In the first chapter of our book "Perspective on Argument" we talk about arguments and the different types they have. An argument is having an opinion and having information and facts that support your idea. An argument is making a claim, and supporting it with evidence.
The type of argument I was taugth my entire life was the typical one sided argument. Either you are rigth or not. I t was really refreshing to see what des a good argument really consist. To make a good argument you need, first of all, take a position in an argument, and that the audience hasn't already decided which part to take. Like when talking about recicling and taking care of the earth. We all know that we are running out of resources and should take car of earth, either we do something about it or not.
You also have to make sure that you are not arguing about too risky subjects. For most people it is hard to argue about some issue if they are too emotional or too scary, like religion. For example, in my case is immigration. I don't know how to feel about this topic because it covers a lot situations, and I understand both of the sides of the situation. If you also choose a trivial topic then the audience is not going to be engage.
Another thing that affects your topic is if there is no common ground, because then you are going to have a hard time trying to convince the people that already made up their minds about something. I found this very useful because now I have a check list when I do my arguments.
