Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em.

You might remember the scene from?The Life of Brian?where??a group of the?People’s Front of Judea,?led by John Cleese, approaches Brian, hanging on the cross and, instead of rescuing him, reads a legal support document on behalf of the People’s Front . . . and leaves.?

As they leave, one of the group stops, turns, looks up to Brian on the cross and calls “Terrific work Brian”.

Is this not a metaphor for the frustrating situation in which the Ukrainian President, Zelensky, finds himself. And yet, despite all his suffering and the lack of a direct rescue, he is magnificent, untethered by what must be his own anger, frustration and exhaustion.

In his?address to the Australian parliament, again Zelensky show us all how to do it.

Physically he faces the screen front on. His physical space to camera fits into what is known as the personal zone in the field of proxemics. He is not distant, not intimate, but personal and centered on screen with a small space above his head. His background is plain, bar the flash of blue and yellow material to his right, the colours of Ukrain, but without the nationalistic full-display of a flag.

It is known that his television production team are with him and despite being in a war zone they maintain standards, not because it is professional, but because it works. These are there are clear messages he is sending sublimely to his audience.

Surely he is reading, but his eyes show no sign of it. (I wonder what he thought of Prime Minister Morrison and Mr Albanese reading directly from the desk and barely looking up). Zelensky’s eyes remain fiercely fixed on the camera, blinking regularly and moving his head freely without any movement of his body which remains straight and upright, giving the impression of commitment, trustworthiness and power (without aggression).

At the beginning he checks his shoulders are down and barely does his chest raise (which would be a sign of anxiety) throughout.

His hands are visible and symmetric on the table before him. He touches his heart. While listening to Prime Minister Morrison and Mr Albanese his fingers remained still, not fiddling, or impatient, and he nods.?

His speech flowed, again unlike Mr Morrison and Mr Albanese, both of whom stuttered (Mr Morrison 4 times in his short speech). His voice is low and resonant, typically perceived as the voice of leadership.

As he spoke, he broke the grip on his hands. His head, despite movement, remains on his body, never jutting forward in aggression and without clenching or throwing his jaw forward, again, things we all do when we are angry and movement that could very well alienate a listening crowd. Instead, he remains solid and steady, while still free with his hands and head.

The framework of his presentation was classic. He began with “a dream” of which he is proud and he finished with a dream we will “implement together”

He spoke of Russia destroying that dream of “freedom, dignity and independence” aware of the classic rule of three.?

He speaks of the timeframe being ‘now’ but he is always polite addressing us as “ladies and gentlemen” without haste or pressure.

He deals with what may be our opposition, being the distance between us saying “Threat can instantly cross any distance or barriers” and as we have seen with the address to Canadian, English, American parliaments, he brings home a story specifically relevant for each country. For Australia he mentions the plane shot down on May 17th?a few years ago. He gives his condolences and pauses briefly as a sign of respect.

Again he speaks in threes with Russia to be brought to “peace, silence and responsibility” and tells us clearly what it is he needs as an effective toolkit.?

He ask for three specific things: Sanctions, Bushmaster vehicles and other equipment and he reinforces the necessity for speed.

Moving to a vision of the future he addresses how they will live, restoring the Black Sea and using inclusive language such as “invite you to join the project”, “common understanding” and “dear friends”.

Again he is specific, mentioning the naval centre, specific towns and the possibility of naval training. Like a wedding list he is making it easy for us to contribute.?

Closing with “The dream we will implement together” his bravery and clear thinking under crisis is astounding.