illustrAtions: joey hi-fi. photogrAphy: DAve siDwell
win a debate
Mankind has studied the art of persuasion for thousands of
years. It’s not just for politiciansand lotharios – think how often
you need to get someone to accept your opinion. Here’s how…
for Benet Brandreth, barrister,
public-speaking champion
and an expert on rhetoric, debate
is a way of life. Here he provides
several rules of thumb to help even
the rankest amateur frame their
argument and make themselves understood.
“The starting point is to appreciate what
oral advocacy is not,” he says. “It is not a
conversation. The listener is not expected to
contribute. That said, a good speaker should
make the audience feel as though they are part
of a dialogue.”
1 keeP IT SIMPle,
STuPID
The audience needs
time to digest your
points, so simplify
your argument. Create
a road map so that
they can see where
they are going, see
where they have been,
and, if they get lost,
can find their way
back. the simpler the
argument, the more
persuasive it will be.
2 HaVe a
STruCTure
It is hard to convey
information in
argument and debate.
Certain structures
have in-built
advantages because
they complement
natural patterns,
or expectation, in
the audience.
> Triads. Divide your
list of points into
three. it is a powerful
natural structure and
makes it easy to
remember where
you are. it also
ensures that you keep
things simple.
> Q&A. raise an issue,
then solve it. this
mimics conversation.
As a listener, even
when you hear a
rhetorical question
part of you wants to
give an answer.
> Monroe’s Motivated
Sequence. Developed
in the 1930s by
princeton professor
Alan Monroe, this is
the ultimate pep talk:
Attention. get the
audience’s attention
by illustrating the big
problem in detail.
Need. show them how
the problem affects
them – “something
must be done”.
Satisfy. prove to them
that a solution exists.
Visualisation. tell
them in lurid detail
what will happen if
they do nothing.
Action. tell them how
they can put your
solution into effect.
3 GeT your
faCTS STraIGHT
nothing persuades
like examples. facts
rule. you may find
that just one fact is
enough to stop any
argument – we call
this “the ugly truth”.
Knowing what needs
to be proved is very
different from
knowing what the
other guy is trying to
show. it lets you
frame the debate and
fix what you are
arguing about, shifting
the burden of proof
and giving you control.
4 THeory anD
PaTTern
If you can’t win on the
facts, win on theory.
invest time in
recognising weak
patterns of argument
which crumble once
identified. some of
these are:
> Confusing
correlation with
causative relation.
> Defence by attack
– a powerful
technique, but you can
fight fire with fire.
> false dichotomy.
when presented with
just two alternatives,
simply point out the
third. if someone says,
“you’re either with us
or against us,” point
out that one could
also adopt a neutral
– or third – position
instead.
> Ad hominem.
shifting the argument
“to the man” (playing
him rather than the
ball) is illogical. A
well-known example
is the hitler gambit:
hitler was vegetarian
– do you really want
to adopt the same
practices as him?
> personal attacks.
seize on even the
most innocuous
remark, as any
personal slight gives
you moral high
ground.
5 GeT eMoTIonal
Buy-In
you get emotional
buy-in with examples,
metaphors and
similes. As with
writing scripts: show,
don’t tell. look at the
oratory of Martin
luther King, who
painted a picture
to convey fact by
saying people
“swelter in the heat of
oppression”. that
distils the situation
into a concrete
emotional reality
very effectively.
6 CHeaT
use false facts, but
quote a seemingly
authoritative source,
such as the economist
Intelligence unit.
Make reference to any
unusual graph shape
(the “streptococcal
Curve”, perhaps).
Benet Brandreth (artofrhetoric.com) is a
barrister and debating expert, a rhetoric
coach to the rsC, twice world student
public speaking Champion, and advocacy
trainer for the Middle temple.
Cut your
mobile
phone bill
in half
> GeT your PHone
TarIff rIGHT
Check your
statements and bill
package. If you’re
underusing your
airtime, text and data
allocation, switch to a
cheaper package with
mobilephonechecker.
co.uk or omio.com.
> Try a SIM-only
PaCkaGe
These are often much
cheaper than handset
packages – some
start at around £10
per month.
> If you’re on
IPHone, GeT THe
SkyPe aPP
free Skype-to-Skype
calling in Wi-fi zones.
> aVoID DIreCToryenQuIry
SerVICeS
you pay a fee (69p on
orange, for example)
– and pay again for
“call completion”.
> Don’T Call 08
nuMBerS
operators charge a
lot for these – 40p per
minute for T-Mobile.
Search saynoto0870.
com to find a landline.
> uSe a roaMInG
SuBSCrIPTIon
WHen you TraVel
They cost £2 or £3,
but a roaming
subscription will
reduce the price of
your calls by around
30 per cent. or get
an international sim,
which makes
incoming calls free
and outgoing ones
cheaper – try
sim4travel.com or
0044.co.uk (copy your
numbers to your
handset first). also
check out Globe
Dialer (globedialer.
com) – you save by
using its IP network
to make calls.
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