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Public
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At its most basic level, an argument consists of both a claim and a warrant for that claim. A claim is a statement advanced by an advocate which he/she believes to be true. A warrant is a reason offered to support that claim. An argument differs from a mere assertion insofar as the presence of a warrant provides a justification or reason for accepting the claim.
For example if an environmental advocate claims the earth is warming as a result of the burning of fossil fuels, the persuasiveness of his claim rests of the ability to offer reasons to support their claim. In this case, the advocate may rely upon scientific evidence, such as computer models, temperature records, biotic evidence of increasing carbon levels in the atmosphere, and historical data that demonstrate a correlation between warmer temperatures and high levels of carbon dioxide. Here, each of these reasons functions as a warrant for the claim that the earth is warming.
This does not mean, of course, that public speakers are not prone to advance warrantless claims, or that a particular advocate's warrants are (always/ever) sufficient to establish the truthfulness of his/her particular claim. Rather, the definition of argument employed here is taken to be a minimal condition for dialogue and debate. When speaker's only make assertions, with little or no support, there is no room for further debate because there is nothing to be contested.
Arguments are the stock in which effective public speakers trade. Well constructed arguments are arguments in which the warrants are both necessary and sufficient for establishing the legitimacy of a given claim. This does not mean that the necessity and sufficiency of particular claims must be beyond dispute. Indeed, in the contingent sphere of discourse, there are few warrants that are so well established that they cannot be scrutinized. Even reasons emanating from scientific quarters frequently are called into question. It means only that speaker need to be versed sufficiently in their topics to offer a satisfactory defense of the warrants they mobilize in support of their claims.
To be an effective public speaker, one needs to craft strategic arguments that will be persuasive for the audience. This strategic aspect of argument selection and development is one of the most crucial aspects of public speaking. It requires an intimate understanding of both the audience's motivations and background knowledge, as well as in-depth topic knowledge of dissenting or contrarian ideas. If, for example, you were attempting to design an argument strategy for a speech on why fossil fuel consumption needs to be curtailed some of the things you might need to consider are: whether the audience is sufficiently versed in climate science to find your scientific explanations intelligible and acceptable; whether the audience is willing to pay more for alternative energy sources now for a problem that will not have dire consequences for another generation; and whether or not your reasons for why the earth is warming overcome the reasons why it is not. And, since your time at the podium is limited, it is all the more important that the arguments you include in your speech be chosen strategically for maximum impact.
Public speakers err not only when they fail to adapt appropriately their message to their particular audience, but also when they utilize defective or fallacious arguments. A fallacy is an argument based on faulty reasoning. For example, if your claim is that global warming is coming, and your reason is that last summer's temperatures were the hottest on record, you might have engaged in what is called the fallacy of "hasty generalization". That is, you were too quick to read into what might be an anomalous occurrence.
Crosswhite, James. (1996). The Rhetoric of Reason, University of Wisconsin Press.
Perelman, C. and Olbrechts-Tyteca, L. (1969). The New Rhetoric, University of Notre Dame Press
Toulmin, Stephen. (1958). The Uses of Argument, Cambridge University Press.
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