Technique: Consolidate your gains. At each stage of the debate (argument, whatever) consolidate the ground you’ve gained by using a “sub-conclusion”. This is done by summarizing what you’ve gained (or at least claimed you’ve gained), self-servingly summarizing the debate to that point and using that conclusion as a launching pad to the next set of points. Move quickly into the new issues or present a distraction to keep the opposition from attempting to refute your version of the debate summary. Bush did this in Election 2000, before even being declared the winner, he pressed forward, coordinating his would-be cabinet and distracting from the ongoing recount attempts.