Live interview programs, especially those involving more than one interviewee and more particularly those that include comments from callers or online comments, are improvisational in nature. Even the...

Live interview programs, especially those involving more than one interviewee and more particularly those that include comments from callers or online comments, are improvisational in nature. Even the host, who is ostensibly in charge, cannot be sure where the program will end or how it will get there. The host must also monitor the passing of time. How do the constraints of this rhetorical context influence the messages or arguments that can be offered? (Chapter 1 considers rhetorical situations.) Based on studying this transcript and perhaps your own experience, what kinds of responses to questions from interviewees or comments by listeners are most effective? Which are least effective? What can you learn about shaping effective arguments from considering these questions?