Winning Every Time: How to Use the Skills of a Lawyer in the Trials of Your Life

By Lis Wiehl

Book Overview

Whether you're hoping to obtain a raise from your boss, convince an insurance claim representative to reimburse your medical treatment, or persuade your spouse into spending less time watching TV and more time with you, Winning Every Time will be your guide for truly practical and helpful advice about how to make that case effectively--and win it hands down. Too often we argue conclusions without the benefit of a premise, react from anger instead of presenting hard facts, feel defensive when sensing resistance, or fail to make calm, irrefutable counterarguments. In this dynamic, groundbreaking book, Lis Wiehl shows how to apply the skills, smarts, and strategies of a lawyer and stay in command whenever life makes you feel as though you are on trial.

Writing in an engaging, accessible style, Wiehl teaches you how to become your own best advocate, so you can plead your case with precision--and win the hearts (and change the minds) of even the most recalcitrant "juror." You'll learn the eight easy-to-follow rules of persuasion to winning a case:

Know What You Want: The Theory of the Case--outline your premise clearly and establish your objective accordingly
Choose and Cultivate Your Audience: Voir Dire-- bring your case to the person who "calls the shots" and know the perfect time and place to do so
Marshal Your Evidence: Discovery--assemble all the facts that support your cause, even information that may challenge your objective
Advocate with Confidence: Making the Case--present your opening argument and offer your evidence calmly and methodically
Counter the Claims: Cross-examination--challenge your opponent's allegations consistently, but gently, through a series of "yes or no" questions
Stay True to Your Case: Avoid the Seven Deadly Spins--keep your argument authentic by avoiding false inferences, hearsay, and subjectivity
Advocate with Heart: Let Me Tell You a Story--make your case personal with a special story that will convey your message in a memorable way
Sum It Up: The Closing Argument--deliver a fervent and succinct summation of your theory and evidence . . . and close the deal

Along with practical advice on how to state your case effectively and come out on top, this remarkable book features incisive stories from real people who have transformed their lives through advocacy. With amazing, result-oriented strategies, Winning Every Times will help you stay in command whenever life makes you feel as though you are on trial.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345469208
• ISBN13: 9780345469205
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.2" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

A kickass book for dealing with people

I'm almost done with the case presentation part of the book, after which comes the application part. I've recently developed a strong fascination with the legal system and it's really changed the way I approach life and social situations. In fact it's made me a better employee at my customer support job. I make a real practice of active listening and using the principles of this book and I don't let people's impatience phaze me. Awesome kickass book. When I was in a meeting with my fellow interns, I made it a point to have the boss clarify what she was saying, not stopping 10 steps before the finish line just because I didn't wanna look stupid. This has worked well with my sister too. I've also been helped immensely by the idea of not just gathering evidence beneficial to your case, but also harmful to your case because if you don't and the opposition brings it up, bamn your blindsided. This book goes along rather well with "No More Mr Nice Guy" by Robert Glover. Contrary to the name, it has nothing to do with being an authoritarian self-gratifying viscous jerk (some reviewers assert this position but these are people who just read the title and maybe part of the book. I've read the ENTIRE book). Instead it's about running the middle ground: you stand for your position, never put up with crap from other people, look after your own needs first before others, etc & yet at the same time being kind, giving help when needed (never to your own expense), protecting those you care about, being assertive (not aggressive), asking for what you need (instead of expecting people to read you), etc. Wiehl's book is good at picking up where Glover left off. He puts a major premium on facing conflict and talking to the person(s) that you have a problem with but he doesn't really teach you how to backup what you say. Wiehl's book is a godsend here.

This Book Changed My Life

Every once in awhile, a self-help book comes along that makes you completely rethink and improve the way you do things at home, in your job, with your friends and loved ones. Lis Wiehl's WINNING EVERY TIME is as strong and important a book as THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED by M. Scott Peck or THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE by Steven Covey. After you read WINNING EVERY TIME, you'll handle any tough situation in life, or any conflict you're in, with much more grace, thoughtfulness, and effectiveness. This book is a must-read for any person who wants to become more powerful, persuasive and successful. I highly recommend it!

Useful and easy to read.

With a very engaging, pleasant voice, Lis Wiehl has written a very helpful, very concise book with extremely useful advice explaining how to win any argument when you know you're in the right. Lis gives great concrete examples and makes the process even simpler by breaking down a lawyer's trial process into basic, easy-to-use steps. I highly recommend this book.

A great guide to being your own advocate.

Lis Wiehl manages to simplify the often difficult task of communicating your needs and asking for what you want as the essential first step in getting it. And WINNING EVERY TIME is brilliant in its simplicity.It becomes clear through the book's examples how often emotion gets in the way of a clear argument by clouding it with subjectivity -- when making an objective case would be far more effective. As a chef, I hear this all too often in restaurants, when diners raise their voices to waiters when something isn't to their liking. Using the techniques advocated in this book, diners can learn to simply state the facts of what happened and what they'd like done about it, e.g. "My steak is well-done when I specifically ordered it medium-rare. Would you please replace it with a medium-rare steak as quickly as possible?" I can promise you that the waiters and chefs that I know will all respond more kindly to this approach than a raised voice!The ideas in this book will help you whenever you need to be heard, get something you want, or resolve a difference -- i.e. every day of your life! --Andrew Dornenburg, James Beard Award-winning author of Becoming a Chef, Culinary Artistry, Dining Out, Chef's Night Out, and The New American Chef

SMART WOMAN. SMART CONCEPT.

I've seen Lis several times on television commenting on things of national importance, and I've always been impressed by her sharp mind, but also her kindness. She's not your typical tv pundit. This book shows that what we should all do better: approach our arguments rationally, rather than irrationally. WIth 8 Steps, Lis shows how lawyers do this in the courtroom and you can do it in life. I'm giving a copy to my mother for Mother's Day. It's a book that everyone can learn from.