Instructions

Procedure

You and the other group members are the trustees of a foundation that gives grants to a wide variety of worthwhile causes and projects. As a foundation, your charter is very broad: you may give awards to influence individuals or organisations for causes or projects that are charitable, political, personal, or profit-making. Recently, you decided to allocate funds to one cause or project for which a trustee (any one member of your group) has a strong personal interest.

You have agreed to give each trustee 3 minutes to present her or his case, followed by a 2 minute period during which other trustees may rebut the proposal. Your objective is to influence the other trustees about your cause or project, and to convince them to award you the grant. Be sure to pick a cause or project in which you are genuinely interested.

Step 1 (1 minute)

Each trustee contributes five pounds to the foundation. Think of each pound as representing £100,000. The total number of pounds will be awarded to the winning trustee.

Step 2 (15 minutes)

You have 15 minutes to prepare for your presentation and the question period following. Remember, your objective is to win the foundation grant by using Attracting and Persuading to influence the other trustees.

Influence Objective(s)
Influence Style or Behaviour you intend to practise
Core Style Statement

Step 3 (15 to 20 minutes)

Appoint a timekeeper.

Each group member in turn makes his or her presentation, and answers questions. There is a time limit of 5 minutes per person. During each session, listeners should take notes that will help rank the presentations and allow for focused feedback to each presenter. In rebuttal, participants should try to use their own chosen practice style.

Remember to record Step 3 in its entirety.

Step 4 (4 minutes)

Turn off the recording.

After all trustees have had their opportunity to present, each individual should rank-order the presentations, taking into account such factors as impact, interest generated, and conviction. Include yourself in your rank order. Give the rank of “1” to the presentation you considered most effective.

On a flipchart or sheet of paper, list each trustee’s name in the first (left hand) column. In the column underneath each presentation, list the ranks that individual group members assigned to the presentation. Total each column to get the sum of each presentation’s ranks. The person whose presentation has the smallest total is ranked highest by the other trustees and wins the entire grant (that is, the money collected in Step 1). In case of a tie, the grant may be split.

Step 5 (10 minutes)

After rankings are completed and a winner identified, exchange reasons for the rankings you gave.

Review (30 to 40 minutes)

Now, review and analyse your exercise. Identify the factors that increased or decreased the effectiveness of each presentation.

At the end of the session take time to record useful feedback and learning in your Journal

17 Foundation Trustees