Thank You for Arguing: What
Aristotle, Lincoln, and Homer
Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art
of Persuasion by Jay Heinrichs
A Great Read For The Intellectual Marketer Or Salesperson
Thank You for Arguing is your master class in the art of persuasion, taught
by professors ranging from Bart Simpson to Winston Churchill. The time-
tested secrets the book discloses include Cicero’s three-step strategy for
moving an audience to actionÑas well as Honest Abe’s Shameless Trick of
lowering an audience’s expectations by pretending to be unpolished. But
it’s also replete with contemporary techniques such as politicians’ use of
“code” language to appeal to specific groups and an eye-opening
assortment of popular-culture dodges, including:

The Eddie Haskell Ploy
Eminem’s Rules of Decorum
The Belushi Paradigm
Stalin’s Timing Secret
The Yoda Technique
Whether you’re an inveterate lover of language books or just want to win a
lot more anger-free arguments on the page, at the podium, or over a beer,
Thank You for Arguing is for you. Written by one of today’s most popular
online language mavens, it’s warm, witty, erudite, and truly enlightening. It
not only teaches you how to recognize a paralipsis and a chiasmus when
you hear them, but also how to wield such handy and persuasive weapons
the next time you really, really want to get your own way.
Personal Review: Thank You for Arguing: What Aristotle,
Lincoln, and Homer Simpson Can Teach Us About the Art of
Persuasion by Jay Heinrichs
Like many people on election night, I found myself glued to the TV for the
capstone speeches by both candidates. I have to admit, though, that I was
watching for a few reasons that were probably much different than most
people. I wanted to see how the candidates would use the 2,500-year-old
discipline of rhetoric - the art of verbal persuasion and argument. I was not
disappointed. Both John McCain and Barack Obama delivered carefully
crafted messages full of rhetorical tools.
Why was I so excited about the verbal gymnastics? Because over the past
year I've come to realize that studying and understanding rhetoric is
incredibly useful (and in my mind a lot of fun). I see a direct correlation
between the tools that ancient Greeks and Romans used to influence each
other and the sales and marketing of today. I think it's one of the most
obvious places where being a history nerd (which I am) can actually have
modern, practical applications.
What's great about Jay's book is it takes the very dry study of rhetoric and
makes it accessible through modern-day example and comparisons. For
example, he eschews the Greek names for many rhetorical devices and
instead links them up with people such as Homer Simpson and Eminem
(which is impressive in itself). It's a great mix between a speaking primer
and a sociology textbook - that is fun to read!
Big Thought:

The study of rhetoric has everyday uses in our personal and professional
lives, and can make us more effective persuaders as well as more
informed consumers and citizens.
The biggest tool that I took away from Thank You for Arguing is the
distinction between having discussions in the past, present, and future
tenses (what Aristotle called forensic, demonstrative, and deliberative).
This is a really important idea for me as a coach because I think the self-
talk that guides most people's actions is either in the past or present tense.
By guiding it into the future, where as Jay points out, there is choice and
the goal is to find the most advantageous course of action, I can help them
make choices and create actions.
Should You Read This Book?
Yes - and then buy a copy for anyone you regularly argue with (spouse,
children, IRS agent). Actually, you might want to hold off before you get
their copy; bask in the warm glow of winning arguments for a while.
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