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In analyzing your audience, you may discover reasons why your listeners are opposed to your thesis or at least uncommitted or neutral toward it. To address these reservations, consider using a two-sided argument. This does not mean that you simply present two different perspectives to the audience and leave it for them to decide. Rather, in a two-sided argument, you briefly note an argument against your thesis, and then use evidence and reasoning to refute that argument.

For example, suppose you are advocating that all students pass a comprehensive exam in their major subject before graduation. You anticipate that many classmates will find this option stressful, fearing that a low score would keep them from graduating. In a two-sided argument, you would first acknowledge that a comprehensive exam could be stressful, but then you might cite statistics showing that at a similar college, the majority of students pass such an exam. You could also show how study guides and review sessions successfully prepare students.

A well-presented two-sided argument can help you change audience members’ attitudes in favor of your thesis and strengthen your credibility.²¹ This is because people are more likely to support an idea if they know that its proponent is sensitive to their concerns and understands their views.