Argumentation Seminar

Nowadays it is important to be able to argue your point of view clearly and concisely. Win over your interlocutors for your position by arguing coherently and confidently. Learn how to use a well-dosed mix of assertiveness on the one hand and empathy on the other. In this seminar, you will learn the central means of argumentation in a practice-oriented manner. You will learn to choose the appropriate argumentation strategy for the respective discussion situation in order to always achieve your goal - no matter whether in everyday life or on a professional level. In addition, an argumentation seminar will strengthen your argumentation skills so that you can successfully master difficult communication situations in a goal-oriented manner.

Basics of argumentation

• Structure and formulation of arguments
• Logical coherence and validity of argumentation
• Understanding the emotional situation of the interlocutor
• Creating a positive atmosphere
• Ask questions and listen actively as a starting point

Successful argumentation

• Getting to know argumentation structures
• Universal and concrete argumentation patterns
• Recognising temperament and adjusting to it
• Detecting and reacting to manipulation
• Different types of conclusions

Using strategies in a targeted way

• Deciding between rational vs. emotional argumentation
• Weighting and prioritising own arguments
• Forming chains of argumentation
• Refuting and refuting the arguments of others
• Dealing with unobjective argumentation

Emotional aspects of argumentation

• Addressing the interests and motives of the other person
• Winning over interlocutors for one's own position
• Body language and rhetoric as a means of argumentation
• Reacting to provocations and personal attacks
• Controlling moments of escalation and de-escalation

If you can express your point of view clearly and unambiguously and back it up with arguments, you will gain presence in everyday professional life. In this argumentation seminar you will learn:

• organise and prioritise your arguments
• to read the motives and feelings of your interlocutor
• find the right mix of empathy and assertiveness
• choose the right argumentation strategy and persuasion technique depending on the situation
• to react competently to unobjective conversation.

You will be able to apply the skills taught here in both a group and a one-on-one conversation.

This argumentation seminar is based on a large number of exercises that simulate various discussion and negotiation situations from the participants' everyday professional life in a practice-oriented way. They serve to train, discuss and reflect on the patterns conveyed by trainer input and group work. Role plays are evaluated by video analysis and subsequent group discussion. Individual work, short presentations and training handouts round off the holistic learning process.

Do you often come up with the most powerful arguments not during but only after discussions? Are you sometimes dissatisfied after your appearance because you were not able to communicate your point of view effectively according to your ideas?

Then the Argumentation Seminar is for you. It is aimed at those specialists and managers who would like to present their opinion, their point of view and their interest in customer discussions, negotiations and internal meetings in a more goal-oriented way. Customer advisors, assistants, managers, employees responsible for projects and products are equally addressed and can incorporate their individual situations and examples into this seminar.

You would like to hold the argumentation and discussion seminar as an in-house training? That is of course possible! We will be happy to prepare an individual offer that meets your content priorities, your specified time frame and other wishes. Please send your in-house enquiry to: [email protected]

Do you regularly take part in discussions, meetings and negotiations and present your position with the aim of winning these talks? This discussion training has a positive effect on your rhetoric because you get the opportunity to intensively try out and get to know the argumentation tools shown in simulated, difficult discussion situations. With the support of our trainers, you will learn to structure your argumentation, to follow your discussion partners logically and to influence the course of the discussion. Finally, the Argumentation Seminar will help you to counter both factual and unobjective conversation with a calm voice. You should take part in the argumentation seminar so that you can achieve your goals in discussions even more efficiently and effectively in the future.

In this argumentation training, a wealth of methods and techniques of goal-oriented argumentation will be demonstrated so that you, as a participant, will be able to select the most promising argumentation strategy in your conversations in the future. The five-sentence is considered a very common approach among all argumentation techniques:

• Theclassic five-sentence: First the introduction is made, then the core argument is presented. This is then supported by an example, and finally ends with a conclusion. Finally, a target sentence is formulated.
• The five-sentence series: First, the point of view is presented. This is justified with the first, second and third core arguments, which have been weighted beforehand. It always ends with a target sentence.
• The dialectical five-sentence series: This approach tries to convince by differentiating. The pro-argument is formulated after an introduction. This is contrasted with a counter-argument that does not correspond to the speaker's point of view. In summary, a conclusion is formulated to end with a target sentence.

To be able to weaken convincing objections, you need expertise in the subject matter on the one hand and creativity on the other. Three classic approaches can be distinguished:

With the counter-argument you aim at a purely factual argument by supplementing the submitted argument of the opponent. The aim is to avoid a personal argument and to give a new direction to the previous logic.

The mirror argument is an enhancement of the counter-argument. It not only gives a new meaning to the logic of the interlocutor, but turns it completely around. Nevertheless, it is not a personal attack; all participants can save face.

By asking questions and raising objections, you directly confront the argumentation of the interlocutor and question the facts. This argumentation strategy is suitable when only assertions are made without providing evidence and facts. The opposing party is now in debt.

Would you like to offer your employees an argumentation seminar with practical relevance? Contact us today regarding an individual implementation as a face-to-face seminar or online course by experienced consultants and lecturers from our academy!