End with the ask
An argument without an ask is a complaint.
You've made the case. Now what do you want them to DO? Say it in one sentence — 'so I'm asking for two weeks', 'so I'd like you to read the one-pager', 'so let's try it for a month'. Arguments that don't end in an ask end in 'hm, interesting' and nothing changes.
Instead of
…so yeah. That's basically my view on it. Anyway.
Try
…so what I'm asking for is one month, and we review it with the numbers.
Try it today
Finish one argument today with 'so what I'm asking is…' and a single concrete thing.
The science
Every persuasion model ends in a call to action — Monroe's Motivated Sequence (1935) and Cialdini's research on explicit requests: people comply far more when told exactly what to do.
Where you'd actually use it
- 💷 Money & NegotiationThe pressure play. You like the car; you don't like being rushed. You want to keep your leverage without walking away from somethi…
- 🎤 Public SpeakingYou've been given sixty seconds in front of a room to pitch an idea — yours, real or invented. Problem, why it matters, what you'd…
Next lesson
- 🧱 Claim, reason, exampleAn opinion is a claim without a reason. An argument is a claim with one.
- ⚖️ Steelman before you strikeBeat the strongest version of their argument, or you haven't beaten anything.
- 🪢 Own your weakest link before they find itA case that survives its softest point being cut is the one people trust.