[[Notes]] - Topics: [[Communication]] - People: [[Sean Plott]] - Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9NjrMnmlyw --- ## Summary - Use writing structures like [[Three rules of three]], [[One-three-one essay]], and/or [[Eleven-sentence paragraph]] to organize and present your thoughts. - Always lead with why someone should care about your idea at all. - [[Think of how a murder trial works]] to support your arguments with rigour and logic. - [[There's a difference between the position and the argument]]. ## Notes ### Writing structures - The [[One-three-one essay]] and the [[Eleven-sentence paragraph]] are both effective and clear structures for argumentative writing. - These writing structures follow similar idea as the [[Three rules of three]]; They constrain the amount of primary ideas and the ideas are repeated but reworded at different times to offer alternative angles for those ideas. ### Flow - Always lead with why someone should care about this piece at all. The introduction should be opinionated and clear. - Each section of the piece should transition from one to the other. - Always tie it all together with the conclusion; to bring all threads back to a single point. - YOU SHOULD NOT simply restate the introduction. - [[State the point. Don't restate the introduction.]] - [[Think of how a murder trial works]] to support your arguments with rigour and logic. ### Conclusion-first - Nowadays, it's very common, especially in social media/the Internet, to lead with the conclusion (typically negative). What follows, if anything at all, is additional statements of why the conclusion is bad, rather than providing a logical sequence of evidence to support that idea. ### Position vs. argument - [[There's a difference between the position and the argument]]. - You can have the right position but an incorrect argument (and vice versa). - "If I tell you the sky is blue, you'll probably agree with my position. But if my argument is that it's blue because fish fart into the air, bringing that blue ocean water up... You'll say 'I agree with your position; your argument is wrong'".