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intermediate20 min

Structuring and Delivering GD Arguments

How to structure a single contribution using claim, reasoning, and evidence, and how to build on others' points.

What you'll learn

  • Structure a spoken point using claim, reasoning, and evidence
  • Identify when a contribution merely repeats a claim instead of supporting it
  • Recognize what it means to build on another participant's point rather than restate your own

Prerequisites

Explanation

A group discussion rewards contributions that are easy to follow and clearly connected to what's already been said. The most reliable structure for a single point is claim, reasoning, evidence (sometimes written CRE):

  • Claim — the position you're stating, in one clear sentence.
  • Reasoning — why that claim is true or worth considering; the logical connection.
  • Evidence — a concrete example, fact, or illustration that supports the reasoning.

For example: "Remote work increases productivity for focused tasks" (claim), "because employees lose less time to commuting and office interruptions, leaving longer uninterrupted blocks for deep work" (reasoning), "our team's internal survey after switching to remote work showed a measurable increase in completed tickets per week" (evidence). Each piece does different work: the claim tells the group what you think, the reasoning tells them why, and the evidence gives them something concrete to evaluate rather than just take your word for it.

A claim without reasoning is just an opinion stated loudly. Reasoning without evidence is a plausible-sounding argument no one can verify. Dropping either one weakens the whole point, even if the claim itself is reasonable — because the group has no way to evaluate why you believe it.

A related mistake is offering "reasoning" that simply restates the claim in different words — for example, following "remote work increases productivity" with "because people are more productive when remote." That sentence adds no new information; it just says the same thing twice. Genuine reasoning introduces a mechanism — commuting time, interruption frequency, focus — that explains why the claim would be true.

Staying on topic matters just as much as structure. It's easy, especially under mild pressure, to drift toward a related but different topic you feel more prepared to discuss. A point about remote work productivity that wanders into a broader argument about company culture in general may be interesting, but it stops being a contribution to this discussion, and it can read as changing the subject to more comfortable ground.

Finally, a discussion is a group activity, not a set of parallel monologues. Building on another participant's point — rather than simply repeating your own point in slightly different words — is what makes a contribution feel like part of a conversation. Building on a point means explicitly referencing what was just said ("Building on what Sam raised about cost...") and then adding something new: a counterpoint, an extension, a different piece of evidence. A group where everyone restates their own opening position every time they speak, without ever engaging with what anyone else said, doesn't function as a discussion at all — it functions as five separate short speeches.

Claim, reasoning, evidence

Claim (your position) leads to Reasoning (why it's true) leads to Evidence (a concrete example or fact supporting the reasoning) — each link strengthens the one before it.

Example

Checks whether a GD point object has all three CRE fields filled in.

function hasClaimReasonEvidence(point) {
  const fields = ["claim", "reasoning", "evidence"];
  return fields.every((f) => typeof point[f] === "string" && point[f].trim().length > 0);
}
// Example: hasClaimReasonEvidence({ claim: "Public transit funding should increase.", reasoning: "", evidence: "Ridership rose 18% last year." }) -> false

Guided exercise

Guided exercise

Write isCompleteArgument(point) where point is { claim: string, reasoning: string, evidence: string }. Return true only if: (1) all three fields are non-empty after trimming; and (2) reasoning is not the same as claim when compared case-insensitively after trimming (reasoning must add something beyond just repeating the claim). Return false otherwise.

Checks: Accepts a claim with distinct reasoning and evidence · Rejects reasoning that just repeats the claim · plus 1 hidden check

Code editor. Press Escape then Tab to leave the editor if keyboard focus becomes trapped. Press Control+Shift+M inside the editor to toggle Tab-key focus trapping.

Loading editor…

Stuck? Get a hint.

Independent exercise

Independent exercise

Write buildsOnPreviousPoint(contribution) where contribution is { acknowledgesPriorPoint: boolean, isTopicRelevant: boolean, repeatsPriorPointVerbatim: boolean }. Return true only if acknowledgesPriorPoint is true AND isTopicRelevant is true AND repeatsPriorPointVerbatim is false. Return false otherwise.

Checks: Accepts a contribution that acknowledges, stays relevant, and adds something new · Rejects a contribution that never acknowledges the prior point · plus 1 hidden check

Code editor. Press Escape then Tab to leave the editor if keyboard focus becomes trapped. Press Control+Shift+M inside the editor to toggle Tab-key focus trapping.

Loading editor…

Stuck? Get a hint.

Common mistakes

  • Stating an opinion with no reasoning or evidence behind it, treating the claim alone as sufficient.
  • Offering 'reasoning' that just restates the claim in different words instead of explaining a real mechanism.
  • Drifting into a related but different, more comfortable topic instead of staying on the discussion's actual subject.
  • Repeating your own earlier point in different words instead of engaging with what other participants have said.

Knowledge check

Knowledge check

1. What are the three parts of the claim-reasoning-evidence structure for a GD point?
2. What's wrong with reasoning that simply restates the claim in different words?
3. What does it mean to 'build on' another participant's point rather than just repeating your own?

Takeaway

A GD contribution is only as strong as its weakest link — a claim with no reasoning, or reasoning with no evidence, leaves the group nothing to actually evaluate.

Summary

A well-structured GD point states a claim, explains the reasoning behind it, and supports that reasoning with concrete evidence, while staying on the discussion's actual topic. Building on another participant's point — referencing what they said and adding something new — is what keeps a discussion functioning as a conversation rather than parallel monologues.

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