Thank You for Arguing what Aristotle, Lincoln and Homer Simpson can teach us

John Quicky Adams - rhetorical lectures at Harvard College from 1805 to 1809...rhetoric..it teaches us to argue without anger.

Rhetoric isnt really about 'good' versus 'bad' persuasion, only good outcomes.The ethics are up to the speaker...'A good man speaking well',  speaking well is manipulative.The good person does the manipulation for good.It's up to you to use the tools for good.

Introduction:OPEN YOUR EYES

Tip:
"You're right..you win.." ->Who got what he wanted?

Tip:
Answer someone who expresses doubt about your idea with 'Okay, lets tweak it'..A form of concession-rhetorical jujitsu that uses your opponent's moves to your advantage

The ancients considered rhetoric the essential skill of leadership-knowledge...that they placed it at the center of higher education.

Aristotle's three traits of credible leadership: virtue, disinterest and practical wisdom

Tip:

Syncrisis: Reframes an argument by redefining it: "Not manipulation-instruction"

Tip:
The Romans were using. 'But wait, there's more..' ..amplification - an essential rhetorical tactic that turns up the volume as you speak.
You can amplify by layering your points:'Not only do we have this, but we also...'

Cicero's five step method for constructing a speech- invention, arrangement, style,memory and delivery

Great argument does not always mean elaborate speech...The most effective rhetoric disguises its art...

I resist stoically...

'argumentum a fortiori' :argument from strength -> if something works the hard way, it's more likely to work the easy way.

Tip:
Seduction is a great pacifier
When justice wasn't blind: Aristotle said that emotion trumps logic.A famous Roman orator proved this...to defend a beautiful priestess charged with prostitution...When the trial appeared to be going badly, the orator  made the young woman stand in the middle of the forum, where he tore off her clothes...the all male jury acquitted her.

Seduction is manipulation, manipulation is half of argument...it can bring you consensus.

Aristotle...Logic alone will rarely get people to do anything.They have to desire the act.

Tip:
John F. Kennedy deployed a chiasmus during his inaugural address -'ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country'

Present a decision with a chiasmus by using a mirror image of your first choice. 
'Either we control expenses or let expenses control us'

Offense: SET YOUR GOALS

"Aphrodite spoke and loosened from her bosom the embroidered girdle of many colours...In it was love and in it desire and in it blandishing persuasion which steals the mind even of the wise" Homer

The happy ones argued, the unhappy ones faught...

Tip:

If you actually get someone to agree with you, test her commitment.Ask "Now what do you think you ll say if someone brings up this issue?"

Tip:
To win a deliberative argument, dont try to outscore your opponent.Try instead to get your way.

“► Argument Tool
THE GOAL: Ask yourself what you want at the end of an argument. Change your audience’s mind? Get it to do something or stop doing it? If it works, then you’ve won the argument, regardless of what your opponent thinks.”

Rhetoric has a name for debating that seeks to win points: eristic

Tip:
Concede your opponent's point in order to win what you want.

...one way to get people to agree with you is to agree with them—tactically, that is. Agreeing up front does not mean giving up the argument.

Marcus Tullius Cicero, he came up with three goals for persuading people:
-Stimulate your audience's emotion (change mood)
-Change its opinion (change mind)
-Get it to act (desire to act)

...By changing your audience’s emotion, you make them more vulnerable to your argument—put them in the mood to listen

...Next time ask the sales staff to show you the mid-priced version first.Then go up or down in price...

Besides using desire to motivate an audience, you need to convince it that an action is no big deal...

Tools:
-Set your personal goal
-Set your goals for your audience.

•  mood
•  mind
•  willingness to carry out what you want.

Offense:CONTROL THE TENSE

What is the issue?
According to Aristotle:
-Blame
-Values
-Choice

Blame=Past, Values=Present, Choice=Future

“► Persuasion Alert
Absolute Truth demands a different kind of argument, one the philosophers called “dialectic” It seeks to discover things, not talk people into them.”

Aristotle, who devised a form of rhetoric for each of the tenses,liked the future best of all.

• The rhetoric of the past, he said, deals with issues of justice.This is the judicial argument of the courtroom..forensic...threatens punishment.
• The rhetoric of the present handles praise and condemnation, separating the good from the bad, distinguishing groups from other groups...It is the communal language, funeral orations and sermons.It celebrates heroes or condemns a common enemy...When a leader has trouble confronting the future,you hear similar tribal talk...Aristotle's term for this...demonstrative (epideictic) rhetoric, because ancient orators used it to demonstrate their fanciest techniques.
• The rhetoric of the future,  he called it as deliberative, because it argues about choices and helps us to decide how to meet our mutual goals...This is the most pragmatic kind of rhetoric.It skips right and wrong, good and bad, in favor of expedience...rhetoric of decision making to the future.

