I have notes that I keep in the back of my mind every time I find myself in a difficult conversation with someone. I reckon they're worth sharing, because I have good luck with convincing people who were seething at me only moments ago. so here are my golden rules for changing peoples' minds:
talking to your foe as if they are your friend can get you a long way. patience and kindness are difficult but necessary skills in debates.
choosing your battles is important. if it's going nowhere, disengage
if it seems too egregious to be a real opinion, it's bait. move on!
try not to use buzzwords that will turn your opponent's brain off! people will stop listening to anything that comes after a word they KNOW they disagree with. use their lingo to win them over.
try to understand the root cause of their argument, not just the surface. what are their core beliefs? cutting off the leaves of a weed won't stop it from growing. think about the roots!
insulting someone in the same breath as trying to convince them will cause them to stop listening. be the bigger person if you genuinely want to change their mind.
are you actually engaging with their points? trying to understand them? make sure you're having a discussion and not just ranting at them. people are more likely to listen if YOU seem like you're listening.
if they stoop to personal insults, make them aware of it. do NOT retaliate if you don't have to. even just "hey, I'm happy to have this talk, but that was unnecessarily unkind" can very quickly diffuse someone's hostility, especially if they said it without thinking.
whataboutisms and pedantic comments aren't constructive. keep the focus on the topic at hand. don't try to use semantic nitpicking to win. you'll end up distracting yourself!
end the discussion on a positive note. don't be snarky, even if you feel like your opponent deserves it. this is about changing minds, NOT feeling like you've "won". it's not "backing down", it's tying up loose ends.
prguitarman
vaporwave
turnnoffyourmind
stormborns
dededos
andulkaphoto
pixelskylines
gummygunk
