What is Kairos?

Kairos is the single most important aspect of persuasion.

In 367 B.C., Aristotle traveled to Athens to study philosophy and oratory under Plato. Aristotle's 20 years of study culminated in the development of the modern foundation of public speaking, Aristotle's book, Rhetoric. Originally intended as a guide to Greek citizens on how to argue their claims in court, Rhetoric has since been recognized by many of the world's greatest orators such as Cicero and Quintilian as the chief authority on public speaking—a 2,000-year-old book that is still an authority today. Such longevity warrants a closer look.

What is rhetoric? Aristotle defined rhetoric as, "The ability in a particular case to see the available means of persuasion." That is a good definition but what is persuasion? Persuasion is leading a person to adopt one's beliefs. If we put these two definitions together, we find that rhetoric is the ability in a particular case to lead a person to adopt one's beliefs. In Rhetoric, Aristotle claimed that a person could accomplish this through Ethos (an appeal to credibility based on ethics and character), Pathos (the ability to put a listener in the correct frame of mind by appealing to emotion), and/or Logos (an appeal to a listener's logic). But if rhetoric is seeing the available means of persuasion then that implies that not all means of persuasion should be used all the time. Put differently, the word "rhetoric" implies that there is something more to persuasion than simply throwing Ethos, Pathos, and Logos together into a speech. What could this "something more" be? According to Aristotle, the "something more" is the fourth component to persuasion. The "something more" is what can make or break Ethos, Pathos, and Logos. The "something more" is Kairos.

Kairos is a Greek word that means "the critical moment." It is the ability of a speaker to evaluate the critical moment the speaker is in and to change how he or she persuades based on the nuances of that moment. Modern speech and debate students learn to master Ethos, Pathos, and Logos but these methods of persuasion are at best unreliable and at worst harmful without Kairos. Kairos is about knowing when to use Ethos, when to prioritize Pathos, when to emphasize Logos, and when to combine these methods and in what proportion. Ethos, Pathos, and Logos are arrows in a quiver but Kairos is the wisdom that guides the speaker's hand in choosing which arrow to shoot in each moment. It allows the speaker to shoot one masterfully crafted arrow directly at a bullseye instead of shooting three meandering arrows in the vague direction of a target. Kairos is about evaluating critical moments and adapting. Kairos is the pinnacle of persuasion. 

Now is the Critical Moment to Master Kairos

Have you ever lost a round when you seemed logically right on every point? Have you ever outperformed your opponent on speaker points, polish, and professionalism only to have the judge not notice? Have you ever been certain you were going to win an outround only to have the whole panel vote against you? You could blame these losses on the subjectivity of public speaking (which is what most students do) or you could use the subjectivity of the event to your advantage by mastering Kairos. The ancients understood that to persuade a person, a speaker first needed to understand the person. Kairos is about understanding the person that is your judge and meeting your judge on your judge's terms. This is done by accurately reading situations, quickly adapting your pre-written cases, changing the way you flow, and more.  If your judge dislikes "debate-y terms," do not let the word "contention" come out of your mouth. If your judge prioritizes style over content, be the most stylish speaker in the room and put content in your peripherals. If your judge cares about definitions, have a definition debate and argue technicalities with pristine insight. Kairos is the single most important aspect of persuasion because it, alone, is about precision persuasion. Precision persuasion builds consistency. Consistency builds a legacy.

As Aristotle said, "Excellence is never an accident. Choice, not chance, determines your destiny." Would you like to master Aristotelian rhetoric and make subjectivity your friend? Would you like to be even better than you are now in each and every critical moment of your speaking career? Would you like to be even better at leading people to adopt your beliefs? Kairos Coaching is here to teach the lost art of persuasion from the perspective of the greats.