Tip:

If you find yourself a victim, refocus the issue on future choices:

'How is blaming me going to help us get the next contract?'

Tip:

If you re competing against a superior company or candidate, use the future tense against your opponent:

'you've heard a lot of past accomplishments and how great my opponent is, but lets talk about the future: what do you want done?'

Tip:

Propose an extreme choice first.It will make the one you want sound more reasonable.

By turning the argument back to choices, the man keeps it from getting too personal and possibly her off balance...

Tip:

Cicero used digressions to change the tone and rhythm of an argument.

..by describing a persuasive trick in the middle of my description of tenses...

Tip:

'What should we do about it?'

The past and present can help you make a point, but any argument involving a decision eventually has to turn to the future

A good persuader anticipates the audience's objections...

Deliberative argument can use facts, but it must not limit itself to them...Facts do not exist in the future....All we have for the future is conjecture or choices, not facts....Deliberation is the rhetoric of choice..it deals with decisions

Tip:
If you reply, “That’s just wrong!” to an argument, you use demonstrative, values rhetoric. If you reply, “On the other hand,” then your argument has a chance of making a choice.

Tip:

...Tribal talk deals with present...political talk deals with the future.

Tip:

People like choices more than they like being told they don't measure up...

Tip:

If an argument bogs down in the past or present tense, switch it to future

'You're all making good points to, but how are we going to..? ..make sure question is favourable to your side...

Tip:

Never debate the undebatable.

Tools:

-Control the issue

• blame
• values
• choice -The most productive arguments use choice...solve a problem to your audience's (and your) advantage

-Control the clock

       In a debate over choices, make sure it turns to the future.

Offense:SOFTEN THEM UP

"Audi partem alteram" - Hear the other side (St. Augustine)

Aristotle's three most powerful tools of persuasion:

• Argument by character
• Argument by logic
• Argument by emotion

...following Cicero, who claimed humor was one of the most persuasive of all rhetoric passions...

Aristotle..logos, ethos and pathos...

Logos is argument by logic...is not just following the rules of logic, it is a set of techniques that use what the audience is thinking

Ethos...argument by character, employs the persuader's personality, reputation, and ability to look trustworthy..lying isnt just wrong, it's unpersuasive...'A person's life persuades better than his word.'

Pathos..argument by emotion...you can persuade someone logically, but.. getting him out of chair to act takes something more combustible....

Tip:

...A successful persuader must learn how to read audience's emotions.

Logos, ethos, and pathos appeal to the brain, gut, and heart of your audience. While our brain tries to sort the facts, our gut tells us whether we can trust the other person, and our heart makes us want to do something about it. They form the essence of effective persuasion.

Tip:

If you want to get a commitment out of the meeting, take stock of your proposal’s logos, pathos, and ethos: Do my points make logical sense? Will the people in the room trust what I say? How can I get them fired up for my proposal at the end?

Cicero..a genuine emotion persuades more than a faked one.

Tip:

Logos, pathos, and ethos usually work together to win an argument...By using your opponent’s logic and your audience’s emotion, you can win over your audience with greater ease.

Logos: ...let's master the most powerful logos tool of all: concession

Tip:

To persuade people—to make them desire your choice and commit to the action you want—you need all the assets in the room, and one of the best resources comes straight from your opponent’s mouth.

Pathos:...Sympathy: Share your listeners’ mood.

“► Try This

Aristotle said that every point has its flip side. That's the trick to concession...When a spouse says "We hardly ever go out anymore", he says: "That's because I want you all to myself."

Tools:
-Logos...concession, using the opponent's argument to your own advantage.
-Pathos...sympathy
-Ethos...character, Aristotle called this the most important appeal of all

Offense:GET THEM LIKE YOU -(Ethos)

An agreeable ethos matches the audience’s expectations for a leader’s tone, appearance, and manners. The ancient Romans coined a word to describe this kind of character-based agreeability: decorum

Decorum: Your audiences find you agreeable if you meet their expectations. Latin word meant "fit" as in suitable...Decorum is the art of the appropriate.

Tip:

To show proper decorum, act the way your audience expects you to act—not necessarily like your audience.

Tip:
Before you walk in front of people of a different culture or social group, try to reach a member of the audience a few days before.

