The power of persuasion, according to Aristotle, rests on three pillars: ethos, or authority, credibility and character; logos, or logic; and pathos, or an argument’s emotional appeal. Good advocates need all three, but policy work often leans too heavily on logos and ethos, Emma notes.
“We need to present a logical and reasoned argument, and we need personal and professional credibility. But government policymakers are human. If we forget that we are trying to appeal to humans, then our advocacy will fail.”
Consult Australia is dedicated to the success of consulting businesses in design, advisory and engineering. “Our members deliver solutions to the nation’s most complex challenges – but the issues that we champion aren’t always headline grabbing. The way we get governments to care is to bring the human connection to every story.”
Take Consult Australia’s recent work to reduce professional indemnity insurance thresholds for the state government’s new engineering panel.
“The tender set the professional indemnity levels far too high, but this was pulled back after we advocated on our members’ behalf. We shared the human stories of the cost on small business, which in some cases were prohibitively high,” Emma says.
“The people in government are intelligent – they just aren’t exposed to the same information as us. But two days after I explained that many small businesses would not be able to participate in the panel, and how that would impact the sustainability of our local industry, the draft was changed.”