Counterargument Inoculation

There is a name for doing this well: inoculation. By raising the strongest objection yourself and answering it first, you let the audience weigh it on your terms — so it carries far less force when an opponent brings it up later.

Trial lawyers master this approach. A defense attorney who names the prosecution's strongest evidence and then explains it away is far more persuasive than one who pretends that evidence does not exist. The jury trusts the attorney who acknowledged the difficulty more than the one who avoided it.