In his speech to the Australian parliament on Thursday evening, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an emotional appeal.
He also appealed to Australia's own interest in containing Russian aggression.
The appeals had a purpose: to persuade Australia to do more to support Ukraine against the Russian invasion.
One of Zelenskyy's techniques was what the classical philosophers called "pathos": awakening emotions in the hearts of his audience to prepare them to form the desired opinion.
He spoke about cities being shelled, children being killed, and the destruction of an aircraft evocatively called Mriya ("dream").
What matters, he said, is "the dream of bringing back a peaceful life".
For first-generation Australians who have fled wars in other countries, the images might be viscerally familiar. But they are beyond the experience of most people in Canberra or elsewhere in Australia.
Zelenskyy was asking his audience to see the Russian invasion of Ukraine through the eyes of Ukrainians and to feel (rather than intellectualise) the urgency of acting.
In speeches to other parliaments, Zelenskyy has gone further. He has tailored his appeal to their particular history. To the parliament of Japan, a country with its own experience of a nuclear accident, he spoke about Russia's seizure of Chernobyl.
To the Israeli Knesset, he quoted former prime minister Golda Meir, who was born in Kyiv: "We intend to remain alive".
With Australia, Zelenskyy did not need to reach far back into history. He reminded his audience about a recent episode. In 2014, Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
They killed almost 300 people, including 38 Australians.
The reminder about MH17 was an appeal not only to the emotions of Australians, but also to their interests. It reinforced Zelenskyy's message that if a great power like Russia starts to use violence to achieve goals - instead of peaceful means like law, diplomacy, and trade - then no one is safe.