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A lot of the suggestions in this carry over to almost every human interaction.. in addition to his "Can I send you a press release?" gripe, I have a couple to add:

"Can you do me a favour?" Why don't you ask me to do something and I'll decide whether or not I want to.

"Can I ask you a question?" Really? You're asking me if you can ask me something? Just ask it.

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My personal least favorite is "Are you doing anything on <day or time>?"

Well, I will always be doing SOMETHING, even if that something is relaxing at home. How about you propose your plan, and I decide if I would like to do it with your or not?

Completely true - Adam Grant recently wrote a piece on when people approach him asking if they can 'pick his brain'... simply ask what you want to know!

I think most of the time people just want to speak with that person. They don't know what they're looking for, just that this person is smart and hope they'll provide direction/insight/promotion.

Forcing someone to ask what they want is great because it forces them to actually think about what they want.

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