IIMC/2019-20/MC-1/Monippally

Persuasive Public Speaking: Scenarios

Here is an opportunity for you to persuade an audience to accept an idea that most if not all of
them are currently unwilling to accept or are indifferent to. You will get a maximum of 3
minutes. Your speech will be graded both by the class and by me (30:70) for persuasiveness and
overall impact. This may appear to be an easy exercise but it isn’t.

The scenarios are given below. The audience and the speakers are defined. Indicate in the
accompanying Google Sheet which speaker’s role you wish to take. Up to three students can
choose a given speaker’s role. The maximum number of students that can be accommodated
during a session is 18. If you miss your session and as a result miss your turn to speak, we will
not be able to recreate the classroom situation for you to do this exercise, which carries 40% of
the course credit. Please choose your slots early to ensure that you get the role that you can play
most effectively. In any case, choose your slots by 10 pm, Friday, August 23 at the latest.

Your short persuasive talks will be video-recorded and reviewed.

Scenarios 1&2 are for Monday, August 26

Scenarios 3&4 are for Tuesday, August 27
Scenarios 5&6 are for Wednesday, August 28

Those in the Audience: Please check out the scenarios and the speaker roles for the day before
coming to class. It will help you judge the speeches well.

Special Offer!
Those who opt for the 18 slots on Day 1 (August 26) will get a bonus: an extra 0.5 mark out of
10. This is because they have to perform without the benefit of any feedback from the class and
the instructor.

➔➔

© Mathukutty M Monippally / mpally@iima.ac.in

Scenario 1
Sabari Farms Private Ltd
For Monday, August 26, 2019

Background: Sabari Farms (about 80 ha) has been a pioneer in commercial organic farming of
spices in Iduki district, Kerala. For over 20 years the owners – Krishnan Nair & Sons – have
been meticulous in avoiding chemical fertilisers as well as chemical pesticides in the entire farm
and commanding a high premium for the pure organic spices they produce, particularly black
pepper, cardamom, and cloves. The farm carries Indian government’s organic certification apart
from ISO 9001:2008.

Sabari Farms successfully targeted a tiny market segment that valued pure, organic spices and
was willing to pay a hefty premium. Business was highly profitable until about three years ago
when a few new competitors started offering apparently pure organic black pepper, cardamom,
and cloves at unsustainably low prices, just 30% above those of standard produce. They have
more than halved Sabari Farms’ market share. Although the competitors also sport government
certificates guaranteeing that their produce is 100% organic, Krishnan Nair and his sons are
reasonably sure that if chemical fertilisers and pesticides are avoided conscientiously rather than
technically, they cannot sell their spices at such low prices because of the high labor costs in
organic farming. Unless, of course, they have found a secret recipe for cheap organic farming.

Context: A decision has to be taken on how to deal with the competition that appears to be
overwhelming. Krishnan Nair & Sons have waited a little too long hoping that some of the
aggressive competitors would fold up because of unsustainable pricing. That has not happened.

Audience: Krishnan Nair, all his four sons, their wives and their adult sons and daughters (all
shareholders in Sabari Farms), apart from a few senior professionals working closely with the
family enterprise. In other words, it is not a exclusively family meeting.

Speaker 1: Balan Nair, the second eldest of Krishnan Nair’s sons. Agricultural scientist. He
believes that to avoid self-destruction the family enterprise should give up its strict definition of
organic and outdated notion of how to do business; it should embrace the competition’s tactics of
sophisticated misrepresentation.

Speaker 2: Saraswati Devi, wife of the youngest of Krishnan Nair’s sons. An MBA from an
American B-school, she believes that despite the lip service paid to organic farming globally, the
increasing costs associated with the genuine stuff will make its produce unaffordable except for a
tiny minority of the super rich that wants to make a dietary fashion statement. As Sabari Farms
cannot get into international branding and marketing necessary to break into that lucrative but
tiny field, she suggests selling the farm before things get worse and the farm becomes worthless.

