How to test an argument before you defend it.

01Why look for objections before anyone else does?

We tend to look for reasons that confirm what we already think. That is why the most serious objections to an argument often surface when it is too late: at the thesis defense, in the department meeting or during the oral exam.

Testing it beforehand has three advantages:

• You strengthen your position, because you arrive with answers ready for the predictable criticism.
• You refine what you claim, limiting the thesis to what you can actually demonstrate.
• You gain credibility, because acknowledging an objection and answering it is more convincing than ignoring it.

1. Choose the mode
2. Write what you hold and why
3. Put it to the test
4. Read each objection with its answer
5. Review assumptions and uncomfortable questions

02How to use The Touchstone in 5 steps

1. Choose the mode

   Choose Argument if you want to examine a thesis or a position, or Decision if it is a plan you are considering, such as changing how you assess a course.

2. Write what you hold and why

   Paste your thesis or describe your decision along with the reasons behind it. It works the same with a paragraph as with a chapter.

3. Put it to the test

   Click Put to the test. The tool builds the strongest objections to what you propose, ordered from strongest to weakest.

4. Read each objection with its answer

   For each objection you will see where it would come from, what you would need to answer it and a possible reply. When no good reply is available, that is the point you need to work on.

5. Review assumptions and uncomfortable questions

   The Fragile assumptions, The uncomfortable questions and What would change your mind sections complete the review. In Decision mode, you will also see how your plan could fail and which signal would warn you in time.

A position that cannot name what would refute it is not an argument. It is a belief.

03Example: a teaching decision put to the test

A teacher wants to replace her course’s final exam with a project. This is how she could turn the result into a stronger plan:

What comes up	Example	How to respond
The strongest objection	In a group project, it is hard to know what each student learned.	Add an individual component and a peer assessment.
A fragile assumption	That every student has time outside class for the project.	Set aside class time to work on it.
An uncomfortable question	How do these grades compare with those of classes that take the exam?	Assess with a rubric of equivalent criteria.
An early warning sign	Halfway through the course, several groups still have no first draft.	Set dated interim deadlines.

04Tips to get the most out of it

• State your position honestly. If you write it already hedged so that it holds up, the test loses its point.
• Start with the first objection. They are ordered by strength: the first is the one that most needs an answer.
• Not every objection forces a change. Some are answered with a fact; others ask you to narrow the thesis. You decide which to accept.
• Use it with your students. Before a debate or an essay, ask them to test their position and to answer the strongest objection in writing.