--- title: This Is Your Most Valuable Skill description: How to act in an argument canonical: https://time.com/3559521/most-valuable-skill/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-11-05T21:09:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T11:15:26.647Z article:section: Ideas og:title: This Is Your Most Valuable Skill og:description: How to act in an argument og:url: https://time.com/3559521/most-valuable-skill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f7f4df61f534c06/6987645606f2c156b2331bee/paper-men.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5252 og:image:height: 2954 og:image:alt: Paper men og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Is Your Most Valuable Skill twitter:description: How to act in an argument twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f7f4df61f534c06/6987645606f2c156b2331bee/paper-men.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Is Your Most Valuable Skill > Sponsored content. 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There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Quora](https://time.com/author/quora/) ## Quora Nov 5, 2014 9:09 PM UTC  Paper businessman flying while colleagues standing down representing leadership over blue background Paper businessman flying while colleagues standing down representing leadership over blue background Getty Images by [Quora](https://time.com/author/quora/) ## Quora Nov 5, 2014 9:09 PM UTC [_Answer_](http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-most-valuable-skill-a-person-can-have-for-their-entire-life/answer/Lidia-Stanton) _by_ [_Lidia Stanton_](http://www.quora.com/Lidia-Stanton) _on_ [_Quora_](http://www.quora.com/)_._ **Assertiveness** (even if you’re an introvert) will help you gain respect and save your dignity when you’re under verbal attack from an angry or unreasonable person. Here’s a little trick: 1. Respond calmly using as few words as possible. Use simple sentence structure and key words only — going round the houses shows anxiety and indicates you may not know what you’re talking about or what you’re trying to say. 2. Finish on a strongest word/phrase you can think of that summarises your point (e.g. “I said many times before I have dyslexia. No one can argue **against learning disabilities**,” or “And for this reason I find you **misinformed**.”) 3. Meet the other person’s gaze and hold it for as many seconds as you can until you start feeling uncomfortable. 4. **Do not say anything else, even when provoked**. It is incredibly important that you don’t. 5. The awkward silence will make the aggressive person say lots of things in return (first of all, to fill the awkward gap in communication, then to counter-attack you) but none of their statements will have the same psychological effect as the last thing you said followed by your silence and gaze. 6. You’ve won. The first person to speak after you’ve created the powerful silence loses. They will also know it and find it incredibly difficult to deal with your assertiveness. They will crumble. Now think of different media personalities who use the trick all the time, or interviews with politicians. Some celebrities unfortunately abuse it, just think of Simon Cowell. _This question originally appeared on_ [_Quora: What is the most valuable skill a person can have for their entire life?_](http://www.quora.com/What-is-the-most-valuable-skill-a-person-can-have-for-their-entire-life/answer/Lidia-Stanton) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3559521/most-valuable-skill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3559521/most-valuable-skill/"},"headline":"This Is Your Most Valuable Skill","datePublished":"2014-11-05T21:09:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:15:26.647Z","description":"How to act in an argument","url":"https://time.com/3559521/most-valuable-skill/","keywords":["Psychology","skills"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f7f4df61f534c06/6987645606f2c156b2331bee/paper-men.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Quora","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/quora/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4f7f4df61f534c06/6987645606f2c156b2331bee/paper-men.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Paper men","caption":"Paper men","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3559521/most-valuable-skill/","name":"This Is Your Most Valuable Skill"}}]}] ```