Tip:
Always dress one step above your rank...

“► Try This
If you have to address more than one audience, make two outlines:one for the content and the other for occasions. List the people who should be at each occasion, with a chart for what they believe and expect.Adjust your speech accordingly.

The man who first said, "Style makes the man".It doesn't. Style makes the occasion.

Tip:
Persuasion isnt about me.It's about the beliefs and expectations of my audience.

Tools:
-Decorum. Argument by character starts with your audience's love...Cicero listed first among the ethical tactics

Offense:MAKE THEM LISTEN-(Ethos)

“The argument which is made by a man’s life is of more weight than that which is furnished by words." Isocrates

“► Argument Tool
The perfect audience: Receptive, attentive, and well disposed toward you.”

Aristotle’s three essential qualities of a persuasive ethos:

• Virtue, or cause. The audience believes you share their values.
• Practical wisdom, or craft. You appear to know the right thing to do on every occasion.
• Disinterest. This means not lack of interest but lack of bias; you seem to be impartial, caring only about the audience’s interests rather than your own.”

Values change from audience to audience...

“► Persuasion Alert
Interrupting yourself (“Hey, pal…”) to address a different audience, even a virtual one, keeps your original audience on its toes.”

Tip:

The point of rhetoric isn’t to transform you into a better person—or a worse one, for that matter—but to make you argue more effectively.

Tip:

You can’t talk a prejudiced person directly out of a prejudice. But you can dissuade him from its harmful results. If he says, “All foreign Arabs in the United States should have their green cards taken away,” talk about a specific person who would be affected, and describe values that you all have in common.

Tip:

BRAGGING: Use it only if your audience appreciates boastful hyperbole in the mode of Muhammad Ali.

Aristotle said that character references beat your own bragging. 

Tip:

Instead of bragging about your experience, use a shill. Get an ally to ask you in the meeting, “Didn’t you work at an Internet company?

Tip:

TACTICAL FLAW: Reveal a weakness that wins sympathy or shows the sacrifice you have made for the cause.

Turn it into a tactical flaw by attributing your error to something noble.

“Washington: Forgive me, gentlemen, for my eyes have grown dim in the service of my country.”

"My mistake.I wrote it last night and didn't want to wake the others to check the facts."

Tip:

OPINION SWITCH: When an argument is doomed to go against you, heartily support the other side.

Tools:

Virtue.  Rhetoric is an agnostic art; it requires more adaptation than righteousness. You adapt to the values of your audience.

Value. Rhetorical values do not represent necessarily rightness or truth

• Brag - Get a witness to brag for you.
• Reveal a tactical flaw.
• Switch sides when you know you'll lose.

Offense:USE YOUR CRAFT-(Ethos)

“They should rule who are able to rule best” - ARISTOTLE 

Persuasion starts with understanding what they believe,sympathising with their feelings, and fitting in with their expectations - logos, pathos and ethos.

Practical wisdom... sharing your audience’s values is not sufficient. They also have to believe that you know the right thing to do at that particular moment....

The audience should consider you a sensible person, as well as sufficiently knowledgeable to deal with the problem at hand. In other words, they believe you know your particular craft.

To get an audience to trust your decision, you can use three techniques:

• Show off your experience - In an argument, experience usually trumps book learning. 

• Bend the rules - If the rules don’t apply, don’t apply them

• Seem to take the middle - In an argument, it helps to make the audience think your adversary’s position is an extreme one.

Tip:

Describe the benefits of your choice, make it seem easy to do, and show how it beats the other options. You might even keep your audience in suspense, not telling them your choice until you have dealt with the alternatives. Rhetoric is most effective when it leads an audience to make up their own minds.

Tip:

Machiavelli said that inconsistency is a useful leadership tool—it keeps the ruler’s subjects off guard....made them listen more closely, if only because they had no idea what would come out of my mouth.

Tools:
The crafty rhetorician seems to have the right combination of book learning and practical experience, both knowledge and know-how.

• Show off your experience
• Bend the rules.
• Seem to take the middle

Offense: SHOW YOUR CARE -(Ethos)

“To be not as eloquent would be more eloquent.—CHRISTOPH MARTIN WIELAND”

Tip:

Cicero mentioned an excellent tactic to hype your objectivity: Seem to deal reluctantly with something you are really eager to prove.

THE RELUCTANT CONCLUSION: Act as though you felt compelled to reach your conclusion, despite your own desires.

Tip:

Act as if the choice you advocate hurts you personally.

