Response 6

Exigence is an imperfection, defect or obstacle. In rhetorical terms, this is a problem that can be solved through rhetorical discourse. For example, in crisis communication, once a crisis occurs the first step is to hold a meeting with the head of PR and all major leaders of an organization. This is done before any announcement is made to the public. The purpose of this meeting is to make the statement that will be released to the public clear to anyone who could potentially be speaking out about the crisis so that everyone is on the same page and mixed messages are not released.

There are many types of audiences: primary, secondary, collaborative, individual, little known, non-existent, etc. Writers are often unaware of who their audiences will be because they often face “composite” audiences consisting of multiple types of audiences. For example, in PR you always create a “target audience,” or demographic, to which you attempt to target your message. Some messages have multiple audiences so you have to create multiple ads that each focus on a separate audience.

Constraints are “persons, events, objects and relations which are parts of the situation because they have the power to constrain decision and action needed to modify the exigence.” For example, in PR you often fall into constraints because you have so many people you answer to. While you might offer an organization the best possible advice on how to deliver information to the public, if they don’t like it you still have to do what they say because they’re the ones paying you.