State the “ask” in all communication

When presenting, you need to do more than present the topic as a burning question. You need to be clear on your “ask”  – the specific tangible thing you need from your audience to drive your work forward e.g., “$20K to investigate a strategic partnership with Company X.” The ask is a target you show the audience: This is where we’re going today. Please pay attention.

The details of the ask are usually best saved for the end. If you say, “I’ll be asking for $20K” at the start, the audience will gasp “Whaaat?” and pepper you with questions. You are then on the defensive when you need to be in command.

If you plan to present your topic to different audiences for different reasons, the ask is a handy tool because you can change it to suit each group. If you present your ask verbally, you may not need to change your slides.

It’s important to use the ask strategically.

• Your topic (the burning question): “Would partnering with Company X get us into one-billion dollar club?”
• The hint for your ask that follows: “Today I’ll ask you to decide if we should investigate the opportunity.” The part you hold until the end is the request for the specific resources to do a proper investigation.

I teach communication skills (ABCaP is the tool) and sometimes my clients challenge me: “I don’t have an ask; I’m just educating people”. Everyone has an ask; find it! Don’t waste an opportunity to use your audience’s power/influence/resources to drive your work forward.

A medical advisor at my pharma client initially said there was no ask for her upcoming presentation. (It’s her job to teach her cross functional product team about the disease they are targeting). I probed: “What are the three top things the team needs to know about this disease?” She hesitated – she had a lot of data and couldn’t pinpoint the top three. To help her, I said, “You’re in an elevator with someone who knows nothing about this disease. You have 10 seconds to make him care. What do you say?” Suddenly, she blurted out the three most compelling things, including a shocking statistic.

“Wow,” I said, “Your team works with many stakeholders who should hear those exact three things. What if the team committed to using them whenever they are in contact with these stakeholders, be it elevator rides or telephone chats? Wouldn’t that be more effective than each person inventing their own messages?” (Communication is all about consistency!)

Her ask was born: “In the next 30 minutes, I will highlight the three most compelling things about this disease and ask you to pass them onto the stakeholders you speak to on a daily basis.” Our exercise also gave her the structure for her presentation:

• State the three key messages up front and immediately engage the team: “Does this surprise you? What questions does it create?” (Promise to address specifics in upcoming slides.)
• Highlight the data supporting each message.
• Conclude by repeating the three messages again. Ask the team: “Are you confident using these? If not, why?” Clarify any grey areas.
• Ask the team to commit to using the messages and to list specific opportunities when they will pass them on to influencers.

The ask applies to all forms of communication. Put it in the first sentence of your e-mail – nowadays, people don’t scroll, especially on hand-held devices – and your voicemail. Be brave and make a personal ask of your spouse. It requires a moment of pause (think: what do you really want/need?) but it makes the ensuing chat more concise. Remember, the ask doesn’t have to be big: it just has to be clear!