I thought this was a really great illustration from my friend Jeremy Larson:
When Odysseus schemed to evade the Sirens, whose beautiful song enchanted and ultimately destroyed sailors, he had his crew put wax in their ears and ordered them tie him to the mast. The Sirens’ song drove him mad momentarily, but his crew kept their course, and they made it through. However, manhandling people into a decision is rarely effective, and sometimes the brash confrontational nature of certain kinds of apologetics can push people away more than it draws them near. We can learn a lesson from the bard Orpheus, who, upon finding himself in a similar situation to Odysseus, simply sang a better song.