Speaker 3: Krishnan Nair. The 76-year old patriarch who started it all and made a success of
organic farming when it was not fashionable believes that the right response to the alarming drop
in market share is not to sell the farm nor to adopt unethical means, but to create new markets
without compromising the values that have made Sabari Farms a fantastic success. ◼

© Mathukutty M Monippally / mpally@iima.ac.in

Scenario 2
Apna Bank - Student Loan Vs Investment
For Monday, August 26, 2019

Background: Apna Bank is a small but profitable private bank with 210 branches spread all
over Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh.

Apna’s board has briefly considered a written proposal sent in by Mr J. Ramani, VP - Marketing:
Apart from giving student loans at the undergraduate and graduate levels as at present, the bank
should identify a few students with potential and invest in their higher education the way start-
ups are invested in. In return for a legal obligation to repay 16 percent of their salary income for
the first 10 years of their employment, a high potential student is given the funds they need for
higher education. There is no collateral; the student’s employability is the guarantee. If they get
better salaries than anticipated, the bank gets its share of their prosperity and thus a fantastic
return on the investment; if they don’t get a good job on completion of their studies or get a job
with poorer salaries than anticipated, the bank loses out partially. The student’s obligation to
repay is valid for 10 years from the month of completion of studies; then it expires irrespective
of the amount recouped by the bank.

Context: The Chairman is inclined to reject Mr Ramani’s proposal because he thinks it is too
risky an investment. However, he feels that it may be worthwhile for the board to listen to the
proposer before taking a decision on this unusual idea. He calls upon Mr Ramani to tell the board
briefly why he thinks his proposal should be adopted.

Audience: The Chair and members of the board of Apna Bank. They have read a brief note
prepared by Mr Ramani on the concept.

Based on the note, most members think it is not prudent to commit money to this bizarre idea
because it has not been adopted by any major bank in the country and partly because of the
heavy risk of default associated with students with no collaterals. They believe that in India the
‘student-start-ups’ will vanish once they graduate or find ways to under-quote substantially the
salary they receive. The money the bank puts into these human start-ups is money thrown down
the drains.

Speaker 1: Mr J. Ramani, Vice President - Marketing, proposer of the idea. Naturally he

believes in it and would like Apna’s board to adopt the idea.

Speaker 2: Mrs Radhika Pawar, a longtime member of the board. She thinks that “investing” in
students as start-ups is a dumb idea and should be rejected. Part of her dismissive attitude to the
idea may be because of a personal animosity toward Mr Ramani.

Speaker 3: Mr Sanjay Khokle is excited by the idea and feels that to bolster Apna’s image as an
innovator it should be implemented perhaps on an experimental basis, but with some additional
safety devices. ◼

© Mathukutty M Monippally / mpally@iima.ac.in

Scenario 3
Pragati Inst. of Management (Pragati) - Student Council Election
For Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Background

The SC (Student Council consisting of elected representatives of students) at Pragati has been
dominated overwhelmingly by men year after year although women make up almost one fifth of
the student population (current annual intake: 350 students) and do excellently in placements. No
woman student has ever occupied the most coveted position, Secretary. In fact, women don’t
even seriously consider competing for the position of Secretary. On those occasions when a
woman made it to the SC through election, it was to a relatively unimportant role that didn’t
excite any men that year. Otherwise women satisfy themselves with a non-prestigious role
reserved for them in the interests of gender equity.

This year, however, one bold woman – Pooja Rawat – is determined to storm the male fortress.
She is the class representative of Section C, First Year. Before joining Pragati, she had done an
outstanding job as the elected Student Union President in a nationally known and prestigious
engineering college in Delhi. She has many ideas on what to do to showcase the prowess of the
Pragati student body and to attract big guns to the campus. The few friends and classmates – men
and women – she has shared her ideas with are convinced that she will make an exceptionally
good and powerful SC Secretary. For her presence in the fray to be taken seriously by the general
student body, however, it’s important that the entire Section C supports her and campaigns for
her enthusiastically. She is sure of the enthusiastic support of the women in the Section and
possibly quite a few women in other Sections; the men in Section C are also happy with her,
proud of her leadership. But that’s not enough. She wants the men to be her missionaries and go
out and campaign in other Sections.

Context: The election to the office bearers of SC is due in 10 days.

