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Essay on Book Review Of Gerry Spence's, How To Argue And Win Every Time
Effective arguing is a way for parties in a relationship to fulfill each other's desires or to accomplish goals. The ability to listen is the most important skill in arguing. Both parties in an argument must be willing to open up to one another. If we want to partake of the art of living, we need to master the art of arguing. And the only way to make your case successfully, says a leading attorney, is to psychologically open up the other person, whether it is your boss, your spouse, or your child.
For at least the last 10 months, most of us have been spending more time listening to lawyers than we ever thought possible. Whether or not they are giving their profession a bad name, you have to admit there is one thing they excel at: arguing. Perhaps no one does it better than Gerry Spence in his book How to Argue & Win Every Time: At Home, At Work, In Court, Everywhere, Everyday. (Spence, 1996)
The author is a noted trial lawyer; oftentimes arguing for defendants in high profile cases. He advocates utilizing the common man/person arguments in order to identify with the jury. In addition, learning when to argue or litigate is critical to winning. The concept of power is perceived. Even powerful people are fallible and their exercise of power can backfire. Jurors listen very intently for carefully contrived words, sound words/bites and words which portray physical elements.
Credibility is important. At times, it is critical to challenge the jury to contemplate undoing an injustice as a condition precedent to entertaining a significant award. In addition, it is important to appeal to a juror's self interest and survivalist interest. Some of the best arguments are dressed with metaphors, story-telling and embellishment. Every argument has a story, a thesis and an extensive outline.....
