Tuesday, May 26, 2020
How to Write a Good Rebuttal
How to Write a Good Rebuttal'How to write a good rebuttal?' I was actually in that position recently when I was writing a blog post, but not on purpose. The subject of my post was a recent article written by a well-known writer and public speaker that had garnered a lot of publicity in her field. The comments section of that article had turned into a vigorous debate over her article that she'd received for being named as one of her top ten public speakers of 2020.There were many questions and comments on how to write a good rebuttal, but I think the author's answer was perhaps a little one-sided, so I wanted to share some of my thoughts on the topic. First of all, if you have ever hosted a forum or discussion board, you'll know that every single topic has at least one person who has strong opinions on it. These are usually people who disagree with your point of view, and they are not shy about expressing it. Just because there are several opinions doesn't mean that you have to agree with them, and neither does it mean that you should copy or paraphrase their comments.When we discuss how to write a good rebuttal, we need to remember that it is our responsibility to understand and respect the opinion of others. We don't necessarily have to agree with them, nor do we necessarily agree with them on every point. We don't have to try to prove them wrong either. While an 'answer' to this question may seem obvious, sometimes it is treated as the Holy Grail of how to write a good rebuttal. What you want to remember is that there are several sides to every story, and no two people have the same point of view.I do believe, however, that a sincere effort to respect and understand the perspectives of other people is a great way to start a productive debate about your topic. If you do not show that you understand their point of view, then chances are that you will only be misunderstood.So, how do you write a rebuttal? The first thing to remember is that you do not have to wr ite out your entire piece. If you only have a handful of sentences that you want to rebut, then simply pick a few and simply throw out a couple of rebuttals.If you feel that there is something to rebut in the original comment, then you can write a further rebuttal. It may even be helpful to take out time in your workday to write a rebuttal just to get yourself in the mood of writing. And don't forget to go back and read the original comments before you take any actions to add a rebuttal. Make sure that you don't leave out a single thing, and you can easily forget that the original author had any valid points to rebut.The next thing to remember is that you do not have to do everything yourself to write a rebuttal. I can't imagine how anyone could begin their rebuttal without having a number of ideas. While you may think that these ideas are vital, it's actually very unproductive. Also, the more comments you get the better chance you have of doing a good job.Now, I do realize that som etimes a rebuttal requires more time than a blog post or forum discussion. Sometimes you have to drive down to a remote location and speak with your readers face to face. However, it is a good idea to know how to write a good rebuttal, and therefore you shouldn't lose hope.
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