Audience: Students in Section C. They are largely men, as in all other sections. There are just
18 women in the class of 70. Most of them are impressed by the work Pooja Rawat has done so
far as class representative although it was with a wafer-thin majority that she was elected in the
first month of the programme. Many men in the audience are not sure whether they should back
someone who would most probably lose out in the election for the post of SAC Secretary.

Speaker 1: Pooja Rawat, Class Representative of Section C.

[Note: You don't have to be a woman to take the role of Pooja Rawat!]

Speaker 2: Manish Reddy, Pooja’s admirer and apostle. He is acutely aware of the general
perception especially among men that she won’t be able to break the decades-old tradition, but
believes that if the men in Section C go out and campaign for her, she will make it.

Speaker 3: Charu Datta, Second Year student and current member of SC in the role reserved for
women. She wants a woman elected properly to a serious SC role before she graduates. ◼

© Mathukutty M Monippally / mpally@iima.ac.in

Scenario 4
Pragati Inst. of Management (Pragati) - Death on the Campus
For Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Background
Professor Veena Singh, the most popular faculty member on the Pragati campus – not only
among students but also among her faculty colleagues and support staff – died in a tragic road
accident last night. The news has brought a pall of gloom all over the usually boisterous campus.
No one seems to be in a mood to work. People get together in small groups in offices, corridors,
and under trees talking quietly about the wonderful Professor who is no more. They all miss her.
She was not only a fantastic teacher but also an extraordinarily warm human being. Perhaps a
rare phenomenon on a B-school campus.

Several faculty colleagues and the Secretary of the Students Council suggested to the Director
that perhaps he should declare a day off to mourn Professor Veena Singh’s untimely death. As
this is the first time a serving faculty member at Pragati died, the director called an emergency
meeting of the available faculty and top admin officers. He wanted to take the right decision
because it will set a precedent.

Context: The Director (Prof Muhammad Jalaluddin) formally announced to the meeting what
everyone knew: Prof Veena Singh’s death the previous night in a road accident. He said some
faculty colleagues as well as Student Council Secretary suggested that he declare the day off to
mourn Professor Singh’s death. But he wanted to decide after hearing their views.

Audience: Faculty and top admin officers. They are all unusually united in their grief. They
cannot come to terms with the terrible news. Hardly anyone is in a mood to work.

Speaker 1: Prof Nandita Trivedi. Veena Singh’s colleague in the Marketing Department and
collaborator in several ground-breaking research projects. She is strongly in favor of closing the
institute for a day to mourn Professor Singh’s death.

Speaker 2: Dr Ram Kumar, Assistant Professor, Production and Quantitative Methods. He

joined Pragati just seven months ago. He believes that declaring a day off to mourn Professor
Singh’s death will set an extremely bad precedent. He would like the Institute to set aside half an
hour for a condolence meeting and then get back to work.

Speaker 3: Director. Having listened to faculty and student representatives, most arguing for a
day off and a few arguing against, Director Prof Jalaluddin decides against declaring a day off.
His challenge is to announce his decision in such a way that the entire audience believes that it is
the best course of action. ◼

© Mathukutty M Monippally / mpally@iima.ac.in

Scenario 5
Redevelopment of Shanti Apartments, Kalina
For Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Background
There are six blocks of 16 identical 2-bedroom flats each in the 5000 sqm residential complex,
Shanti Apartments at Kalina, not far from Mumbai University. These flats were built in the early
1980s. Four decades old, the flats are still structurally safe but need fairly heavy maintenance
especially with the electrical and plumbing systems. There are no lifts in any of the blocks. The
buildings look unattractive, but they can be lived in for another 20-25 years without any major
disaster. The complex, planned at a time when hardly any resident dreamt of owning a car, has
no covered parking area for cars. So the roads within the compound are crammed with cars of the
residents. Visitors cannot park their cars within the compound.

Apex Builders, a real estate company in Mumbai is interested in redeveloping the area. They
want to demolish all the six blocks and build in their place three 12-storey blocks, each
containing 48 modern flats of varying sizes. They will give each current flat owner a new and
20% larger flat and a covered parking slot absolutely free once the entire complex is rebuilt and
ready for occupation. The rest of the flats and parking slots they sell at market prices. They
expect the project to take 3 to 4 years.

