How to Win an Argument: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Persuasion

All of us are faced countless times with the challenge of persuading others, whether we're trying to win a trivial argument with a friend or convince our coworkers about an important decision. Instead of relying on untrained instinct--and often failing as a result--we'd win more arguments if we learned the timeless art of verbal persuasion, rhetoric. How to Win an Argument gathers the rhetorical wisdom of Cicero from across his works and combines it with passages from his legal and political speeches to show his powerful techniques in action. The result is an enlightening and practical introduction to the secrets of persuasive speaking and writing--including strategies that are just as effective in today's offices, schools, courts, and political debates as they were in the Roman forum.How to Win an Argument addresses proof based on rational argumentation, character, and emotion; the parts of speech; the plain, middle, and grand styles; how to persuade no matter what audience or circumstances you face; and more. Astonishingly relevant, this anthology of Cicero's rhetorical and oratorical wisdom will be enjoyed by anyone who ever needs to win arguments and influence people.

About the Author :
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC), commonly known as Cicero, was a Roman statesman, philosopher, orator, and lawyer. Born into an aristocratic family, he studied law and served a term as consul in 63 BC. Following the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC, to which he was a witness, he argued in front of the senate for the restoration of the republic but was unsuccessful. In 43 BC, he was murdered on the orders of Mark Antony. Cicero's works include philosophic writings, speeches made as a lawyer and a senator, and letters. Jim May has taught at St. Olaf since 1977. He was named the Kenneth O. Bjork Distinguished Professor in 2014. He is the author of many articles and chapters on Cicero, classical rhetoric, and Latin pedagogy, as well as a book entitled Trials of Character: The Eloquence of Ciceronian Ethos, an annotated translation (co-authored with Jakob Wisse) of Cicero's On the Ideal Orator, two textbooks, 38 Latin Stories and 46 Stories in Classical Greek (both co-authored with Anne Groton; the Greek reader won the Ladislaus J. Bolchazy Pedagogy Book Award for 2016), and A Cicero Reader: Selections from Five Essays and Four Speeches with Five Letters. He edited Brill's Companion to Cicero: Oratory and Rhetoric. His latest book, How to Win an Argument: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Persuasion, was published by Princeton University Press in 2016. Jim May has taught at St. Olaf since 1977. He was named the Kenneth O. Bjork Distinguished Professor in 2014. He is the author of many articles and chapters on Cicero, classical rhetoric, and Latin pedagogy, as well as a book entitled Trials of Character: The Eloquence of Ciceronian Ethos, an annotated translation (co-authored with Jakob Wisse) of Cicero's On the Ideal Orator, two textbooks, 38 Latin Stories and 46 Stories in Classical Greek (both co-authored with Anne Groton; the Greek reader won the Ladislaus J. Bolchazy Pedagogy Book Award for 2016), and A Cicero Reader: Selections from Five Essays and Four Speeches with Five Letters. He edited Brill's Companion to Cicero: Oratory and Rhetoric. His latest book, How to Win an Argument: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Persuasion, was published by Princeton University Press in 2016. Simon Vance, a former BBC Radio presenter and newsreader, is a full-time actor who has appeared on both stage and television. He has recorded over eight hundred audiobooks and has earned fifty-seven Earphones Awards from AudioFile magazine, including one for his narration of Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini. A multiple Audie finalist, Simon has won Audie Awards for The King's Speech by Mark Logue and Peter Conradi, The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Market Forces by Richard K. Morgan, and The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. Winner of the 2008 Booklist Voice of Choice Award, Simon has also been named an AudioFile Golden Voice as well as an AudioFile Best Voice of 2009.