We have already described the two main goals of technical presentations as either informing or persuading the audience. Seldom does a technical presentation fall entirely in one category: a technical presentation which is given simply to inform could be replaced by a report; however, seldom will the entire audience be aware of all aspects relating to the topic and will therefore have some informative aspect.
In reality, almost all presentations will require the speaker to persuade the audience on a number of points. Persuasion may be achieved through either an appeal to reason or an appeal to emotion. The persuasive arguments of a technical presentation should fall entirely in the first category. The means of appealing to reason include: