 Arguments are attempts to support certain views with reasons and are essential to a persuasive speech. Arguments make up a significant part of a speech’s appeal to logos.  The stronger the logic of your arguments, the more likely you are to achieve your persuasive purpose. When taking a position, use the points on the following slides as places to begin…

Good examples are the building blocks of an argument by example. 1. Use more than one example. 2. Use powerful examples. 3. Use examples your audience will recognize or connect with. 4. Provide any necessary background information.

When you argue by analogy, you argue form one specific case or example to another example, reasoning that because the two examples are similar in some ways, they are also similar in other that lead to your persuasive purpose.

No one can be a complete expert in any given field. The best historians are rarely direct witnesses to all the events about which they write and reach conclusions. The best surgeon has neither operated in ever possible scenario of a case nor on every type of person. It is important to evaluate the sources of the authority to determine the validity of such an argument. The sources need to be: 1. Impartial 2. Informed 3. Cited or recognized 4. Cross-checked with other sources You probably should not quote from a fashion model to argue that a country should enter war, for example, unless the fashion model also happens to be a known authority on warfare; even then, you would need to provide your audience with evidence of the fashion model’s expertise such as by naming the titles of his or her books on the subject.