Victor Alvin Ketcham

Victor Alvin Ketcham (1883–1947) was an American author remembered for books on argumentation, debate, and speech. His best-known title, The Theory and Practice of Argumentation and Debate, presents the basics of building a case, answering objections, and speaking effectively before an audience.

His writing has a straightforward, instructional quality that suggests he was deeply interested in teaching usable skills rather than theory alone. Another work associated with him, Make a Good Speech, points to the same practical concern: helping ordinary speakers become more organized, convincing, and self-assured.

Although detailed biographical information is not easy to confirm, his surviving books show a writer engaged with the craft of persuasion at a time when formal debate and public speaking were central parts of education. Today, his work offers a glimpse into how rhetoric and speech training were taught in the early 1900s.