Conversation Gambits - Eric Keller, Sylvia T Warner 1988

36. Door-to-door Salespeople
2. Linking Gambits

Divide the class in two groups — the salespeople and the customers. The salespeople are going to try to sell their goods to the customers and they in turn are going to say no to everything.

Salespeople

Get together for 10 minutes and study all the things you have to sell Make up good arguments why the consumers should buy them

Customers

Get together and collect reasons why you do not need all the articles below

Each salesperson should pick a customer and try to sell the product — politely. The customer must reject if for good reasons. The salesperson then moves on to another customer until they have tried to sell something to everyone!

Articles

1. Kitchen gadgets

a. an electric toaster

b. an electric can opener

c. an electric corkscrew

2. Beauty aids

a. a cream to take lines away

b. a cream to remove unwanted hair

c. a spray to make your hair any colour you want

3. Housework aids

a. a spray to polish wood

b. a carpet shampooer

c. the most powerful vacuum cleaner ever made

4. Gardening aids

a. a plant food which will make flowers last for months

b. a chemical to make your grass look really green

c. a spray which will kill all insects

I’m not really interested in ...

But I’m not worried about ...

I’ve got no use for ...

I’m perfectly happy with ...