Transcripts
1. Intro: Arguing on the Spot: Have you ever had that moment? We've suddenly find yourself
in an argument or a debate, maybe on a team project
or even just at home. But you just weren't ready. You floundered and
felt embarrassed. And worst of all, your ideas didn't get the respect
they deserved. Maybe instead you
won the argument. But the other person so Linda listen and maybe
it was even hurt. I have to. That's why in this course, I'm going to teach
you how you can effectively present your ideas on the spot and never get
caught off guard again. You may already know
the principles of formal logic storytelling and effective presentations,
or you may not. Either way is alright? This course focuses
on the dynamics of arguing and convincing
other people in real life. And having your ideas
and understanding already in the moment. With many such situations, too many team projects, one-off discussions
and personal events. So I hope my experience and the five principles I
share here will help you.
2. Avoid the Argument: Before we get into the
winning principles, creating the right environment
can give you an advantage. Let's imagine this. You're good friend comes
up to you and says, Hey, you got to try
this new restaurant. I think you'll love it. You probably at least
searched up for the future. Now imagine some stranger
in a suit comes up to you on your morning
walk and says the same, Hey, you got to try
this new restaurant. I think you'll love it. You'd
be hesitant to trust it. You might try to
forget about it. Now your middle school bully
comes up to you on the bus. Hey, you got to try
this new restaurant. I think you'll love
it. I think what? That guy wants me to go there. No way I'm ever going
to that restaurant. But in reality, the
strangers wanted everyone in the community to
have some good food and food and support
local businesses. Anybody just wanted
to make a men's. Same idea presented in
the exact same way, can get you completely different reactions depending on who
you are to that person, or at least who
they perceive us. This is why those formal logic, debate, and argument writing classes are great
in their own right. There aren't enough for the real-world to get
your ideas heard. You need to avoid the idea of an argument in the first place, at least as much as possible. Treated as a debate
or strong ideas, not in arguments and general, build good relations with those who need to
hear your ideas. You aren't being a good friend, not the stranger in the suit
or the bully on the bus. And how can you do that? Take an interest in
them as a person, help them when they need it. Be a good listener. Trust all the simple things
for a person to like you. Even if you can't become
their best friend, make it known that you are
someone they can trust. And if you just met them, connect on a personal
level while talking. Listen, explain who you are
and why you can be trusted. Give context to your ideas. Build the right
relationships and trust. And you'll have the room to use the following principles that
we're going to talk about. Even if you fail to
establish trust, the next principle will give you some
strength regardless. And as a project for yourself, I recommend you write down as close to word for
word as possible. A recent argument or debate you had that you wish
you'd gotten better. Then rewrite it, incorporating
each principle as we go along to see how you
could have made it go better. Start with this principle before moving on to
the next section.
3. Understand the Space: For this principle, Let's
have another example. You're asleep, someone breaks
your window and enters, shaking you're awake,
you're scared to death. You caught completely off guard. You cannot possibly be more unprepared than
you are right now. And then this intruder tells you x plus two equals
four, x equals one. Now x has to be two
because two plus two equals four intruder
doesn't know what to say. It says, Yeah, I guess so. And leaves. Now this is ridiculous scenario, but it illustrates
a simple point of how you can win
any argument on spot. If you have the facts of the
space ingrained inside you, you can leverage them
without thinking. You didn't study
two plus two equals four the night
before the intruder broken or right before you had to count change
at the grocery store. You just know it. You know how basic math works. Why not just know how everything works in whatever space
your ideas are in? Of course, this is
easier said than done, especially for complex
topics of discussion. But it's a worthy goal. If it's a simple space, you probably
understand most of it. But you need to go ahead
and answer any questions or vague oddities you
don't fully understand. Don't memorize the knowledge, at least know which
source you can pull the information from later. You will serve you
well in general, not just your debates, but also give you a
strategy to make sense of even the most
difficult questions. System maps. The system map is
basically a diagram that connects things with
labeled arrows that say, this thing causes more
or less of that thing. For truly complex
systems and problems, you'll have hundreds
of things with arrows interweaving
all over the map. And the true beauty
of language map out for a hard problem is that one, it forces you to get
specific about the problem. Ask why and break things up. Two, it shows you the
most important node or nodes that are forming the trunk points in
the air connections. If you can address these nodes, you can solve the problem
one step at a time. Now I'm not saying you need
to spend time drawing out this massive map for
everything you argue about. Though it is a valuable
thinking exercise if you truly want to
understand things deeply and have a
ground truth artifact for yourself to look
back on for insight. So please go ahead and if
you feel up to the task. But if you don't want to
draw out the whole map, you can just tend to
follow the same thought process the map
would have you go through mentally or in writing
to clear up your thoughts. This thing causes
more or less of that thing and form
these chains and webs. Again, for your own project, make a system map for the space. The argument you
wrote down was in and see how you modify that argument before moving
on to the next station, next section, using
the system map, you create a new understanding.
