Res Rhetorica
6 articlesMarch 2025
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Abstract
The study hypothesized that employees better receive messages containing inclusive forms. A review of the existing literature on inclusive language and its impact on employee well-being and organizational innovation was conducted. As studies worldwide show, inclusive language can: enhance the sense of belonging to an organization, provide a sense of security, and increase engagement. Inclusive language can lead to higher levels of employee creativity and innovation, and also reduce the likelihood of burnout. In our study, we examined whether inclusive language is understandable and can influence the organisation's perception and employee engagement. To this end, we tested three versions of a message: exclusive, non-inclusive, and inclusive – on a sample of 1375 working individuals using the Computer-Assisted Web Interview (CAWI) method in collaboration with IPSOS. Contrary to popular belief, inclusive language was not perceived as more difficult to understand. However, it did influence the assessment of the organization's friendliness. The study indicates that inclusive language can be a valuable asset for organizations.
June 2024
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Leadership and expressivity: The interplay of speech and gesture in Andrzej Duda’s anti-war rhetoric ↗
Abstract
The paper discusses the relationship between leadership and expressivity as exemplified by the Polish President's address to the Ukrainian Parliament delivered on 22 May 2022. The study draws on existing understandings of expressivity and discursive leadership as well as previous studies on gesture in political rhetoric. Co-speech gestures are discussed as an interactional resource linked to emotion and evaluation, and as an inseparable part of the speaker’s public persona and identity. Following Bednarek (2011), the analysis considers the president’s expressivity at the micro-, meso- and macro-level, and it identifies a range of linguistic and gestural resources with which Andrzej Duda constructs a positive involved style while “communicating emotion” and “doing intensity.” The analysis also links the president’s linguistic expression of ardour and gestural behaviour to leadership capabilities, explaining how “relating to the audience” and “visioning” can stir and mobilise the audience in times of war and uncertainty.
July 2023
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Lógos, éthos i pathos w komunikacji w biznesie. Na przykładzie metody Assessment Center/Development Center ↗
Abstract
Artykuł podejmuje zagadnienie obecności argumentacji typu lógos, éthos i pathos w biznesowych schematach konwersacyjnych. Zaprezentowano metodę Assessment Center/Development Center (AC/DC) jako przykład podejścia do komunikacji w biznesie (na linii przełożony–pracownik), w którym uwzględnia się tę retoryczną triadę. Przykładem obrazującym tę metodę jest schemat rozmowy oceniającej zmierzającej do ewaluacji dotychczasowej pracy oraz zmotywowania pracownika do rozwijania swoich umiejętności i podnoszenia kwalifikacji. Na początku wprowadzono ustalenia terminologiczne odnoszące się do klasycznej triady lógos, éthos, pathos. Następnie omówiono, czym jest komunikacja biznesowa, a czym komunikacja w biznesie. Uwzględniając różnice między komunikacją zewnętrzną oraz wewnętrzną, omówiono metodę AC/DC jako przykład skutecznego kierowania komunikacją wewnętrzną firmy. Przedstawienie schematu rozmowy oceniającej (związanej z udzielaniem konstruktywnych informacji zwrotnych oraz stosowaniem praktyk motywacyjnych, inaczej zwanych wzmacniającymi) pozwoliło wskazać wytyczne, zgodnie z którymi powinna ona przebiegać.
July 2022
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Abstract
This paper offers an analysis of the landmark 1961 speech given by the Federal Communications Commission chairman, Newton N. Minow (born 1926). It includes a discussion of the rhetorical situation in which the oration was delivered, review of the persuasive tactics employed by the orator and the goals he attempted to achieve, as well as assessment of the degree to which his effort was successful. The speech is analyzed against the political background of the early days of the Kennedy administration, marked by social optimism and rapid technological progress. Widely regarded as the most significant speech on television in the history of American rhetoric, Minow’s oration was delivered during turbulent times for the U.S. media and has indeed led to far-reaching changes in the nation’s broadcasting environment, including the establishment of the system of public media in the second half of the 1960s. The landmark speech caused a great deal of stir in the national consciousness as well, becoming a part of the popular culture of the decade, with the words “vast wasteland” still remembered today.
March 2018
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The eristic of newsworthiness in the representation of Barnevernet controversy: A case study of the Norwegian Child Welfare Service ↗
Abstract
This study offers a critical evaluation of news values by four selected contemporary media outlets: BBC News, The Federalist, OneEurope and Dagbladet. The material covers the controversy around the Norwegian Child Welfare Service with cases of children being taken away from their families, thus it involves cultural and legal aspects of the issue. The analytic categories are based on news value research guidelines that were introduced in the study by Johan Galtung and Mari H. Ruge (1965). In parallel, the philosophical reference is construed through the works by Artur Schopenhauer and Anton Powell. This, in turn, allows evaluating the language that construes newsworthiness from an eristic perspective. The study demonstrates how the eristic application of news values may influence the fair presentation of an issue, at least when a case is presented as involving a controversy. The focus is on the eristic tools of news value enhancement which lead to channeling consumers’ attention in a desirable manner.
July 2017
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Abstract
This essay offers an early assessment, after the first 100 days, of Donald Trump’s bewildering ascendency to the US presidency. It examines his apocalyptic rhetoric as a spectacle of salvation by demolition and deal making, a polarizing and demonizing politics that trades in deception and distraction. The spectacle, whether it is a means to an end or an end in itself, functions to distort democratic politics and to displace public dissent over the negative impact of economic globalization. The question raised is whether and how dissent might be channeled more constructively through a narrative of fairness that balances interests equitably and deliberates policy options credibly.