RETORIKA U KRIZNIM SITUACIJAMA: ULOGA POLITIČKIH BESEDNIKA U OBLIKOVANjU JAVNE PERCEPCIJE I DRUŠTVENOG ODGOVORA

Abstract

Crisis situations often serve as fertile ground for various forms of manipulation, falsehoods and misinformation. Instead of alleviating the crisis, these elements often contribute to its exacerbation. Such outcomes may result from a lack of rhetorical skills and abilities that speakers have not mastered before taking the public stage. This paper aims to more precisely define crisis situations and their variations, providing a general framework for developing and enhancing rhetoric to overcome crises in the shortest possible time and with the greatest success and fewer consequences. Furthermore, the paper will extensively address the qualities that speakers should possess to be considered competent in guiding the public toward well-being and the resolution of the crisis. To this end, the paper will include advice from timeless orators whose speeches continue to enrich nearly all rhetoric textbooks, enduring through centuries, political structures, and changes, serving as guiding stars for addressing and rhetoric in crisis situations.