Rhetorical situation as bedrock of crisis communication strategy[articol]

Abstract

Kairos and stasis, two vital concepts employed to account for the rhetorical situation, are still valued and valuable in today communication contexts. As starting points of (corporate) discourse, the two terms prove to be particularly relevant. Both kairos and stasis point to the situatedness of the corporate discourse, since crisis always happens in a specific situation. Stasis and kairos do not perform separately, they function inter-dependently. Stasis focuses on logos, while kairos concentrates on ethos and pathos. They set rigor and let PR practitioners know at any moment where they are in solving a crisis, what questions to ask and how to act further in managing crisis communication.