38 Ways To Win An Argument | Page 6

y re fu te d.
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If you r oppon en t i s m ak ing a gen era li za tion , find an in sta n ce to th e con tr a ry.
O nly on e vali d con tr a d ic ti on is nee ded to ov erth ro w th e oppon en t's propo siti on.
E xam ple : " All ru m in an ts are ho rn ed, " i s a gen era liz ati on th at m ay b e up se t by th e sing le in sta n ce of th e
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A bril li a n t m ov e is to tu rn th e ta b le s and u se you r oppon en t's argu men ts ag ain st him se lf .
E xam ple : Y ou r oppon en t dec la re s: " so and so is a ch ild, y ou m ust m ak e an all ow an ce fo r him ."
Y ou re to rt, "Ju st bec au se he is a c hil d, I m ust co rre c t him; oth erw is e he w ill pers is t i n h is bad h ab it s."
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S hou ld you r opp onen t sup ris e you by b eco mi ng p arti cu la rly ang ry at an argu men t, you must urg e it
w ith all th e m ore z eal.
N o on ly will t his m ak e you r oppon en t an gry, bu t it w ill app ear th at yo u h av e pu t you r fing er on th e
w ea k sid e of his ca se , and you r oppon en t i s m ore op en to att ac k on th is po in t th an you exp ecte d.
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W hen th e aud ie n ce c onsis ts of ind iv idu als (o r a pers on ) w ho is no t an exp ert on a sub je ct, you mak e
a n inv ali d ob jec tion to you r oppon en t w ho se e m s to b e defe ate d in th e ey es of th e aud ie n ce.
T his s tr a te gy is parti cu la rly eff ec tive if you r ob je c ti on mak es you r oppon en t look rid ic u lou s or if th e
a ud ie n ce la ugh s.
If you r op pon en t m ust m ak e a long, wind ed and co m pli ca te d exp la n ati on to co rr ect you, th e aud ie n ce
w ill no t be dis po se d to liste n to h im.
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If you find th at you are being b ea te n, you ca n cre ate a div