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How to win any argument

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Home» Categories » Relationships » Managing Conflict and Difficult Interactions » Managing Arguments
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How to Always Win an Argument
Choosing Your ArgumentStructuring Your ArgumentAttacking their ArgumentStyling Your Argument
Edited by Ben Rubenstein, Jack Herrick, Glutted, Sondra C and 42 others

The rhetorical art of persuasion is a subtle and useful set of skills to master. Whether you like to debate for fun or are constantly being drawn into complicated arguments, these guidelines will help you negotiate an issue and convince your opponent.

EditPart 1 of 4: Choosing Your Argument
1Brainstorm reasons a particular claim may and may not be true.[1] For any particular topic, whether you've chosen it, been assigned it, or just feel like arguing it informally for no particular reason, generate as many arguments for and against a particular claim as possible. Eventually, you'll want to have a nuanced and complicated argument about a topic. Before you do that, though, you'll need to have some sense of the logical scope of the topic.
Say you're debating the general issue of gun control with someone. The base level of the argument is whether you're "against" gun control or "for" gun control as a policy, but really the issue is much more complicated than that. Before you even think about "choosing a side," start generating some probing questions that will narrow the issue and force you to define the terms.
What is meant by "gun control"? What is the scope of the argument, legally and geographically? What does it mean to be "for" it? What would it mean to be "against" it? Why might someone be for it? Why might someone be against it?

2Start backing up those reasons with evidence. But, wait--you may be asking: Why research the evidence for claims you may not even be making? Researching the evidence for both sides of an issue will be an integral part both of understanding,
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