“The company probably won’t give me credit for this idea, boss, but I’m still willing to put in the hours to make it work. It’s just too good to ignore.”

“Look, kid, I hate Brussels sprouts, too. But I’ve learned to eat them because they make me smart.”

Tip:

The best trick of all: make it seem you have no tricks.

One of the chief rhetoricians of the early Roman Empire, a Spaniard named Quintilian, explained, “A speaker might choose to feign helplessness by pretending to be uncertain how to begin or proceed with his speech. This makes him appear, not so much as a skilled master of rhetoric, but as an honest man.”

Tip:

Don’t try to calm your butterflies; use them. Keep in mind that an audience will sympathise with a clumsy speaker—it’s a first-rate tactical flaw. And employ just one technique: gradually speak louder. You will sound as if you’re gaining confidence from the sheer rightness of your speech’s contents. I have used this tool myself (sometimes out of sheer stage fright), and it works...When you give a talk to a group, begin hesitantly, and gradually get smoother as you go.

Tip:

You can use a subtler form of dubitatio in a one-on-one argument. It works like this: when your partner finishes talking, look down. Speak softly and slowly until you’re ready to make your main point. Then stare intently into the eyes of the other person. Get the technique right, and it can convey passionate sincerity.

DUBITATIO: Don’t look tricky. Seem to be in doubt about what to say.

Tools:

-The reluctant conclusion

-The personal sacrifice

-Dubitatio - Show doubt in your own rhetorical skill. The plainspoken, seemingly ingenuous speaker is the trickiest of them all, being the most believable.

In argument, you don’t rest on your personality and reputation, you perform them. Ethos is not karma; you can start afresh with your cause, craft, and caring in every argument.

Does this seem unethical? Not in the original sense of ethos. Paying attention to the attitude of your audience, sharing their trials and values, makes you agreeable—both literally and figuratively.

Offense:CONTROL THE MOOD

Pathos means more than just “feelings” in the emotional sense. It also has to do with physical sensations—what a person feels or, more precisely, suffers. (The Greeks were into suffering.)

“That argument won’t work, sweetheart. It isn’t pathetic enough.”

...An argument can't be rhetorically pathetic unless it's sympathetic.

Aristotle, that rational old soul, preferred to modify people’s emotions through their beliefs. Emotions actually come from belief, he said—about what we value, what we think we know, and what we expect.

Tip:

Emotion comes from experience and expectation—what your audience believes has happened, or will take place in the future. The more vividly you give the audience the sensations of an experience, the greater the emotion you can arouse.

Tip:
When you want to change someone’s mood, tell a story.

Tip:
Aristotle said that one of the most effective mood changers is a detailed narrative. The more vivid you make the story, the more it seems like a real experience, and the more your audience will think it could happen again.

STORYTELLING=> The best way to change an audience’s mood. Make it directly involve you or your audience.

Storytelling works for every kind of emotion, including humor

“You know, I was on this plane once. And I’m sittin’ there and the captain comes on and is like, “We’ll be cruising at thirty-five thousand feet,” and does his thing, then he puts the mike down but forgets to turn it off. Then he says, “Man, all I want right now is [insert name of unmentionable sex act here] and a cup of coffee.” So the stewardess goes runnin’ up towards the cockpit to tell him the mike’s still on, and this guy in the back of the plane goes, “Don’t forget the coffee!”

Tip:
“This may sound familiar.” Comedians use this technique all the time, because emotions are linked to the familiar

Besides storytelling, pathos depends on self-control.

Tip:
EMOTIONAL VOLUME CONTROL: Don’t visibly exaggerate your emotions. Let your audience do that for you.

Cicero’s dictum that a good pathetic argument is understated. When you argue emotionally, speak simply. 

“► Argument Tool
THE PATHETIC ENDING: Emotion works best at the end.”

Let emotion build gradually. Aristotle said that you can turn it up loudest in a speech before a large crowd; logos and ethos are your main strengths in a one-on-one argument, he said. But even when you harangue a political convention, your emotions will work best in gradually increasing doses.

Tip:

When you want action to come out of argument, your most useful emotions arouse people’s tribal instincts...Aristotle listed anger, patriotism, and emulation among emotions that can get an audience out of its seats and make it do what you want.

Tip:

THE BELITTLEMENT CHARGE: Show your opponent dissing your audience’s desires.->Anger

PATRIOTISM: Rouse your audience’s group feelings by showing a rival group’s success, or by disrespecting its territory or symbols.

EMULATION: Provide only the kind of role model your audience already admires.

