Big Ask Blog


All about the importance, power, and skill of asking

Becoming Siri: Susan Bennett’s Story

Becoming Siri: Susan Bennett’s Story

In this interview, Susan Bennett tells us what it was like to be the original voice of the iPhone assistant, “Siri” … her fear-busting “ask” that changed everything … her experience as a backup singer for Burt Bacharach … and her thoughts on the "happy accident" of...

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Asking for Shoes: Intel’s Brian Little

Asking for Shoes: Intel’s Brian Little

Brian Little is vice president and global head of corporate human resources for Intel. He previously served in senior human resources roles at companies including Ameritech, Amoco, and Zurich Insurance, and was recognized in 2017 by the industry magazine HRO...

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Holocaust Memory: The Ask That Changed Everything

Holocaust Memory: The Ask That Changed Everything

In her earliest memory of life in Poland, Ida Paluch was three years old when she, her twin brother, Adam, and older sister, Gienia, witnessed a woman, mad with fear, jump from a building to her death to escape forced relocation and inevitable murder by the Nazis. The...

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The Agent Who Busted Bombers

The Agent Who Busted Bombers

Could a single question get a bomber to confess? Could "playing dumb" catch an arsonist? What happens when you ask for the truth from powerful people who don't want to answer truthfully? Cynthia Beebe is a retired Senior Special Agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol,...

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When Leaders Ask for Feedback

When Leaders Ask for Feedback

After a morning coaching several McDonald’s presenters for a company-wide conference, I left the rehearsal room to grab some lunch. On my way back, an admin staffer informed me that Paul Schrage, then McDonald’s senior executive vice president and chief marketing...

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A Gift of Cranes

A Gift of Cranes

Suffering the effects of a major illness can feel scary and isolating. Getting through it takes not only medical assistance but emotional support. In the story that follows, my friend David Fisk tells of four "asks" that loved ones made on his behalf during a health...

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Safe to Ask? A Chat with a Chief Nursing Officer

Safe to Ask? A Chat with a Chief Nursing Officer

Charity Cox-Hayden is chief nursing officer for Atlas Healthcare Partners, LLC, an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) development and management company headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona with surgery centers in Phoenix, Tucson, and Northern Colorado. She and I recently...

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Dinosaurs in the Shark Tank: Don and Val’s Big Ask

Dinosaurs in the Shark Tank: Don and Val’s Big Ask

In September 2020, Don Lessem and Valerie Jones drove from their home in Philadelphia to Las Vegas, where they walked onto the famously intimidating set of ABC’s Shark Tank to ask $500,000 for a 10% stake in Dino Don Inc., their $1.8M animatronic dinosaur...

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Cynthia Barnes: Becoming 2x Confident, 2x Strong

Cynthia Barnes: Becoming 2x Confident, 2x Strong

In this interview, award-winning sales influencer Cynthia Barnes shares her solid tips and strategies for asking for raises, referrals, and feedback, as well as her insights on why claiming your self-worth is like putting money in the bank. Though her professional...

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