Winning hearts without losing minds - A Debater's Guide to Emotional Persuasion Without the Demagoguery - Monica Forman

Somewhere along the way, many intelligent, rational people came to believe that emotion and reason are opposites: that a good argument should be cool, factual, and strictly logical, while appealing to people's feelings is something manipulators do. It is a conviction that feels particularly at home in famously level-headed places like the Netherlands.

The result is communication that may be technically correct, yet remains abstract, dry, or simply boring.

Meanwhile, some of the people using emotion most effectively in public debate are populists, who often use it to bypass critical thinking and replace argument with fear, anger, and resentment. But if they are the only ones who know how to reach people's hearts, the rest of us have already surrendered half the argument.

This lecture makes the case for reclaiming emotion as a legitimate, and even essential, part of good argumentation. Drawing on more than a decade of experience as a competitive debater, coach of world champions, and expert in persuasion and presentation, Monica Forman shows that emotion and logic are not rivals but partners. Along the way, she challenges some stubborn myths about what "rational" communication actually looks like.

The evening explores how emotion can strengthen every part of persuasion: the arguments we build, the evidence we choose, the way we frame an issue, and how we deliver our ideas:

• Use emotion to disarm rather than inflame, lowering people's defenses and helping them feel seen without weakening the argument

• Make complex ideas more understandable and credible through verbal illustration, grounding, and concrete examples

• Use storytelling and emotional framing without slipping into fallacies or sacrificing intellectual honesty

• Recognize the line between legitimate emotional persuasion and demagoguery, and remain firmly on the right side of it

• Apply these tools naturally, without sounding theatrical, manipulative, or unlike themselves

  
  

Attendees will leave the lecture moved, and moved in the right direction: toward rigorous arguments that are not only understood, but also felt.

About the speaker

Monica Forman (MA) is a world-champion competitive debate coach, international speaker, and expert in public address and persuasion. With over a decade of experience training elite debaters, executives, and public figures, she specializes in turning rigorous, complex ideas into compelling, human-centered communication.

Doors open at 19:00 – Arrive early, grab a seat, and settle in.

Talk starts at 19:30 and runs until around 21:00.

Price includes light drinks.

Stick around afterward - good conversations don’t have closing times.