The Rhetorical Triangle

You can understand rhetoric better by thinking of it as a way of describing relationships between rhetors, their messages, and their audiences. Your instructor may refer to this relationship as a triangle or triad. In every persuasive encounter, you’ll find it.

Anyone who tries to persuade others is occupying the role of rhetor. Think of all the rhetors you encounter on a weekly basis. Politicians give speeches and hold press conferences. Students publish op-ed pieces in newspapers. Commercials and ads appear on almost everything you see online.

Rhetors always try to convey a message. A message could entail a stance on a political issue like gun regulation, climate change, or healthcare. You might want to make a call to action, or simply offer a different perspective on one of these topics. You might also have opinions on local issues you want to share in order to help improve your campus or town.

You can think of audience in terms of viewers, readers, or conversation partners. Rhetors try their best to craft their message for different audiences. That means learning about their backgrounds via such factors as education, social class, gender, age, ethnicity. You should strive for honesty with your audience, but attending to these factors can help hone your message for maximum impact.

Many different types of audience exist, and you can think about audience in a variety of ways. Someone writing an instruction manual might need to think about the education and technical expertise of different readers. A policymaker or leader of a company would probably consider their audience or customers in terms of age, work experience, social class, gender, and other demographics. An audience can be immediate, as when you give a presentation during a job interview. Audiences can also be interactive or static.

Today, rhetors have more options than ever when it comes to the means of distributing their messages. You might decide to write an opinion-editorial for the college newspaper, in order to express your views to students, faculty, and staff at your university. Or you might choose to try and reach a wider audience through social media platforms like Twitter, YouTube, or Instagram. Each method affords different opportunities, but each one also has limitations or constraints. Many rhetors choose to use multiple outlets to get their message across to different audiences.

Kairos refers to rhetorical time. Although it’s not a part of triangle itself, timing has a considerable impact on the relationship between rhetors and audiences. Some people might think of kairos as chance. However, skilled writers and speakers use different windows of time as opportunities. They also adapt their messages to take advantage of certain parts of the day, news cycles, holidays, and important events. Kairos don’t simply happen to them, nor do they simply respond to moments. They use rhetorical time to strategize and perfect their messages.