DESIRE: Exploiting your audience’s lust for something (flowers, bikinis) can push them from changing their mind to taking action.

All of the most persuasive emotions—humor, anger, patriotism, and emulation—work best in a group setting.

Tools:

-Belief

-Storytelling

-Volume control

-Simple speech

-Anger

-Patriotism

-Emulation

-Unannounced emotion

-Desire or lust

-Persuasion gaps

Offense:TURN THE VOLUME DOWN

“► Argument Tool
THE PASSIVE VOICE: Pretend that things happened on their own. You didn’t track mud across the living room floor. Mud was tracked across the living room floor.”


The passive voice encourages passivity. It calms the audience, which makes it a great pathos trick.

“► Argument Tool
COMFORT, OR “COGNITIVE EASE”: When your audience’s brain is on autopilot, it’s more susceptible to persuasion.”

The brain, it turns out, basically operates in two gears, System One and System Two. System One works on autopilot, operating instinctively...“System Two is the Thinker, the one who cogitates, “who works on the hard problems.

Tips:
The most important way to use System One with an angry person is to keep everything simple.
While you’re talking, try to make your audience feel powerful. Give them a sense of self-control...the right answer offers a choice.

“What a jerk. Why don’t I pour you some wine? Red or white?”

Just the act of smiling seems to help System One engage.

Humor also works to assuage anger.

Urbane humor depends on an educated audience; it relies on wordplay.

Banter is a form of attack and defense consisting of clever insults and snappy comebacks.

“ELDER: What are you barking at, pup? YOUNG MAN: I see a thief.”

"LADY ASTOR: Winston, if you were my husband, I’d flavor your coffee with poison.
CHURCHILL: Madam, if I were your husband, I should drink it."

A riskier, sneakier, and far more enjoyable technique seems to head in the opposite direction: set a backfire.


“ARTIE: Do me a favor. Just kick my ass, okay? Kick this ass for a man, that’s all. ”

Tools:

Passive voice. If you want to direct an audience’s anger away from someone, imply that the action happened on its own.

Comfort. Also known as cognitive ease. Keep your audience in an easy, docile, instinct state, and your persuasion goes down more easily.

Humor. Laughter is a wonderful calming device, and it can enhance your ethos if you use it properly.

Emotional refusal. When being bullied or heckled, refuse to show the emotion the bully wants. Gain the audience’s sympathy by trying to look calm and above it all.

Backfire. You can calm an individual’s emotion in advance by overplaying it yourself. This works especially well when you screw up

11.GAIN THE HIGH GROUND

“Speech is the leader of all thoughts and actions.” ISOCRATES

“► Argument Tool

“In deliberative argument, you need to convince your audience that the choice you offer is the most advantageous—to the advantage of the audience, that is, not you.”

“Aristotle maintained that the person most affected by a decision makes the best judge of it. The diner is more qualified to judge a dish than the chef....While the decision is up to the audience, the burden of proof is on you. To prove your point, start with something your audience believes or wants.”

Try:
“Many debates divide between morals and the advantageous. In politics, the advantageous usually wins in the long run (statecraft is a selfish art). If you believe in military action to depose violent dictators, for example, argue the morals of your side, but spend more time showing how your country would benefit. You’re more likely to win your point.”

“► Argument Tool
BABBLING: What Aristotle calls an arguer’s tendency to repeat himself over and over. This reveals the bedrock of your audience’s opinion.

“► Argument Tool
COMMONPLACE: Use it as the jumping-off point of your argument-“—a viewpoint your audience holds in common”

Try:
“Suppose you want to encourage students graduating from an elite private liberal arts college to enlist in the military. Use the audience’s commonplaces, not the military’s. Instead of “A strong nation is a peaceful nation,” say, “Our armed forces can use independent, critical thinkers.”

Try:
“Rhetorical framing is all about commonplaces. If you can define an issue in language that’s familiar and comfortable to your audience, you will capture the higher ground. What does your audience hold most dear: Safety or risk? Lifestyle or savings? Education or instinct?”

“► Argument Tool
THE REJECTION: An audience will often say no in the form of a commonplace. You now have your new starting ground—provided you can continue the argument.

“KATHY (doing perfect stone wall impression): If the Democrats get elected, my taxes will go up. And I just don’t want them to.”

“ANNIE: Oh, I know what you mean. The taxes I pay are unbelievable!”
“ANNIE: You know what, though? Mine are high and we have a Republican governor and legislature. They’re all alike, aren’t they, Kath?
“ANNIE: I’ll tell you what, Kathy. Both parties promise they won’t raise taxes. I want you to do something for me. I’ll email you a link to a website that talks about what the deficit will do to your taxes. Will you look at it for me?”

