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(b) Adapt the structure of your argument to the judges’ level of support

'A highly motivated athlete in training is a very different audience to a judicial officer who has heard it all before, far too many times, and is counting the days until they can escape the courtroom and the burden of reserved judgments. Related to audience motivation is their comfort with present beliefs which your maladroit advocacy will upset. We don’t like being upset.’⁵⁴

Some authors say you should adjust the structure and content of your message according to the audience’s existing level of support for your views. For example, if you face a hostile audience, then you might emphasize the areas on which you agree before dealing with areas of conflict. If you face an uninterested audience, then you might start with an attention-grabbing story, headline, or heart-stopping fact.⁵⁵ Lawyers often face a mixed audience, which needs yet another approach. Harry Mills gives the clearest, most practical advice we have found on tailoring your message to mixed, hostile, neutral, supportive, uninterested, and uninformed audiences,⁵⁶ though not specifically legal audiences.

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⁵⁴Hugh Selby, ‘Arguing for Other Persuasions’ (3 August 2007) Lawyers’ Weekly Online (www.lawyersweekly.com.au/articles/Arguing-for-other-persuasions_z69915.htm) (accessed 20 October 2007).

⁵⁵ Harry Mills, Artful Persuasion: How to Command Attention, Change Minds, and Influence People (1999).

⁵⁶ Harry Mills, Artful Persuasion: How to Command Attention, Change Minds, and Influence People (1999).