38 Ways To Win An Argument | Page 7

ers ion --th at is , you can sudd en ly b eg in to
t a lk of so m eth ing els e , as though it had a bea ring on th e m att er in d is pu te .
T his m ay b e don e w it hou t pre su m pti on if th e div ers ion h as s om e gen era l bea ring on th e m att er.
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M ak e an app ea l to au tho rit y ra th er th an re ason.
If you r op pon en t re sp ects an au tho rity or an exp ert, quo te th at au tho rit y to fu rth er you r ca se .
If nee d ed, quo te w hat t he au th o rity sa id in so m e oth er se n se or cir c u m sta n ce .
A utho riti e s th at you r oppon en t fa il s to und ers ta nd are tho se w hic h h e gen era lly ad m ir e s th e m ost.
Y ou may als o, shou ld it be nec ess ary, no t on ly tw is t you r au tho rit ie s, bu t ac tu all y fa ls if y th em , o r quo te
s o m eth ing th at you h av e en ti r e ly inv en te d you rs e lf .
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If you kno w th at you h av e no re p ly to th e a rgu men ts th at you r oppon en t adv an ces, you by a find
s tr ok e of ir ony d ecla re you rs e lf to b e an in co m pete n t j udg e.
E xam ple : " What you sa y p ass es m y poo r po w ers of co m pre h en sion ; it m ay well be a ll very tr u e, bu t I
ca n't und ers ta nd it, and I re fr a in from any exp re ss io n of op in ion on it ."
I n th is w ay you in sinu ate to th e aud ie n ce , w ith who m you are in good re pu te , th at w hat you r oppon en t
s a y s is non se n se .
T his te chn iqu e m ay b e use d on ly when you are qu ite su re th at th e aud ie n ce th ink s m uch b ett er of you
t h an you r oppon en t.
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A qu ic k way o f getti ng rid o f an oppon en t's ass ertio n, o r of th ro w ing su sp ic ion on it, is by pu tti ng it
i n to so m e od iou s cate go ry.
E xam ple : Y ou ca n sa y, "T hat is fa sc is m " or "A th eis m " or "S up ers titi on. "
I n m ak ing an ob je cti on o f th is kind you ta k e fo r gra n te d
1 )T hat t he ass erti on o r qu esti on is id