By a two-time debating world champion, a dazzling look at how arguing better can transform your life – and the world – for the better

**Previously published as The Art of Disagreeing Well**

Everyone debates, in some form, most days. Sometimes we do it to persuade; other times to learn, discover a truth, or simply to express something about ourselves. We argue to defend ourselves, our work, and our loved ones from external threat. We do it to get our way, or just to get ahead.

As a two-time debating world champion, Bo has made a career out of arguing. Over the past few years, however, he’s noticed how we’re not only arguing more and more, but getting worse at it – a fact proven by our polarised politics. By tracing his own journey from immigrant kid to world champion, as well as those of illustrious participants in the sport such as Malcolm X, Edmund Burke and Sally Rooney, Seo shows how the skills of debating – information gathering, truth finding, lucidity, organization, and persuasion – are often the cornerstone of successful careers and happy lives. Along the way, he provides the reader with an unforgettable toolkit to use debate as a means to improve their own.

This book is an everyperson’s guide to disagreeing well, so that the outcome of having had an argument is better than not having it at all. Taking readers on a thrilling intellectual adventure into the eccentric and brilliant subculture of competitive debate, Good Arguments proves that good-faith debate can enrich and improve our lives, friendships, democracies and in the process, our world.

When Winston Churchill spoke in Parliament, he convinced an empire to go to war. When Martin Luther King spoke in Washington, he convinced millions to open their hearts to change. When Oprah Winfrey said: ‘Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do,’ she also used rhetoric. As we have here, by deploying the rule of three to stress a point.  

Rhetoric – the art of persuasive speaking and writing – often gets a bad rap.  In this dazzling, fast-paced guide, speechwriter Guy Doza rescues rhetoric from the shadows and showcases its immense power to change lives, for good and bad.

Highlighting punchy sayings from Ancient Rome to modern marketing, he shows how leaders, businesses and even our own friends use rhetorical techniques every day to make convincing arguments.

What’s more, this guide to rhetoric will show you how to learn to use this persuasive language in your own life:

• How to convince an investor to back your venture
• What to say to a potential lover in a bar
• And, the six rules of apology you should use if you ever accidentally run over the next-door neighbour’s cat…  

How to Apologise for Killing a Cat is a quick read, humorous and highly practicable. It decodes the tricks and techniques of rhetoric for everyday readers.

It’s the  only book you need to make a convincing marketing  pitch.

It’s the only book you need to give a rousing speech.

It’s the  only book you need to write persuasively.

It’s the best book to explain the technique we’ve just used here. After reading this book, you will start to see the trick of rhetoric used everywhere.

After reading this book, you will never see the world  the same way again!

About the author

Guy Doza is a speechwriter and trainer. He has a Master’s degree in Rhetoric from the University of London and uses rhetoric in the speeches he writes for senior politicians and business leaders.

Extract

Have you ever had that unpleasant anxiety of taking your car  to the mechanic and feeling like you’re being swindled? Most  of you will probably know exactly what I am talking about.  We don’t know how cars work, we don’t know what the parts  are called and we don’t know how to fix them ourselves. This  lack of knowledge makes us vulnerable and susceptible to  exploitation, and we know it. So does the mechanic.

Now, most mechanics are honest individuals, not rogues,  but can we say the same of people who run countries and  big companies? When it comes to ordinary life away from  the car engine or central heating boiler, most of us don’t  even realise just how vulnerable we are. People can use  persuasive language to swindle us, cheat us, and exploit us  to the hilt. And the worst part is that we are not even aware  that it is happening.

Welcome to rhetoric, the art of persuasion. Rhetoric is a  superpower. It can alter the way we think, the way we behave  and sometimes even the way we live our lives. And its most explosive charge lies in its subtlety. We need to be aware of  how such persuasive language is used, not only so that we  can be more persuasive ourselves, but  defend ourselves against the rhetorical advances of those  who would seek to exploit us.

