Everyone is going to get into an argument with someone else at some point in their life. It
doesn’t matter who you are or who you associate with. There’s going to be disagreements.
Everybody has an opinion and there’s no way that every opinion is going to be shared across all people. But that doesn’t mean things need to be hostile and feel like you’re in a fight.
Debating with others is a great way to spend your time and should be done properly. That’s where this guide comes in.
We have a few pointers to make sure that you can walk away from every argument without feeling like you need to punch a hole in the wall and respect the tradition of debating with other people.
1. Focus on Issues
The first tip is that you need to focus on the issues.
The more an argument strays into personal attacks or bringing up other random topics the more anger and hatred gets built up. As well as doing a disservice to the actual practice of discussion.
If you and a buddy are arguing about whether or not Michael Jordan is the GOAT, you have to focus on that as the argument.
If you start attacking each other and saying things like “you only think LeBron is the GOAT because you lived in Miami.” You’re going to get angry and start retaliating and clapping back with comments such as “you only pick MJ because you want the approval of older people since your dad didn’t love you.”
As you can see it quickly moves to attacking each other and everybody loses the argument.
2. Know Your Stuff
The next suggestion is to have facts to support your argument.
This isn’t to say spend hours researching every single thing there is for you to know. But you can still know enough about your topic to not look like a fool.
We’ve all been in an argument or conversation that had one guy who just knew nothing and ended up looking like a complete donkey because he kept saying whatever came to his mind whether it was true or not.
Nobody wants to be that guy because it’s a complete embarrassment. Not just for
them, but for anybody who has to be there and listen to them.
So at least try and have some knowledge about the topic you are talking about. You also always have a phone on you to look up anything you could want.
3. Shake Hands
Our final idea is to shake hands afterwards. Make sure you end the argument on a good note.
If all you do is storm off or walk away it looks like a bush-league move. It’s disrespectful to whoever you have a disagreement with, and it can also end up weighing on you.
While whoever you are debating might have an opposing view from you, that doesn’t mean you have the right to be rude to them. And vice-versa,they shouldn’t be a dick to you back.
Having a healthy debate is a time-honored tradition around the world. Making sure that you can do it properly and give it the respect deserves is crucial to continuing the beautiful art of arguing.