The Ad Hominem Attack in Public Speaking
There are several things that people do when they want to avoid a question or an issue. They will introduce a red herring—thus changing the topic, avoid the discussion—by terminating the dialog or they will start to attack the person making the argument.
If you have watched political debates you have seen politicians attack one another instead of dealing with the issue (argument) itself. This is an ad hominem attack. “Ad hominem” is Latin for “to the man.” It is an attack on the character of an opponent, or his motives for believing something—rather than disproving his argument.
An individual may have character flaws, but his argument could still be valid. A person’s character or motives may influence her arguments, thoughts, and view on a topic but these things don’t necessarily have any bearing on the strength of her argument.
As a public speaker when you are preparing a speech on a controversial issue, or when you are preparing for a debate you should stick to the issue…don’t attack the character of the person build a sound argument with facts and research. It is a childish response to attack the person’s character it amounts to calling names. And in some cases can be labeled as slander…
If you are accusing someone of having bad motives or that they are taking the position to serve their own self interest—this is an ad hominem attack.
If you are questioning whether someone is telling the truth—because they are known to lie or misrepresent this is not an ad hominem attack—you are posing a question.
As a public speaker you want to conduct yourself as a gentleman or a lady. You don’t want to get into name calling or mudslinging. Public speaking is an art…it is a dignified thing to do as is debating it should not be tarnished by resorting to ad hominem attacks.
Here’s a wonderful resource that you can use to learn more about the Ad Hominem Attack.
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