Anger

When I was younger, I used to think that the best way to win an argument was through volume. This probably stemmed from my unfortunate tendency to get extremely defensive whenever someone accuses me of something-- even more so if it happens to be untrue. However, this did still apply to those instances where the accusations were completely bona fide, as well as when there was not so much of an accusation as a difference of opinion. As you can probably imagine, these arguments did not usually end in my favor. More recently, I've realized that keeping a level head is much more beneficial to the case I'm trying to win, and I think this idea is pretty generally correct across the board. In politics and such, if politicians were to keep themselves calm, cool, and collected, they would have a distinct advantage over those who lose their heads. When you lose your head, you lose the ability to coherently interpret arguments and points that the opposing force is making, therefore losing the ability to convincingly defend your point. Politicians could learn a few things about staying levelheaded in order to convince their audiences of their points.