Okay, you've got your notes or list of the reasons you chose your position. You believe in what you're trying to persuade other people to believe (if this is all new to you, scroll down to my first post).
If you haven't already, go do your research. What are the reasons behind your thinking? What are the facts behind your position? What makes you so sure you are right? Go to the library. Read everything you can find. Check on the Internet (note that not all information on the Internet is reliable). List your strongest points -- the things that really back up what you say.
For example: Kids who inhale spray paint can die from paint coating the lining of their lungs.
If you've got facts and figures and percentages, use that information, too, if the numbers are heavily in your favor.
Look at what you've got in front of you. How can anyone not be persuaded?
Easily. There's always another side.
That's what you're going to do next. If you had to make the counter-argument to your position, what would you say? What facts or information out there hurts your logic? There's always something.
For example:
Your position is: All U.S. children should be vaccinated for (fill in the blank) disease because this disease is fatal in 95 out of 100 cases.
The counter argument might be: (Fill in the blank) disease is a terrible disease. However, it is not very contagious and only twenty children in the U.S. contract this disease every year, and the vaccine for this disease causes developmental damage and sometimes death in a high number of children.
Think (and research) every possible counter-argument to yours. Make a list, leaving room for a second column. Now, spend some time thinking of believable, truth-based reasons why these counter-arguments are faulty. Write these reasons in the second column, refuting what is in the first column.
At this point, you should have a full understanding of both sides of the issue and should be able to write a persuasive paper (at least from the standpoint of understanding your subject and having sufficient knowledge) convincing your audience of either side of the issue.
Now here is where we get on shaky ground morally and ethically. Look at your list of counter-arguments. Which ones will people know intuitively? In other words, when people hear you state your position, what reasons do they already know or objections will they already have to what you are saying? These top-of-mind problems will need addressing. Get a separate sheet of paper and list these problems. In order to persuade people of your position, you will have to clear up these issues for them. You don't want to spend lots of time on these issues nor give them prominence, but they are questions that you will have to answer in some way, even if indirectly. Be careful that you don't over-emphasize these problems or you will be working against yourself.
Now, look at the rest of the list. Is there anything on there that would be unethical to leave out, even if it hurts you? I hope you will keep your integrity and address these issues. In the best case, it will give you greater credibility because you put yourself and your argument at risk by including non-helpful or even hurtful information. In the worst case, well, at least you didn't lie.
As for the rest of the list of counter-arguments, know that these issues are out there but don't plan to include them in your piece. If you bring these things up, you are working for the other side. If no one is hurt by excluding this information, you're okay.
Another consideration is length. One way to be persuasive is not to bore your audience. Fully cover your subject, but be as brief as possible. That means you may not be able to include all the information you have, and in fact, it may be counter-productive.
You won't persuade anyone whom you have put to sleep.
Copyright 2007 by Anne Creed