Useful Figure
The anadiplosis (“She will stand her ground, and that ground…”) builds one thought on top of another by taking the last word of a clause and using it to begin the next clause. Ben Franklin uses it famously: “For want of a shoe the horse was lost, for want of a horse the rider was lost…” It turns your argument into an unstoppable juggernaut of logic.”

Tools:
• The advantageous. This is the über-topic of deliberative argument, persuasion that deals with choices and the future. The other forms of rhetoric cover right and wrong, good and bad. Deliberative argument talks about what is best for the audience. That is where persuasion comes in; you make the audience believe your own choice to be the advantageous one.
• The commonplace. Any cliché, belief, or value can serve as your audience’s boiled-down public opinion. This is the starting point of your argument, the ground the audience currently stands on. Logos makes them think that your own opinion is a very small step from their commonplace.
• Babbling. When your audience repeats the same thing over and over, it is probably mouthing a commonplace.
• The commonplace label. Apply a commonplace to an idea, a proposal, or a piece of legislation; anyone who opposes it will risk seeming like an outsider.
• The rejection. Another good commonplace spotter. When your audience turns you down, listen to the language it uses; chances are you will hear a commonplace. Use it when the argument resumes.

OFFENSE: Persuade on Your Terms

How to define the issue in your favor

Framing helps you reset any disagreement, letting you put the topic—and your opponent—exactly where you want them.

What exactly is a frame? Think of it as the box that contains an argument. It sets the bounds of discussion.

One great way to reframe is to challenge the frame.

LITTLE SISTER: Is this really about peanut butter? Tell me what’s wrong.

Framing is all about definitions, and definitions are all about swapping around terms.

Your job as a persuader is to find the commonplace words that appeal most to your audience—or, if you’re on the attack, repel them. 

► Argument Tool FRAMING: The same thing as defining an issue. Find the persuadable audience’s commonplaces. Define the issue in the broadest context. Then deal with the specific problem at hand, using the future tense. 

As always, the most persuadable audience is the one in the middle.

Once you have your commonplaces nailed down, you want to make sure that the issue covers as broad a context as possible.

TRY THIS AT WORK A broad context trumps a narrow one in a political situation; this includes office politics. Suppose the company wants to merge your department with one headed by an idiot. How should you define the issue? In terms of fairness? The manager’s competence? Or your department’s ability to produce more as an independent entity? Productivity is the broadest of the three issues, because it appeals to the widest array of company managers.

TRY THIS AT HOME You can frame a family issue broadly by appealing to the values you know everyone shares. If your kids accuse you of working late too often, don’t say, “That’s what puts the food on the table.” The alternative, starvation, is probably unimaginable to well-fed children. Say instead, “I’m working late so we can go to Disney World.” 

TRY THIS IN THE OFFICE Arguments don’t just attach labels to people; they also label everything you do at home or work. If a coworker labels your idea “unoriginal,” say, “Sure, in the sense that it’s already been used successfully.” Better to use concession—employ your opponent’s language—than to deny it. “Sure” trumps “No, it’s not.” 

► Argument Tool STANCE: The technical name is “status theory.” Status is Latin for “stance.” It comes from the stance wrestlers would take at the beginning of a match. The technique is a fallback strategy: fact, definition, quality, relevance. If the first won’t work, fall back on the second, and so on.

If facts work in your favor, use them. If they don’t (or you don’t know them), then… Redefine the terms instead. If that won’t work, accept your opponent’s facts and terms but… Argue that your opponent’s argument is less important than it seems. And if even that isn’t to your advantage… Claim the discussion is irrelevant.

After you choose your commonplaces and define the issue in a way that directly concerns the largest audience, switch the tense.

Tools:

Here are the specific techniques for labeling: 

• Term changing. Don’t accept the terms your opponent uses. Insert your own. 

• Redefinition. Accept your opponent’s terms while changing their connotation. 

• Definition jujitsu. If your opponent’s terms actually favor you, use them to attack. 

• Definition judo. Use terms that contrast with your opponent’s, creating a context that makes them look bad. 

Here are the framing techniques:

• First, find audience commonplace words that favor you.

• Next, define the issue in the broadest context—one that appeals to the values of the widest audience. 

• Then deal with the specific problem or choice, making sure you speak in the future tense.

Stance...

Facts - Definition - Quality - Relevance