As the dust settles after the first debate of the US presidential elections, polls show that Mitt Romney scored a firm win.
But how do you tell who wins a debate?
The most important thing to keep in mind is that debate isn't dialogue. Dialogue is about two people searching for the truth. Debate is about two people talking not with one another, but rather at one another. Better yet, debate is two people taking turns at making their sales pitch to the audience.
The winner? Whoever most people think won. Debates are about swaying the audience. So even if you don't really prove your point, as long as everyone thinks you did... you won. Although truth and logic help—the truer your position is, the easier it is to sell, and the better your logic is, the easier it is to get your point across—debating isn't about logic or facts. It's about the audience.
There are two ways to convince the audience: you can either build yourself up, or tear your opponent down. By controlling the debate—through a mix of rhetorical skill, information and logic—you set yourself up to give the other speaker the fall, while you shine. Understanding rhetoric is the key to understanding who won.
Rhetoric—how they say things—tells us a lot about how the candidates see their own position, and how they want us to see it. Here are some tips to understand what's going on behind the facade.
1—Clarity: the clearer they are, the easier it is to tell if they're right or wrong. A confusing speaker is often trying to hide the fact that he's treading on thin ice. On the other hand, hyper clear bullet point style often indicates that the speaker feels strong and wants to hammer a point home.
2—Body Language: presidential candidates don't often lose control, but some small details can say a lot.
-High blink rate: means extreme nervousness, and often indicates a lie.
-Eye contact: looking an opponent straight in the eye is the rhetorical equivalent of going for the jugular. Looking to the moderator or the audience means that an appeal or sell is being made. Meeting no one's eye indicates a lack of confidence or conviction.
-Eye movement: many psychologists associate it with specific cognitive functions. For example, a shift to the left generally indicates memory, whereas a shift to the right means invention, imagination... or a lie. At the very least, the debater was caught off guard. For lefties, it's the other way around.
3—Pen work: when a candidate starts writing during his opponent's speech, it means he's either onto something, or worried. Look for that point to come up again: it's important.
Presidential debates, however, are more than just an intellectual boxing match. A lot is at stake, and it's our job to see through the rhetoric and cut to the core of the problem: who is the better president? It's not always a simple task. Some candidates make that easy, but others only muddy the waters.
Either way, here are some key elements for that decision:
Content: what they say is much more important than how they say it.
1—Stats: did the speakers pull numbers out of thin air, or did they actually cite their sources?
2—Logic: if you strip away the rhetoric, do their arguments work?
3—Principles: are the candidates up front about the guiding principles behind their ideas and proposals? Or do they try to hide or downplay them? Do you agree with these principles?
4—Actions: have the candidates lived up to their promises and principles?
Debates have one huge limit: they produce the best debater, not the best president. Our job is to see past the rhetorical fireworks, and make the right choice for the future. Good luck.
If you want to look through last week's debate again, you can find it here.
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