Convincing someone who questions the evidence

 DISCUSSION

1. Think of a time when you were trying to convince someone of your point of view. Work in pairs to discuss the questions. How did you try to convince them? Did you 

• appeal to their emotions
• appeal to their logical reasoning
• tell personal anecdotes 
• quote scientific evidence

2. Did you manage to convince them? What happened?

B. Do you know the story of the atheist and the priest? Let's watch a video to find out why persuading people of something against their convictions is so hard.

 

 

C. Which of these things do you naturally do when you have conversations with people who don't share your point of view? Which of these things do you need to work on? 

Can you think of examples of confirmation bias that you've seen? What role do you think media plays in encouraging confirmation bias?

2 What are some common beliefs that you share with your friends or family? Have you  met people with different beliefs from you? What happened? What are the benefits of having to convert people who have different beliefs from you?

COMMUNICATION SKILL 

Convincing someone who questions the evidence In order to make someone more likely to want to listen to - and believe - your evidence, try to do the following 

1 Listen carefully and with respect. 

2 Show that you understand their opinions. 

3 Help them feel secure about their identity. 

4 Have a collaborative discussion. 

5 Encourage scientific curiosity.

6 Keep the tone of the interaction positive

D. Look at the boxes. What are the people's beliefs? Why do you think they are resistant to anyone trying to convince them otherwise?

Useful language  Trying to convince someone 

Showing you understand their opinions

 I can see why you might think that. 

I get that this is really important to you 

Keeping the discussion collaborative

Like you, I just want to find out more. 

Do you get where l'm coming from? 

Encouraging a scientific curiosity 

Let's see if we can find some scientific evidence to back this up. 

I always think it's worthwhile finding out what the research says about it.

E. OWN IT! Work in pairs.

Roleplay the from Exercise D, using the Communication and Useful language to help you. Try to persuade each other of your point of view. Take turns to be the one who doesn't believe the evidence . 

Practice vocabulary here.

A natural or a hard worker?

 What have the masters achieved? To what extent are their achievements due to natural talent or hard work in your opinion? 

 

So how did Judith become so good ____chess?

She had a long-term commitment _____ becoming the best.

So, from a very early age, she focused ____ the game and pracised.

Where do Stephen's amazing abilities stem ___?

Already as a child, he had a passion ____ drawing.

Practice prepositions

https://create.kahoot.it/share/prepositions-advanced/20ca120f-311c-4ae7-a6f9-30c426e8afb5

Circle all the /dj/, /tj/ and /sh/ sounds in the tongue twisters (1-8). 

Practise saying the tongue twisters in pairs. 

1. I'm sure 1 saw Sheila selling seashells on the seashore, but I can't be sure she sold seashore shells. 

2. Julia, George, Jean and Joan joyfully jumped down the jagged hill. 

3. Chester the Cheetah chewed a chunk of cheap cheddar cheese. 

4. Fresh fried fish, 

Fish fresh fried, 

Fried fish fresh, 

Fish fried fresh. 

5. If a dog chooses to chew shoes, whose shoes does he choose to chew? 

6. Jenny just got jeans and a jacket for graduation in June or July. 

7. Jump then touch your chin, jaw and cheek. 

Jump then touch your jaw, cheek and chin. 

Jump then touch your cheek, chin and jaw. 

8. She saw Shirley's shoes on the sofa, but was she so sure she saw Shirley's shoes on the sofa? 

B Discuss the questions in pairs.

1. Which of these sounds exist in your language?

2. Which of these tongue twisters did you find the most challenging? Why? 

3. Did you find any of these tongue twisters easy? Which, and why? 

YOUR TURN

Find a person you know for being a master in his domain (business, sports, etc). Prepare to talk about them using the words from the exercise above and the vocabulary of the lesson.