9k Delivering an argument

9kDelivering an argument

When someone asked the ancient orator Demosthenes to name the three most important parts of rhetoric, he said: delivery, delivery, delivery. In short, while what speakers said was important, the way they said it was of even greater importance. Today, Demosthenes’s words have special meaning: we live in a time of information overload, when many powerful messages are vying for our attention. In such a time, getting and keeping an audience’s attention is paramount—and doing so is all about delivery. Figuring out the medium of delivery (print? digital? in-person?) and the appropriate genre is important, and so is designing the argument to appeal to your target audience. As a writer in the digital age, then, you will need to think carefully about how to deliver your message.

After you have a rough plan for delivering your argument, test it on friends and classmates, asking them what you need to change to make it more effective.