For too long, rhetoric has been a dark and ancient art  confined to the secretive circles of politics and academia.  This mystery and misunderstanding has often led to  the public to consider it to be the tool of crooks, spin  doctors and villains. But no more! The time has come to  bring rhetoric out of the darkness and show it for what it  is: a mighty linguistic tool. Whether it is a conversation  between friends in a café, a pathetic attempt to flirt  at a bar, or a meaningful conversation with a world renowned  philosopher, rhetoric is everywhere.

Buy the book to carry on reading

‘A smart, practical book that will teach you how to give a kick-butt presentation’ – Daniel H. Pink, No. 1 bestselling author of Drive

TED Talks have redefined the elements of a successful presentation and become the gold standard for public speaking around the world. And yet the techniques that top TED speakers use are the same ones that will make any presentation more dynamic, fire up any team, and give anyone the confidence to overcome their fear of public speaking.

Communications coach and bestselling author of The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs, Carmine Gallo has broken down the top TED Talks and interviewed the most popular TED presenters to uncover the nine secrets of all successful TED presentations. From ‘Unleashing the Master Within’ and ‘Delivering Jaw Dropping Moments’ to ‘Sticking to the eighteen-minute Rule’, Gallo provides a step-by-step method that makes it possible for anyone to create, design, and deliver a TED-style presentation that is engaging, persuasive, and memorable.

Ideas are the true currency of the twenty-first century, and Talk Like TED gives readers a way to create presentations around the ideas that matter most to them, presentations that will energize their audiences to spread those ideas, launch new initiatives, and reach their highest goals.

‘During a time where misinformation is spreading faster than ever and people are finding it hard to keep it real, Fearne shows us the power of living in our truth. She has a magical way of making us feel understood through her compelling storytelling, while showing us a path to a more authentic life.’ Vex King, author of Good Vibes, Good Life

‘This book is going to help a lot of people.’ Philippa Perry, author of The Book You Wish Your Parents Had Read

‘Loved it – without judgement, but with a cheeky wink of wisdom, Fearne gives you the tools that she’s learned on her own journey.’ Skin, Skunk Anansie

‘We need truth talkers more than we ever have right now. Wild, bold, connected truth talkers. Fearne takes our hand and shows us how to be one by treading the wild, vulnerable path first.’ Sarah Wilson, author of First, We Make the Beast Beautiful

Fearne Cotton’s voice is familiar to millions, whether that’s through television, radio or on her hugely successful Happy Place podcast. Her voice is her career, her livelihood and the way she communicates with her audience and her loved ones. So, when Fearne’s doctor told her she was at risk of needing a throat operation followed by two weeks of being unable to speak, she found herself facing a period of unexpected contemplation.

As she considered what silence would mean, Fearne began to think about other times her voice had gone unheard – as a young woman, as ‘just the talent’, as the foil to louder, more dominant figures. She found herself wondering, at what point do we internalise this message, and start silencing ourselves? When do we swallow down our authentic words to become pleasers and compromisers at the cost of our own happiness or wellbeing? Speak Your Truth dives into all the ways we learn to stay quiet for the wrong reasons, and explores how to find your voice, assert yourself and speak out with confidence.

Brave, vulnerable and deeply personal, Speak Your Truth shares Fearne’s compelling story and helps you to shape your own.

The Sunday Times Bestseller
Winner of the Parliamentary Book Awards

Every day, James O’Brien listens to people blaming hard-working immigrants for stealing their jobs while scrounging benefits, and pointing their fingers at the EU and feminists for destroying Britain. But what makes James’s daily LBC show such essential listening – and has made James a standout social media star – is the incisive way he punctures their assumptions and dismantles their arguments live on air, every single morning.

In the bestselling How To Be Right, James provides a hilarious and invigorating guide to talking to people with unchallenged opinions. With chapters on every lightning-rod issue, James shows how people have been fooled into thinking the way they do, and in each case outlines the key questions to ask to reveal fallacies, inconsistencies and double standards.

If you ever get cornered by ardent Brexiteers, Daily Mail disciples or corporate cronies, this book is your conversation survival guide.