You hopefully build.
4. Ask Why?: Now you're armed with an understanding of
the space you're in. But how do you make use of it besides basing your own
argument on it, of course. What do you do when the other
person is making claims? You don't know how to counter or fit into your understanding. Simple. Just ask one question. Why? An example? You claim that your team lead make terrible
decisions constantly. I now ask why? Well, because he
doesn't listen to you. You know much more about the
project you're working on. Well, why doesn't
he listened to you? Well, maybe you don't get your
ideas across effectively. Why not? Well, perhaps you don't understand your leaves
thought process. So your ideas bounce
right off his head. Why not? Why don't you understand? Because you don't ask why? Why not? Because no one taught you that. And that's what this
is for. Keep asking the other person why
they think what they think will run from them, maybe end up teaching them. It helps you understand
their argument, shows you things you might
not have thought of. Forces that person to evaluate their own thinking
at the same time, simply asking why, make it
YouTube to a consensus? And if not, you now
have enough detail to cross check both arguments
with the system map, whether it's physical
or in your mind, keep asking why and they
will eventually be a hole in one or both person's argument or in your own
understanding of the issue. Another advantage of
this one question that makes you a
better listener, which helps with the trust
issue of the first principles. Now try rewriting a previous
argument you had with this principle and imagine what might have
gone differently.
5. A Common Goal: The first principle
had you reframe your argument into
a debate that was meant to get you to build a
positive relationship with others before getting
your ideas across. In addition to that, we can use another reframe
to change it from a debate to a collaboration, to partners in crime
solving the mystery. Holmes and Watson. Before you've
mentioned your ideas established a common goal. You're working toward. Frame it as you're
both trying to figure out the best answer
to this question, he is not fight each other, but they rather fight the
problem you're solving. To make this happen, used the three principles
I've already told you. Build a good relationship with the person and avoid argument. Use a system app,
or even make one together to solve the problems using facts and relationships, exploring different
ideas and solutions and building each other's
understanding of the problem. And finally, ask why to
understand the problem and the other person and
really comprehend every idea. I really recommend going
through a system map like exercise with
your team to instantly shift the talent into one
of collaboration and to test all ideas against
agreed upon facts. This might sound specific
to the workplace. But even if it's an argument about politics at
a family dinner, you can use this principle if you're talking about what
the best tax policy is, asking each other what the goal of the tax
policies should be. Who should it help? What
should the outcome B, what do we know happens with different policies in the past? And who do we no benefits from? What reflects on the previous
argument. You're rewriting. Where did it seem like you weren't working
to the same goal?
6. Truth above All: You have the main tools
to get your ideas heard. Here's one final principle to make sure I'm being
heard is productive. Truth. Above all. If you're right,
stick to your guns. Be confident and calm and use the principles
above to convince. If you realize you are wrong, be willing to accept
it gracefully. You're not wrong per se, but rather you came
to the right solution with the help of this
productive discussion. Perhaps new ideas come
out of it for both sides. If you use all the
principles correctly, maybe you need time
to think about it. If you're discussion
on the spot, There's no shame in that. It shows maturity and lets you
develop even better ideas. No matter the situation. Sticking with the truth
leads to the best ideas. See if that can improve the
argument you're writing.
7. Conclusion: These are all the
principles they apply to all sorts of
on-the-spot arguments like casual conversation, presentation, and writing,
such as an e-mail. Use them wisely and
let your ideas shine. As a recap, avoid the argument. You don't want hostility. When productive debate by
being a trusted friend. Understand the space. If you ingrain yourself, a deep understanding
of the issue, you can debate on the
spot without preparation. Become second nature. You the systems map to
guide your thinking. Ask why. It lets you understand
all ideas and cost. Check them with your built-in
understanding on the spot. Work together toward
a common goal. If you work together like
detectives to solve a mystery, your ideas get listened to. You can guide this
discovery with your system-wide understanding
and take charge. Above all, stick to the truth no matter
who is expressing it. At least a better ideas and
builds trust for the future. Now reflect on your
rewritten argument. Think about implementing these
principles in real life. I hope this has helped you get your ideas heard on the spot.
Rohan Agarwal, Tech + art + leaving a mark
