Win Every Argument: The Art of Debating, Persuading, and Public Speaking

by Mehdi Hasan

Philosophically, I consider argument and debate to be the lifeblood of democracy, as well as the only surefire way to establish the truth. Arguments can help us solve problems, uncover ideas we would’ve never considered, and hurry our disagreements toward (even begrudging) understanding.

“It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it.”

He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side; if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion.

Remember: anytime an audience is present, you cannot, cannot, afford to ignore them or take them for granted. The audience is the key. Even if you’re in a one-on-one debate, they are the people who have been described as “judge and jury.” They are who you’re trying to convince, persuade, and bring on board with your arguments.

These days you often hear the phrase “facts don’t care about your feelings.” The point is that the truth is the truth, and whether you want to believe it or not, the facts don’t lie. But in the realm of debate, it’s not so simple. Anyone who’s ever tried to change a friend’s mind and gotten nowhere has learned this all too well. You might have all your facts in hand, an argument that’s unassailable—and make no dent at all. People are stubborn, and wary, and reactive, and bored, and overconfident, and afraid of change—all at once.

Antonio Damasio, who heads the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California. “Humans are not either thinking machines or feeling machines,” says Damasio, “but rather feeling machines that think.”