At its core, an argument consists of a conclusion and one or more premises, or claims.

• The conclusion is what the communicator wants his or her audience to accept.
• The premises are the reasons for believing the conclusion to be true.

A premise is relevant if it provides some bearing on the truth of the conclusion. Checklist:

• If the premise were true, does it make you more likely to believe that the conclusion is true? If yes, the premise is probably relevant.
• Even if the premise were true, s...

• Structure: Explicitly call out your conclusion and the supporting reasons.
• Relevance: Ensure that all materials you’re presenting as part of your argument are relevant. 
• Acceptability: Soften any absolute claims to make them more acceptable. (e.g. “most p...

A premise should be acceptable to a mature, rational adult.

The claim should meet the following standards:

• It is a matter of undisputed common knowledge.
• It's confirmed by one’s own personal experience or observation.
• It's an uncontroverted claim from a relevant a...

A good argument includes an effective rebuttal to all anticipated serious criticisms of the argument. Arguers often use arguments that misrepresent the criticism, bring up trivial objections as a side issue, or resort to humor or ridicule are using devices that clearly fail to make effective resp...