Change doesn’t come from merely being right, it’s also achieved through your conduct.
You might have the facts, be well read on the subject and an expert in your field, but if you cannot communicate this effectively, you may never find the success you want.
Because winning a debate, whether in real life, or in the comments of this very page, is not about turning all your guns onto an opponent and ‘totally owing them’ through fire power, reams of data, and shear force alone.
In fact, such techniques usually have the opposite effect – entrenched ideas, resentment and alienation.
Changing minds often comes through time, humility and allowing the other person to back down and see their shortcomings, at their own pace, and with their integrity in tact.
I learnt this first not at school or from my parents, but from the many campaigns I played on Medieval Total War II as a child.
It’s strange where life lessons come from.
So how do you engage in debate?
Can you share some advice on how we can all do it better?
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Image by Birmingham Museums Trust, from Unsplash.