Sustaining interest is also important. If you look at stories and stand up sets, there's an alternation between tension and release. In an argument, a challenging statement creates tension; resolving it is release. Meanwhile, with each such scene or joke, background is implicitly built up for a larger payoff later on.
Another aspect of this is explicitly addressing counter-arguments that arise in the reader's mind. If left dangling too long, the doubt is annoying for the reader. One problem is you don't know which specific counter-argument each specific reader is thinking of. So you corral them. You implicitly provoke this counter-argument, so when you address it, it's satisfying for the reader. By deliberately leaving open this specific counter-argument, and subtly suggesting it, you only have to deal with that specific one, at that point, for all readers. You lead them to objections, then resolve them.
Finally, if you finish a "scene" with another question, it propels the reader into the next stage of the argument.
BTW if you're not writing, but talking to one person, a crucial part of leading them to your conclusion is to find out where they are. Like giving directions to someone who's lost, they won't make sense if you don't know where they are. For an argument, it's their current view, what issues concern them, what perspective they have, and perhaps what misunderstandings they have. To convince, you should listen more than talk.
NB. All this is a lot of work, and mostly I can't be bothered.
Another aspect of this is explicitly addressing counter-arguments that arise in the reader's mind. If left dangling too long, the doubt is annoying for the reader. One problem is you don't know which specific counter-argument each specific reader is thinking of. So you corral them. You implicitly provoke this counter-argument, so when you address it, it's satisfying for the reader. By deliberately leaving open this specific counter-argument, and subtly suggesting it, you only have to deal with that specific one, at that point, for all readers. You lead them to objections, then resolve them.
Finally, if you finish a "scene" with another question, it propels the reader into the next stage of the argument.
BTW if you're not writing, but talking to one person, a crucial part of leading them to your conclusion is to find out where they are. Like giving directions to someone who's lost, they won't make sense if you don't know where they are. For an argument, it's their current view, what issues concern them, what perspective they have, and perhaps what misunderstandings they have. To convince, you should listen more than talk.
NB. All this is a lot of work, and mostly I can't be bothered.