Spot the claim
See the hidden skeleton inside any argument — by pulling a few apart yourself.
No reading first. Someone below is trying to talk you into something. Tap the one sentence that's their actual point — the thing they want you to walk away believing.
Nice. That point is the claim. But it wasn't standing alone — the other two sentences each had a job. Every argument has three:
So: the reason answers "why should I believe that?" The evidence is something you could look up. Miss either one and the claim is just someone being loud.
One more, fresh topic. Spot the claim:
That's the whole trick. Once you can split any argument into claim, reason and evidence, you stop getting talked into things by tone. A big claim with nothing under it? You'll spot it a mile off.
Catch one in the wild
Find one argument today — an advert, a headline, a mate saying "you should…" — and pull it apart out loud.
What's the one thing they want you to accept?
No reason? That's your first red flag.
Could you actually check it — or is it just a confident voice?
What to remember
- Claim = the point. Reason = why. Evidence = the checkable fact.
- Split any argument into those three and you can judge it, not just feel it.
- A loud claim with no evidence underneath is a red flag.