and rhetoric is the study of how language shapes behaviors and beliefs," says Martha Brenckle, professor of writing and rhetoric at the College of Arts and Humanities.
In fifth-century Athens, the study of rhetoric developed alongside democracy and played a central role in the development of Western politics and education. Today, it continues to be taught at universities to train future lawyers, teachers, creative writers, politicians, marketers and effective communicators of all kinds. But even beyond the podium or the courtroom, rhetoric is something we both use and consume every day.
Below, we'll discuss some basic models of rhetoric and how you can use them to effectively express your ideas in everyday situations.
The Rhetorical Situation
To be effective, a message cannot exist in a vacuum. The rhetorical situation maps out the situational context, genre, purpose and intended audience of your message. This model is also known as kairos, which is ancient Greek for "the right time." It means choosing the opportune moment to deliver a particular message, or even creating that moment.
Taking the holistic context of a situation into account is essential to create a message that resonates. For example, the way you explain a concept to your boss will be different than how you explain that same concept to your younger nephew.
"We need to use rhetoric to succeed in everyday situations," says Brenckle. "Understanding the rhetorical situation (when and where you are and what's at stake), your audience (the attributes of people you want to persuade) and the rhetor (thinking about what you want to happen) can help you call members to action at a club meeting or persuade admissions counselors to give you a scholarship."
Below are the parts of a rhetorical situation:
- Audience: The intended readers or listeners of a message.
- Purpose: What the writer or speaker wants the message to accomplish, such as influencing an audience's actions, thoughts or feelings on a subject.
- Genre: What category does your message belong to? Examples include an academic essay, a commencement speech, a cover letter or a social media post. Each category calls for adjustments to style, content and the conventions of the genre.
- Exigency: This answers the question: why is what you're saying important to say now? Does it address a current issue? What situation sprung you to begin crafting your message?
- Context: This includes factors that affect the creation of the text, such as timing, news or current events.
Rhetorical Appeals
In 350 B.C., Aristotle wrote On Rhetoric: A Theory of Civic Discourse, where he outlined the three rhetorical appeals that can be used to shape your words into an effective message. Each appeal engages with a different aspect of the human mind. A single message can use all three appeals, or just one or two, depending on the rhetorical situation.
- Logos: This argument speaks to the logical and reasonable side of the brain, building on facts and data to support its message.
- Ethos: This appeal emphasizes the credibility and trustworthiness of the person delivering the argument.
- Pathos: This element relates to your audience using emotion, whether it's tugging at the heartstrings with an inspiring story or creating a humorous atmosphere.
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