Effective Argumentation Skills

Course Overview
Whether in a meeting, making a presentation, persuading a colleague, or defending a proposal with your boss, effective business argumentation skills are essential to reasoned decision making.

This course investigates how best to present your case, use different types of reasoning, select and evaluate evidence, create solid arguments, build credibility, avoid fallacious reasoning, and disarm the arguments of others while defending your own. Effective delivery, critical thinking capacity building and skilled development of both affirmative and negative cases are underlying themes throughout the six weeks.

Course Structure
Students will discover, develop and evaluate arguments, participate in brief debates, and develop argumentation supporting a business proposal.

Course Materials
The instructor provides "state of the art" handouts on each topic. These include how to prepare an argumentation brief, detect fallacies, approaches to attacking and defending positions, delivery tactics when including arguments in a presentation, conversation, and in a business meeting.

Grading Criteria, Assessments and Evaluation
Attendance in five out of six two-hour class sessions is required. Each student will prepare and participate in a minimum of two brief debates. Furthermore, participants' classroom contributions will be assessed for both quality and quantity.

Registration Information
Effective Argumentation Skills, taught by our faculty, is a core course offering in the Business Communication Program.

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