Developing Critical

Listening Skills

Evaluating Evidence and

Information
Evidence

should be:

Relevant: relates directly to the

issue in question
Representative: the rule not the
exception
Recent: up-to-date facts and figures
Reliable: we must be able to
depend on the evidence
Confirmed by more than one source
Sources endorsed by experts

Facts, Inferences, and

Opinions
Facts:

verifiable units of
information that can be
confirmed by independent
observation
Inferences: assumptions or
projections based on incomplete
data
Opinions: add personal
judgments to facts and
inferences

Assessing the Credibility of

Sources
Where

does this information

come from?
Are these sources qualified to
speak on the topic?

Examining Rhetorical
Strategies
Demagogues:

speakers who
rely heavily on emotional appeals
to promote their agendas,
without regard to the accuracy or
adequacy of their claims
What are these speakers asking
us to ignore?