by Paul Quinn | Oct 6, 2025 | Communication Skills, Workplace Etiquette
Photo by Timur Weber In my book, The Big Ask, I devote a chapter to the art of conversation and how questions can connect us to each other. But what if it backfires? What if your thoughtfully engaging questions ensnare you in someone’s ponderous plot summaries of...
by Paul Quinn | Jun 24, 2025 | Asking - Cultural Attitudes, Communication Skills
There’s a dramatic moment in the British film Living in which Mr. Williams, a soft-spoken public works employee played by Bill Nighy, approaches his superior, Sir James, who’s refused his requests to turn a sewage-filled abandoned lot into a children’s...
by Paul Quinn | Feb 11, 2025 | Asking - Relationships, Asking - Workplace, Communication Skills, Handling Conflicts, Personal Development
Oh, the possibilities are horrible. And endless. Your attempt at humor backfires and you’re marked as an insensitive jerk. Someone you love catches you in a lie that hurts them and erodes their trust in you. You accidentally text “Just between us, I think Sam is...
by Paul Quinn | Feb 7, 2025 | Asking - Business, Asking - Professional Development, Asking - Workplace, Communication Skills, Workplace Etiquette
When it comes to making requests, we’re most persuasive face to face. Even when asking something of someone we don’t know, we’re 34 times more likely to get a yes in person than by email (phone calls are the next most persuasive). Trouble is, in the worlds...
by Paul Quinn | Oct 10, 2024 | Asking - Business, Asking - Professional Development, Asking - Workplace, Communication Skills
In an episode of the classic sitcom I Love Lucy, Lucy wants her husband, Ricky, to ask his boss. Mr. Littlefield, for a raise. Ricky dreads the idea. Lucy invites him to rehearse his “ask” with her, as if she were his boss. In the role play, the reluctant...
by Paul Quinn | Sep 12, 2024 | Asking - Law Enforcement, Asking - Workplace, Communication Skills, Integrity
From 1971-2003 TV audiences tuned in to Columbo, a show named for its fictional homicide investigator, played by Peter Falk. Lieutenant Frank Columbo masked his sleuthing brilliance behind a rumpled, befuddled veneer. Suspects were disarmed by his brand of...
