Reader situation
You want help from your professional network, but your request is either too vague to answer or so long that no one reads it. Busy people respond to requests they can understand quickly and assess fairly.
Central idea
A good request for help makes the question easy to understand and the effort easy to assess. This brief captures the situation, what you’ve tried and the experience you need, while setting expectations about time and sensitive information.
Practical steps
- Situation. Describe the context in two or three sentences.
- Specific question. State the one question you most need answered.
- What has been tried. List what you have already done or considered, so no one repeats it.
- Expertise sought. Describe the experience that would help most.
- Time and confidentiality boundaries. Say how much time you are asking for and what information is sensitive.
Tool: template
Replace each bracketed item. Aim for a brief someone can read in under a minute.
Request for help
Situation: [Two or three sentences: who you are, what you are working on, what’s at stake.]
My question: [One specific question.]
What I’ve tried: [Two or three things you’ve done or ruled out, and what happened.]
Who could help: [The kind of experience that would be most useful, for example “someone who has done X in a Y-sized organization.”]
What I’m asking for: [For example a 20-minute call, a written reply or a pointer to a resource.]
Confidentiality: [What can be shared further, and anything that should stay private.]
Before you send
Worked example
Fictional example
Situation: I lead a five-person finance team at a nonprofit. We’re switching accounting systems in three months and have never run a migration.
My question: What should we test before switching over, and how far ahead?
What I’ve tried: I’ve read the vendor’s guide and spoken to their support team, but their advice is general.
Who could help: Someone who has led an accounting system migration at a small or mid-sized organization.
What I’m asking for: A 20-minute call, or a short written reply.
Confidentiality: Please don’t share the name of our organization outside this Circle.
Boundaries
- A brief is an invitation, not an obligation. Thank people who reply, and don’t chase those who don’t.
- Don’t use a request for help to get professional services for free. If the help you need is substantial, consider paying for it.
One action to try with a professional peer
Use the template for a question you’re facing now, and share it with one person or one Circle where the right experience is likely to be.
Discussion prompt
What makes a request for help easy for you to say yes to?
