How to Request Someone's Time | Professional English Skills

Whether you're wanting to ask your boss for a meeting or you're requesting

help from a coworker,

it can be awkward and uncomfortable to ask for someone else's time,

especially when you know, everyone's busy or feeling overwhelmed.

So how exactly can you ask for someone else's time, in English,

in a polite way that leads to a yes,

so that you get the meeting or the help that you want and avoid

contributing to any extra stress or overwhelm. If you don't already know,

I'm Annemarie with Speak Confident English,

everything I do here is designed to help you get the confidence you want for

your life and work in English in this Confident English lesson today,

you'll get four simple steps to help you navigate how and when

to ask for someone else's time. Along the way,

you'll also get clear examples that you can follow with four common

scenarios and the phrases you need,

whether you're asking for a meeting with your boss requesting help from a

coworker, or you want to make a cold call.

What that means is by the end of today's lesson,

you'll have all the language you need to confidently ask for someone else's time

using polite professional phrases, without fear,

without stress and without anxiety.

[Inaudible].

Let's start with four quick planning tips for you to follow.

When you're preparing to ask for someone else's time, number one,

make sure that you prioritize before you approach the other person.

Determine whether the reason for your request is a priority.

In other words, is it urgent or can it wait?

Just like you might be trying to beat the clock,

your coworker or your boss might be trying to do the very same thing with

different tasks.

Determining the level of priority for your request will help you as you

prepare to make the ask step number two,

for helping you choose the right words.

When you're asking for someone else's time is to find out what their

communication style is. For example, when they're setting a date,

do they prefer to get those requests by email, text, telephone,

or in person knowing someone else's communication style can help you

ensure that your request is heard and responded to in a timely

manner. You've probably heard the expression, time is money.

And as you know, in a professional setting, that is absolutely true.

And this idea translates into others' styles of

communication.

Some people may prefer to have all the details upfront in an email.

Others might prefer brevity. They just want something quick, clear, and concise.

The more you understand about someone else's communication style,

the easier it will be you to adjust your request and it will help you

lead to a yes. And now step number three,

when you're requesting someone else's time is to follow the three golden

rules. Now that you've determined the priority,

and you've adjusted your communication style for your request.

Here are three very simple golden rules to follow in your

request. Be polite,

preface with a reason and request a specific action.

If you follow those three steps, your request will be simple and clear.

And finally, step number four, be open to finding alternatives.

One of the reasons we feel uncomfortable and awkward asking for someone else's

time is we worry that they might say no, they just don't have time for us.

And that might be frustrating because we really need their input or help

before you make that request. It's really important to know that yes,

your request may be denied for reasons that are totally unrelated to you.

And it's important to be open to alternatives.

To avoid awkwardness when you're making your request,

with those three golden rules,

at the end you can open the door to alternatives,

and here are a few great phrases to use in English to do that. Number one,

if the proposed time doesn't work, please let me know.

And we'll find a more convenient time. Number two, if noon doesn't work,

let me know a timeframe that works for you. If this week is busy for you,

I'm open to scheduling a meeting next week. And number four,

if Friday's not convenient, let's find another time that works for both of us.

All four of those phrases are commonly used when we're opening the door to

alternatives, they're perfectly polite and professional.

Now that we have those four steps to help you in preparing to make your request,

let's look at a few very common scenarios and

how you could put all of this together. In scenario, number one,

requesting a meeting with your boss. As you know,

there are times at work when you need a more in-depth discussion with your boss,

whether it's about an upcoming deadline or getting more details on a project

before you make the request,

follow the steps that we've talked about and consider the level of formality

that you want to use again,

think about your boss's preferred communication style.

Does he or she typically communicate in a more formal or casual way

taking that information into account will help you phrase your request.

Here's a great example to use. I've been working toward meeting my deadlines,

but I need more clarity on which tasks to prioritize.

Are you available for a 20 minute meeting on Monday at 1:30? In that example,

not only have I followed the three golden rules of being polite prefacing with a

reason and requesting an action,

but I've also prioritized specificity.

My request includes a specific date and time,

as well as the topic that I want to discuss. Since your boss is busy,

they will definitely appreciate a concise, clear request.

