38 Ways To Win An Argument | Page 2

ch ang ing you r oppon en t's w ord s or w hat he or sh e se e k s to prov e.
E xam ple : C all so m eth ing by a diff ere n t nam e: "good re pu te " i nstea d o f "hono r," " vir tu e" i nste ad o f
" v ir g in it y, " " re d -b lood ed " in ste ad o f "v erte b ra te s" .
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S ta te you r propo siti on and sho w th e tr u th o f it by ask ing th e oppon en t m any qu estion s.
B y ask ing many wid e-r ea ch ing qu esti on s at on ce , you may h id e w hat you wan t t o g et ad m itt ed.
T hen you qu ic k ly p ropound th e argu men t re su lti ng from t he propon en t's ad mi ssion s.
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M ak e you r oppon en t ang ry.
A n ang ry pers on is le ss ca p ab le of usin g judg men t or perc eiv ing where his or her adv an ta g e lies.
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U se you r op pon en t's an sw ers to you r qu esti on to re ac h d if fe re n t or ev en oppo site con clu sion s.
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If you oppon en t an sw ers all you r qu esti on s neg ativ ely and re fu se s to g ra n t you any po in ts , ask h im
o r her to con ce d e th e oppo sit e of you r pre m is e s.
T his m ay con fu se th e oppon en t as to whic h po in t yo u ac tu all y se e k h im t o con ce d e.
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If th e oppon en t gra n ts you th e tr u th o f so m e of you r pre mi se s, re fr ain from ask ing h im or her to
a g re e to you r con clu sion.
L ate r, in tr odu ce you r con clu sion s as a se tt le d and ad m itt ed fac t.
Y ou r oppon en t and o th ers in att e nd an ce m ay co m e to b elie v e th at you r con clu sion was ad mi tt e d .
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If th e argu men t t urn s upon g en era l id eas w ith no p arti c u la r nam es, you must use la ngu ag e or a
m eta pho r th at i s fa vo ra b le to you r propo sit io n.
E xam ple : W hat an im parti al pers on wou ld ca ll " pub lic w ors h ip " or a "sy ste m of