Making requests: The art of the ask

- [Narrator] Making requests, the art of the ask. You've determined your needs and identified who to ask. Now it's showtime, but first we have a few choices to make. If you are making a request of a particular person, will you call a meeting, make an appointment, or just drop by? Will you text, phone, or email? Email and texts have their place, but it's easy to overestimate their effectiveness. In fact, research shows that a face-to-face request is 34 times more effective than an email message. Or maybe you just try to run into the person. For example, after I completed my PhD at Northwestern University, I took a job at a management consulting firm in Washington, D.C., where it was impossible to get a meeting with the senior partners. I soon discovered, however, that if I timed it right, I could catch one of them at the elevator, ride with him to the first floor, and even walk with him to his car in the parking garage.…