And now scenario number two,

when you need to request a meeting with a client with any client,

communicating with professionalism and brevity will help you avoid

miscommunication. In this scenario,

we can follow the rules that you've discussed and add extra details for

clarity on why we're making this request for this scenario.

I have two examples for you. One is more formal,

the other more casual with clients. Again,

we want to adjust our language for the individual and the situation.

Let's start with the formal example.

We're making great progress on this project.

And I'd like to discuss a few options before we proceed further,

when would be the most convenient day and time to schedule a 30 minute meeting

for this. And now option two, which is a bit more casual.

The project is coming along together well,

and there are quite a few options to explore.

Would you be free to discuss the options over lunch on Friday in both of those

requests,

I provided a brief update on the project and a reason before

making the request for someone else's time.

And you may have also noticed that I used the modal wood to make the request

more polite. And now let's move on to scenario number three,

when you want to request your coworker's time,

whether for a meeting or for help, of course,

we want to continue following our three golden rules and we want to

consider communication style with coworkers.

It's important to think about overall workplace culture,

is the team or casual and informal in their approach,

or are they quite formal?

Definitely take that into consideration when you're putting your request

together again, here, I have two examples for you.

One that is a bit more formal,

the other more casual for how you might approach asking a coworker for

his or her time. Let's take a look at the formal example. First,

I've been working my way through the training material,

but I'd appreciate your guidance on a few things.

Would it be possible to discuss this at a time that's convenient for you this

week? And example number two,

in a more casual tone, I've been working my way through the training material,

but I'd love to get some pointers from you.

Would you be free to discuss the training over a cup of coffee this week?

And finally,

our last scenario for today is how to make a cold request.

In other words, how to ask for someone else's time when you don't know them,

this might be a potential new client. For example,

these situations are the toughest because we have no idea what

their communication style might be.

And it can be difficult muster up the courage to ask for

someone else's time when we've never met them before.

As you prepare to make that request, you have a couple of options. First,

you can do some research to see if you can identify this individual's

communication style.

Do you have any emails from them or are there any blog posts or articles that

they've written online?

You can review that material to get a sense of how they communicate,

if you can't find anything.

And you're not sure it's always the best choice to be more professional

and formal in your request.

Here are a couple of examples following all the steps that we've talked about

today. Here's the first example.

I really enjoyed your presentation on eco-friendly landscapes in urban

areas. I'm working on a new project with the same goals,

and I'd really appreciate your insights.

Would it be possible to schedule a brief meeting to discuss this at a time

that's convenient for you?

You may have noticed that that example is quite formal.

So now let's look at a semiformal example.

I loved reading your posts on different ways to communicate at work.

And I'd love to get your advice on how to deal with a difficult boss,

because it's a situation I'm in right now.

Would you be available to give me some pointers over a cup of coffee this week?

Or would you be available to meet briefly online this week?

Let's pause here for a moment and reflect on those last two examples because

there's something really important there. In these examples,

I'm making a cold call or making a cold request. Again,

I'm asking for someone's time and this is an individual I don't have

a preexisting relationship with. So in my request,

I'm starting by making a connection to their work.

I'm acknowledging a presentation or a blog post that this person has written

in doing that. I'm creating a sense of familiarity. In addition to that,

I was very careful with word choice here. Again,

this is an individual I don't know.

So I have no idea how busy he or she might be,

rather than asking for time to pick their brain.

I'm asking for their guidance, their insights,

their expertise in doing that.

I'm hoping that they will be more receptive to giving me a little bit of their

time.

And now that you have these four simple steps of how to prepare and choose

the right words to ask for someone else's time,

and you have a few scenarios that you can use as examples,

it's time for you to practice. I have two questions for you. Number one,

if you had an aha moment, a moment of insight while watching this lesson,

I would love to know, and you can tell me about it in the comments below,

and now your opportunity to practice.

Do you need to ask for someone else's time this week or maybe next week,

do you need to request time from your boss, a coworker or a client?

If you do try putting those sentences together,

get your request on paper, plan things out, share it with me here,

and that will help you get ready to make that request. When you need to do it.

If you enjoyed this week's lesson, I would love to know.

And you can tell me in one very simple way,

give this lesson a thumbs up here on YouTube. And while you're at it,

subscribe to my channel.

So you never miss one of my Speak Confident English lessons.

Thank you so much for joining me. And I look forward to seeing you next time.