I:

Play dirty.

But, win this way at the expense of your reputation.

II:

Evolution: ours is more social & less biological. We’re equipped with several unconscious social weapons, arrows we pull from our quiver to win advantage when we need it. Manipulation of language is a critical skill in the subset of those most useful in getting our way.

Simply:  argue on your terms.

Start at 8:45 for the money shot:

III:

The ‘argument kill switch’ is a social tool you can use to win any argument at any time. Wield it carefully. Consider:

Last year Miss USA was involved in a suit with the pagent company over an alleged sex tape.

It made enough noise to get her invited on Larry King Live.

In the course of that interview Miss USA dodged the questions she wanted to dodge & completely controlled Larry King ON LARRY KING LIVE NO LESS by employing this tactic.

She would interrupt questions that got too close to home on the truth of the sex-tape with “larry, you’re being inappropriate”.

The implication of the statement is huge – she took the conversation from an inquiry by Larry into the news topic at hand & turned it into a question about his character & whether he should be asking her these questions.   She forced Larry to defend himself, to battle with her on a field unrelated to the one he had intended or had prepared for.

She won, easily, by casting doubt on his character and taking the moral high ground – albeit fraudulently.

In simpler terms: if you want to win in a single move, wrestle the argument from being about content… to be about either emotions, morals or identity.

It’s the adult equivalent of the toddlers’ tantrum.  You can’t reason with a screaming 2 year old who feels wronged; you have to take your lumps and ride it out.

So there’s the crux: you can win on a whim by turning the focus to subjectives like ‘how he made you feel’, but, in doing so you run the risk of alienating Larry King.