Avoid rhetorical questions
A rhetorical question is a question asked not as a genuine inquiry but rather to suggest something or to make a point.
An example of such a question is:
| Who could disagree with the statement that our political system is effective? |
What the questions suggests is that “No intelligent person can dispute that our political system is effective.”
There are a few problems here.
The main problem with this type of question is that almost always there is someone who will answer in a way you don’t anticipate. Another issue is that often such questions are used in place of careful argument, and they are a poor substitution.
Finally, they take up more space than it would take to simply state the point, and they lack the clarity and conviction of a good declarative statement.
