When you’re trying to debunk some false claim or persuasively refute a particular argument, you’ll be more effective if you don’t present your evidence all at once. Instead, try to do it more gradually.
A 2011 study found that people find evidence to be stronger when it is presented one at a time.
The researchers, using a computer animation, asked participants to make a probability judgment. A pond was filled with fish from one of two lakes, and participants had to guess which lake the fish came from. Lake 1 had mostly white fish, and some black and yellow. Lake 2 had mostly black fish.
The study found that participants were more likely to think that the fish came from a particular pond when the fish was added one at a time as compared to all at once.
The reason why the gradual presentation has a stronger effect, the study authors believe, is that the subjects most likely spend more time thinking about the evidence when it is presented gradually. This, in turn, makes the evidence stronger.
So if you have several pieces of evidence, it is better to present them gradually so as to give more time for people to absorb them.
References
Jennifer C. Whitman and Todd S. Woodward. “Evidence Affects Hypothesis Judgments More if Accumulated Gradually than if Presented Instantaneously.” Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, Vol. 18, 1156-1165 (2011).