Purpose

This fun exercise shows the effect of assertiveness in achieving goals by presenting a combination of passive, aggressive and assertive behaviours in the task.

Objective

Delegates to persuade another person to share something with them using assertive, passive and aggressive requests.

What you need

A box of chocolate

Setup

• Pick one delegate who claims to be good at assertiveness. Give the box of chocolate to him or her.
• Pick three other candidates and take them to a different room in turn. Instruct one delegate to use aggressive behaviour to get a share of chocolates. The other two delegates should each use either passive or assertive approach to get any chocolate.

Timing

Explaining the Test: 5 minutes.

Activity: 10 minutes

Group Feedback: 20 minutes.

Discussion

Discuss the effect of assertiveness with the group. Engage delegates in a discussion about different approaches witnessed during this task, their level of success and their shortcomings.