Have you ever been Gish-Galloped? On March 20, 1982, in Tampa, Florida, Dr. Kenneth Miller definitely was.
But first, let’s clear something up: Gish Gallop is not a new horse’s gait or a qualification event for Royal Ascot. The term was coined by scientist and science advocate Eugenie Scott. It describes a rhetorical strategy where someone overwhelms their opponent with a rapid-fire barrage of half-truths, misrepresentations or outright falsehoods, making it nearly impossible to respond to each one individually.
Back in Tampa, creationist Duane Gish used exactly this approach to debate biologist Kenneth Miller. It’s from him that the Gish Gallop gets its name.
To me, being Gish-Galloped feels like being hit by a giant wave. Overwhelming and relentless. A pro surfer once told me: “You gotta stay loose, not locked. If you go stiff, the wave owns you. Adjust quick, don’t flinch. The wave won’t wait. It shifts, you shift. And most of all, see the line, not the noise.”
To me, those words mean more than just surfing advice. If you’re calm in a debate, you stay in control. You don’t bite at every provocation, you don’t interrupt to prove a point and you don’t throw sarcasm around just to feel smart. That backfires. Calm means you’re clear, steady, and ready to move when it matters.
One might think facts would easily dismantle a Gish Galloper. But they won’t. Unfortunatelly. Not only does it take 10 seconds to say something misleading and 10 minutes to explain why it’s wrong. Humans simply don’t respond to logic alone. We’re wired for emotion.
When you’re familiar with presentation skills, you’ve most probably heard that facts tell and stories sell. Let me add a third line: Facts tell, Stories sell, Emotions move.
That doesn’t mean abandoning reason. It’s about wrapping your facts in emotional resonance. Let’s call it ‘Rational Passion’.
When you, like the surfing professional, stay calm, grounded and emotionally present, you communicate both with competence and compassion. And that’s powerful.
Warm regards,
Ralph Hubacher
