Ukrainian president Zelensky is ‘touring the world’ via video calls to parliaments to drum up support for his country in the conflict with Russia. Each speech is tailored specifically to a country. Here are some of the patterns:

• Establish a connection, giving a compliment about the country: “I have been there”, “What a beautiful city”

• Make you feel what it would be if all the agresion happens to you: “What would you do if the port city of Genua would be destroyed?”

• Link the struggle of the Ukrainian people to a historic struggle of you (“You stood up after Pearl Harbour, we are in a similar situation now”)

• Making you part of the event: “This is not about Ukraine, but a struggle of the entire world against evil”, i.e., you are not just an audience

• Rubbing it in that he is doing something, and taking the hits (for you, see previous point), while you ‘sit back and relax’

• Appealing to personal moral standards, this is not about business, country or world politics, this is about innocent people dying

• Addressing individuals directly, i.e., the Prime Minister of the Netherlands was singled out by name in today’s address to the Dutch Parliament.

• Asking for very specific things that a country can do

• Rather than begging for help, he projects strength and determination and is inviting people to join the winning side

All of this is delivered in a short speech, with short sentences that are to the point.