President Obama and former governor Mitt Romney have teams of advisors and aides to help them prepare for their three debates. But what about the rest of us who would like some help winning an argument—at work， at school or at home？

For advice， we asked two experts at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem， North Carolina. Allan Louden chairs[任教授职位] the Department of Communication. Assistant professor Jarrod Atchison is the director of debate. His first piece of advice is to know your audience.

Jarrod Atchison： Before you know if youve won or you lost， you have to know who the audience is or who the judge is. And so in everyday argumentation some people think that logic alone will prevail[占上风] when sometimes thats not the most persuasive[有说服力的] form of argument in a given situation. So you have to know your audience and what they consider to be relevant[相关的] information for the debate at hand[即将到来].

Second， find a “universal principle” that everyone in the room—from the audience members to your opponent[敌手，对手]—can agree to. Jarrod Atchison says if you argue from that principle， “then you do not have to fight the fight about the basics of the evidence.”

Third， he says the best debaters are the best listeners. They listen to what their opponent is saying， instead of just repeating their own position.

And fourth， he says， “be very careful in deploying[使用] history in argumentation.” Some people think that having one strong historical example to support their side will win the argument. But their opponents may have other historical examples to support their side.

Atchison： And a very good debater will always use that to their advantage by saying， “Well， you may have identified one example that supports your direction. But heres a larger， more important example that supports my side.”

奥巴马总统和前州长米特·罗姆尼都有各自的顾问团队来帮助他们准备三场（总统）辩论。但对我们这些想在工作场合、学校里或者是家里赢得辩论的人又有什么好的建议呢？

我们请来了（美国）北卡罗来纳州温斯顿-赛纳姆市的维克森林大学的两位专家——传播系教授艾伦·劳登和担任辩论总监的助理教授贾罗德·艾奇逊——为我们指点迷津。艾奇逊的第一条建议是了解你的观众。

贾罗德·艾奇逊：在了解辩论是成是败之前，你必须先了解你的听众或者评委。因此，在日常的辩论中，有人认为逻辑这个单一元素就会让自己占上风，但在某些特定情况下，逻辑并不是最有说服力的论证形式。所以，你必须了解你的观众，以及对他们来说什么是即将到来的这场辩论的相关信息。

第二，找到一个能让现场每一个人——从全场观众到你的对手——都同意的“通用法则”。贾罗德·艾奇逊说如果你以这一法则为出发点辩论，“那么你不需要与基本的知识作斗争。”

第三，他说最好的辩论家也是最好的聆听者。他们聆听对手讲的话，而不只是重复自己的论点。

第四，他说，“在辩论过程中引用历史（事件）要非常谨慎。”有人认为用一个有力的历史事例来支持己方论点就能够赢得辩论。但对方可能提出其他历史事例来支持他们的论点。

艾奇逊：一个优秀的辩手总会说“好吧！你可能有一个有用的论据来支持你方观点。……