Quotes from the book "Win every argument" By Mehdi Hasan

I didn't know much about this author, picked up the book, and then went back and watched some of his debates on TV, very strong orator, argumentative, and most of all excellent hard worker. He does a lot of background work before every important interview. 

This book is better suited as an audiobook than an ebook or handbook, as the author curated live interview audio snippets for his examples. Here are some of the interesting quotes from his book


It's better to debate and settle than settle and debate. 

You have to grab attention in the first 8 seconds. Make the most important point first, Leave the knowledge gap/curiosity, and start with insightful questions or jokes. 


Know your audience, quote folks with whom they resonate, and what they are seeking. Like Ronald Regan's quote about immigration to the audience, if you are debating about immigration in front of a conservative audience.


These are the three most important things in an argument

  • Ethos: Credibility, establish credibility with the audience. if you are talking about viruses, quote doctors, not bloggers.
  • Pathos: Emotions, if you are talking about vaccines, talk about families that left behind kids without taking vaccines. 
  • Logos: Reasoning, If you are talking about Dr's peer-reviewed study which says 90% of hospitalizations are reduced. Thats logic.

 

Stay calm in arguments: deep breaths, laughing ( find humor in your situation), keep calm carry on. 


Work on 4 Ps, pitch, power, pace, pose. 


Preparation is key, brainstorming, research, and role-play. If you have to talk for one hour you don't need much preparation but if you want to talk for 1 minute you need a lot of preparation.  


See everybody seeing, think nobody thought. 


Research means Googling beyond page 1. You can start with Wiki but don't end with it. 

 

3 things in the closing argument: Quotes, humanized anecdotes, and a heartfelt call to action. 


They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel. 


Don't bring a new argument at the end, the end is for summarizing. 


Humans are feeling machines that think.


Abruptness is bad, and Tardiness is worst in ending speeches. 


Happy Reading !!!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dhirubhai Notorious or Famous???????

This article is about a legend called Dhirubhai. Ambani The collected information about Reliance founder Dhirubhai from book Polyster Prince (which is banned in INDIA) and from internet. These facts are eye openers for rotten politics or eye brow raisers for public or shot in the arm for Indian system or brain teasers for Tax / Finance authorities....... Whatever it is, a man dreamed for something achieved it, the path he chosen might be controversial but not the hard work he put for it, neither his capabilities nor his thoughts..... One thing for sure 2 generations before me they dont know about this guy , might be no body discusses about him after 2 generations, i am proud to be from the same historic period as he is..... His famous quotes: Think big, think fast, think ahead. Ideas are no one's monopoly "We cannot change our Rulers, but we can change the way they Rule Us. "Changing orbits is the key to our progress" Some Unofficial statements made by him : I dont
Read more

Sri Sri kavitha

Hi All, (From Sri Sri Mahaprashtanam.......) Nenokkadini Ontarini na gadilopala chikatilo , chikatilo na gadilo, na gadilo chikatilo... chikatilopala na gadi lo..... Nenokkadini nidraku veliyai kannulu nindina kaviri to , kaviri nindina kannulatho, kannulalo kaviri to..... Nenokkadini nidraku veliyai gundalu kappina kumpatitho, kumpati kappina gundelatho , gundalalo kumpati tho, kumpatilo gundelatho.... naa kanu godal, na kanu gonal baakulatho , baakulu kappina baatalatho, baatalalo baakulatho......
Read more

Excerpt from the book "Made to Stick"

Image
This is one of my favorite books this year. The authors in this book talk about 6 principles to make messaging stick.  S:  Simple: Find the core and share the core U: Unexpected: Get attention(Surprise), Hold Attention (Interest). C:  Concrete: Help people understand, remember and coordinate. C:  Credible: Help people Believe. External and internal credibility. E:  Emotional: Make people care through the power of association, self-interest, and appeal to Identity. S:  Stories: Get people to Act through simulation and inspiration. Golden Rule of Simplicity: A one-sentence statement so profound that an individual could spend a lifetime learning to follow it. People can be driven to irrational decisions by too much complexity and uncertainty. Simple messages are core and compact. We need to shift our thinking from "What information do I need to convey? to "What questions do I want my audience to ask ?" Curiosity comes from gaps in our knowledge. Statistics will, and should,
Read more