Provocation
Shove your opponent into emotion — let him crack on his own
A person in the grip of emotion stops calculating and starts defending. The "provocation" technique: you don't refute your opponent — you make him lose his temper, and from there his own lack of restraint does the work for you. An angered opponent destroys his own image. All you have to do is stand calmly beside him.
A light jab at the sorest spot + a calm face. "Now don't get worked up — or everyone will think I hit a nerve."
Challenger against a strong candidate — a doctor, the group's leader. A head-on fight he'd lose. So instead:
The doctor is irreplaceable, of course. Only look how red he went at a single question. If that's how he holds up under a vote — imagine how he holds the scalpel when they start breaking in outside. There, there, don't boil over, I say it with love.
The goal isn't to prove the doctor is bad. The goal is to make the doctor crack and prove it himself, in front of everyone.
- Argument"I see the topic stings. People usually react like that when they've got nothing to counter with" — and the opponent cracks.
- Negotiation"If that's your ceiling — okay, I understand, everyone's budget is different" (a jab at status).
- Social mediaOne cold question instead of ten arguments — let the opponent write an emotional wall of text.
Trigger: Your counterpart doesn't argue the substance, but comments on YOUR reaction: "someone's getting nervous," "sore subject, huh?"
Counter: "Right now you're not answering, you're trying to make me angry. It won't work. Back to the question."
Provocation is dead if its victim stays calm.
I don't need to out-argue you. I need you to out-argue yourself — at the top of your voice, in front of witnesses. After that, it's not my logic doing the work, it's your face.
Where's the provocation, not an argument?