Analyzing Jay Heinrichs 'Thank You For Arguing'
Development of a Successful Argument
An argument is a means to a solution. Thank You For Arguing by Jay Heinrichs shows readers how best to win an argument with 28 concepts. Three concepts that I believe are most important in the development of a successful argument are set your goals, speak your audience’s language, and finally give a persuasive talk.
First and foremost, goals needs to be set. It is the second concept learned in Heinrichs’ Thank You For Arguing, know what you would like to accomplish; what you want to get out of an argument. “To determine the outcome of an argument set your personal goal [and] set your goals for your audience. Do you want to change their mood, their mind, or their willingness to carry our what you want?” …show more content…
Heinrichs presents the reader with Cicero’s five canons of persuasion which are invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. Out of these five I believe you most importantly need to use arrangement and delivery. “Start by winning over the audience. Get them to like you through your shared values, your good sense, and your concern for their interest. Make them identify with you. All the tools of ethos apply here. Then launch into your argument, stating the facts, making your case, proving you point logically, and smacking down your opponent’s argument. End by getting the audience all charged up, through patriotism, anger—any of the emotions that lead to action.” (Heinrichs, 284). “Think about your voice—are you loud and confident enough for the room?—and gesture. Cicero included eyes (both eye contact and expression) as an aspect of gesture. A confident voice and expressions that start with the eyes: those are the chief secrets of actio.” (Heinrichs, 293). If you arrange your argument in a way that speaks your audience’s language while still getting across what you want from them, they are more likely to listen, thus more likely to act. Remember, seduce your audience with your rhetoric. The way you deliver your argument is essentially the most important part. If you have a foolproof speech but you stand in front of you audience murmuring and shaking, no one will listen. Know what you are talking about and carry that
An argument is a means to a solution. Thank You For Arguing by Jay Heinrichs shows readers how best to win an argument with 28 concepts. Three concepts that I believe are most important in the development of a successful argument are set your goals, speak your audience’s language, and finally give a persuasive talk.
First and foremost, goals needs to be set. It is the second concept learned in Heinrichs’ Thank You For Arguing, know what you would like to accomplish; what you want to get out of an argument. “To determine the outcome of an argument set your personal goal [and] set your goals for your audience. Do you want to change their mood, their mind, or their willingness to carry our what you want?” …show more content…
Heinrichs presents the reader with Cicero’s five canons of persuasion which are invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery. Out of these five I believe you most importantly need to use arrangement and delivery. “Start by winning over the audience. Get them to like you through your shared values, your good sense, and your concern for their interest. Make them identify with you. All the tools of ethos apply here. Then launch into your argument, stating the facts, making your case, proving you point logically, and smacking down your opponent’s argument. End by getting the audience all charged up, through patriotism, anger—any of the emotions that lead to action.” (Heinrichs, 284). “Think about your voice—are you loud and confident enough for the room?—and gesture. Cicero included eyes (both eye contact and expression) as an aspect of gesture. A confident voice and expressions that start with the eyes: those are the chief secrets of actio.” (Heinrichs, 293). If you arrange your argument in a way that speaks your audience’s language while still getting across what you want from them, they are more likely to listen, thus more likely to act. Remember, seduce your audience with your rhetoric. The way you deliver your argument is essentially the most important part. If you have a foolproof speech but you stand in front of you audience murmuring and shaking, no one will listen. Know what you are talking about and carry that