While these principles of persuasiveness should determine the style of communication, the type of person making the case is also important. Wilder calls these the 'the four Ps': passion, position, power and persuasiveness:

• Passion: The person must care deeply about the problem, and be convinced of the value of the new idea;
• Position: They should have access to key people;
• Power: They should ideally have status and influence, across parties;
• Persuasiveness: They should have the credibility to be taken seriously and make the case convincingly.

These skills are essential to behind the scenes lobbying, but are also very important in more open processes of public engagement.

This tool first appeared in the ODI Toolkit, Tools for Policy Impact