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A quick thread on making asks. 1/x
Writing as someone who gets asked to do stuff--sometimes speak/teach/write, sometimes make connections, sometimes "pick my brains," etc--this is highly subjective, but a few thoughts on what& #39;s appreciated from the person-being-asked POV:
Writing as someone who gets asked to do stuff--sometimes speak/teach/write, sometimes make connections, sometimes "pick my brains," etc--this is highly subjective, but a few thoughts on what& #39;s appreciated from the person-being-asked POV:
Be thoughtful about whether an ask needs to be a phone call or whether it can be an email. Sometimes people ask if I have time to talk, when really they just want to have a more personal way of asking for the thing.
From my POV, that means more time invested before even the ask is getting made that I could be spent doing other things, and especially now (3 kids! COVID! Work! Book!) time is super tight and it& #39;s often just not necessary. Can feel like my time isn& #39;t valued tbh.
For ppl who get asked: when people ask if I have "time to talk" I& #39;ve started to ask what& #39;s up via email/dm first and almost always it& #39;s something that I can deal with via email/dm--either offering some thoughts on the fly or clarifying that I& #39;m not able to help on this thing.
If we& #39;re friends, sure, I& #39;d love the sentence letting me know how you are and asking how I& #39;m doing during this difficult year, but if you just want to cut to the chase that& #39;s OK. However, if we& #39;re on the phone and you launch into a whole preamble about how fantastic you are+
Without pausing to ask how the last 10 years of my life have been since we last studied in close quarters--you know, that doesn& #39;t feel like a personal connection, that& #39;s just weird. There are human beings on the phone.
If you& #39;re asking about a blurb/teaching opportunity/writing opportunity kind of thing, I& #39;d really, really, be super grateful if you could let me know as much info as you have upfront (BLUF, as they say.) This includes:
-Date of event/deadline for blurb or writing (or how flexible it is, if it is)
-Honorarium/payment. Don& #39;t ask me what I& #39;d charge, figure out what your budget is, we can negotiate from there. Including, "this is unpaid, I& #39;m afraid, but..." Just give us all the info right upfront.
-Honorarium/payment. Don& #39;t ask me what I& #39;d charge, figure out what your budget is, we can negotiate from there. Including, "this is unpaid, I& #39;m afraid, but..." Just give us all the info right upfront.
(In the olden days, a note about the fact that you& #39;d cover travel for a speaking event, and really, if someone is getting on a plane to your event presumably you either have honorarium or a really good other compelling reason for them to make the trip. )
(Also a reminder that Love of Torah (tm) doesn& #39;t pay for groceries and that teachers should be paid, as all workers should, and this goes triple quadruple if you& #39;re talking about historically marginalized folks.)
And some basic background information about your project. Don& #39;t make me google to find out what kind of podcast it is or who else you& #39;ve had on! If it& #39;s all people I strongly disagree with, that& #39;s useful information!
Oh yes please do your homework. You can even google "name of person I plan to contact" and various keywords to see if they& #39;ve ever answered your question before, it& #39;s possible that you can just quote the article or whatever. https://mobile.twitter.com/ashleyn1cole/status/1289952877427875841">https://mobile.twitter.com/ashleyn1c...
