3 Techniques for Persuasive Conversations from a Debate Champion
Find the common ground you share, even if you’re talking about vaccines.
When my son was a year old he was sick with bacterial meningitis. At first, we thought he had a cold and we were overreacting as first-time parents. But he got sicker and sicker.
We took him to the pediatrician. Within minutes they were starting IV antibiotics and calling for an ambulance to take him to the children’s hospital. He fought for his life for nearly a week, lying unconscious in a sterile hospital crib.
Finally, he pulled through. But before we could take him home the doctors wanted to check his hearing, since meningitis can cause hearing loss. It turns out, the disease left him deaf.
You know what could have prevented his struggle to survive and his deafness? A vaccine.
The vaccine that protects against bacterial meningitis was in clinical trials at the time. If he had been exposed to the germs that made him sick a year or so later, he likely would have fought off the illness. We would never even know he had been exposed.
His life-or-death struggle made me a strong proponent for vaccination. After all, what parent wouldn’t want to protect their child from a dangerous disease?