Many of the younger flat owners are keen on taking up the offer. The owners in their 60s and
70s, who form a sizable minority, are reluctant. While they welcome the opportunity to move
into a new flat with all modern amenities including lifts, covered parking, and play area, what is
worrying them is the period of construction. Where will they go during the 3-5 year period of
construction? Besides, it’s not unusual for many projects to drag on for many years for a variety
of reasons, technical, legal, and financial. It will be impossible for the older people on pension to
find affordable alternative accommodation to rent anywhere in the vicinity.

Context: General Body Meeting of the Shanti Apartments Owners Association, specially
convened to discuss the proposal from Apex Builders. The president and secretary, both young
owner-residents, are in favour of Apex’s redevelopment plan and are pushing for it.

Audience: About 50 members of the Association. Majority opposed to or unsure of

redevelopment; sizable minority including the dynamic Secretary and President in favour

Speaker 1: Sales Manager of Apex Builders. He/She would naturally like this meeting to decide
in fvour of redevelopment.

Speaker 2: One of the younger flat owners in favour of redevelopment. She and her husband are
both IT professionals; they have two children under five.

Speaker 3: One of the older flat owners opposed to redevelopment; he was the founder secretary
of the Shanti Apartments Owners Association. His wife is no more. He lives alone in a ground-
floor flat. His only daughter, a divorcee without any children, lives in Bengaluru. ◼

© Mathukutty M Monippally / mpally@iima.ac.in

Scenario 6
Katni Government Hospital – Assault on a Duty Doctor, Call for Strike
For Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Background
An obese local political leader in his 40s was brought into Katni Govt Hospital in the early hours
of today in a critical condition. He was accompanied by more than a dozen party workers apart
from members of his family. The young doctor on duty immediately attended to him. He asked
for a replacement of the oxygen cylinder in the emergency room which stopped functioning. It
took the technicians about 15 minutes to get a fresh cylinder. By that time the patient had died,
not because of lack of oxygen but because of a massive hemorrhage in the brain.

Quickly jumping to the conclusion that it’s because of the hospital’s failure to give oxygen
promptly to their leader that he died an untimely death, the party workers assaulted the poor
doctor on duty. He was beaten up. He is recovering in the hospital’s intensive care unit.

This is the second incident of serious violence against a duty doctor in the same hospital in three
months. After the first incident the doctors there went on a lightning strike demanding protection
from hooligans. Many doctors at other government hospitals in the State also struck work in
support. The 4-day strike without notice was, however, condemned widely in the media because
of the enormous suffering it caused poor patients and their relations that depend on government
hospitals. The doctors withdrew that strike after the Minister for Health assured them of safety.

Context: An emergency meeting of the office bearers of different associations of doctors in

Madhya Pradesh. Held on the same day as the politician’s death.

Audience: About 20 doctors, all State- and District level office-bearers of different associations.
All furious at the way the young doctor on duty was bashed up. Evenly balanced between those
who want to strike work again in all government hospitals all over the State and those who want
to avoid it. A few are undecided.

Speaker 1: A young member of one of the two larger associations of doctors. Keen on a
crippling indefinite strike. (The doctor assaulted in the morning belongs to this association.)

Speaker 2: A member of the other dominant association of doctors. Keen on coaxing doctors in
private hospitals also into the state-wide strike for greater impact. They are also occasionally
assaulted. Many of them are members of this association.

Speaker 3: A senior MD, member of a smaller association, keen on averting a second strike

Speaker 4: A young MD, highly regarded both by fellow doctors and the general public,
consulted by many VVIPs nationally, member of a small association of radiologists. He/She
believes that strike is a crude and ugly weapon in the hands of doctors. He/She proposes an
absolutely different form of protest and would like all the doctors’ associations to adopt it in
support of their demand for a safe working environment. [Note: The speaker has to think up a
novel form of protest that promises to be effective.] ◼

© Mathukutty M Monippally / mpally@iima.ac.in