How to Write a Networking Meeting Request Email

Most networking requests fail before they’re even read. Why? They don’t answer one crucial question: “Why should I introduce you?” When you’re asking someone for an intro, you’re putting your reputation in their hands. They're going to hesitate if they don't know... 1. Why you're a good fit for the role 2. What do you want from the conversation From years of doing this myself and coaching hundreds of others, here’s what works: ✅ 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 Briefly share what role you’re going after and why you’re excited about it. ✅ 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 Include 1–2 reasons you’d be a strong fit (experience, achievements, skills). ✅ 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 Explain who the contact is in relation to the role. ✅ 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Offer to send a ready-to-forward blurb or Loom video. ✅ 𝗕𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻 End with an easy “no pressure” out and an invite to catch up. 𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗹𝘂𝗴-𝗮𝗻𝗱-𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗹: 𝘏𝘦𝘺 [𝘊𝘖𝘕𝘕𝘌𝘊𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕'𝘚 𝘍𝘐𝘙𝘚𝘛 𝘕𝘈𝘔𝘌]! 𝘐’𝘮 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘯 [𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘗𝘈𝘕𝘠 𝘠𝘖𝘜'𝘙𝘌 𝘈𝘗𝘗𝘓𝘠𝘐𝘕𝘎]. 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 [𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘗𝘌𝘙𝘚𝘖𝘕 @ 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘗𝘈𝘕𝘠 𝘠𝘖𝘜'𝘙𝘌 𝘏𝘖𝘗𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘛𝘖 𝘊𝘖𝘕𝘕𝘌𝘊𝘛 𝘞𝘐𝘛𝘏] (𝘐𝘕𝘚𝘌𝘙𝘛 𝘓𝘐𝘕𝘒 𝘛𝘖 𝘛𝘏𝘌𝘐𝘙 𝘓𝘐𝘕𝘒𝘌𝘋𝘐𝘕 𝘗𝘈𝘎𝘌). 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘦𝘥𝘐𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘴𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 [𝘗𝘌𝘙𝘚𝘖𝘕'𝘚 𝘍𝘐𝘙𝘚𝘛 𝘕𝘈𝘔𝘌] 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯? 𝘐’𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬 [𝘏𝘐𝘔/𝘏𝘌𝘙] 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 [𝘚𝘗𝘌𝘊𝘐𝘍𝘐𝘊 𝘘𝘜𝘌𝘚𝘛𝘐𝘖𝘕 𝘙𝘌𝘓𝘈𝘛𝘐𝘕𝘎 𝘛𝘖 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘊𝘖𝘔𝘗𝘈𝘕𝘠 𝘖𝘍 𝘐𝘕𝘛𝘌𝘙𝘌𝘚𝘛]. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰, 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘳𝘣 + 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥. 𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘯𝘰 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭. 𝘐’𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘱 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴! [𝘠𝘖𝘜𝘙 𝘕𝘈𝘔𝘌] Networking isn’t just about asking. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝙖𝙨𝙠 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀. The easier you make it for someone to help you, the more likely they’ll say yes. ♻️ Share this to help make intro's easier for your network.

The 3-2-1 intro request that gets 60% yes rates. Most people ask for intros wrong. They say: "Hey, do you know anyone at [Company]?" This puts ALL the work on your contact. Instead, use 3-2-1: 3 specifics: → Name of person you want to meet → Their exact role → Why you want to meet them 2 outs: → Easy way to say no → An alternative (can I mention your name?) 1 offer: → Do the work for them (send a blurb to forward) Example: "Hey Marcus — trying to connect with Sarah Chen, VP Sales at Datadog. Looking to discuss how they're handling partner integrations. Totally get if it's not a good time or you're not close enough. Would it be okay if I reached out directly and mentioned your name? If you're open to introing, happy to send a 2-line blurb you can just forward." Why this works: → Low cognitive load → No guilt if they say no → You did the hard work already Stop making your network think. Make it easy to say yes.

Every graduation season, I get a version of this email weekly:  "Hey Dennis, I saw you're connected to [CEO of XYZ company]. Can you connect us?" That’s the whole message. I usually don’t respond. Not because I don’t want to help.  I do. Everyone who's had a bit of success was once the 22-year-old trying to figure out who to talk to. We remember. We want to help. But with a message like that, I don't know what you want. I don't know why you want it. I don't know what to tell the other person about you. The next meeting's in 15 minutes and you've handed me a puzzle with no picture on the box. So I move on. Compare it to one I got recently (details changed): "Dennis — I noticed you're connected to a partner at a top-tier VC. I'm building a startup in logistics. We have 10 customers and we’re starting early conversations with investors. Not raising right now, but I'd love an introduction so I can share what we're working on. They’ve invested in [X] and [Y], which are adjacent to what we do. Here's a link to our website with a demo and customer references. Happy to send a short intro blurb you can forward." Five extra minutes of writing. Now I know what you want. I know what to say on your behalf. I know you've done the homework. You've made it easy for me to say yes. And here's the thing — this isn't really about intros. It's true of almost every ask in business. A vague request isn't modest. It's a burden you've handed someone else. The people who get the most out of their networks aren't the most connected. They're the most specific.

Last Friday, 175 professional women in Singapore each handed me one ASK. 104 of them were the same ASK 👉 An introduction to a specific person they could not reach on their own. The ones who walked away with a real outcome were not the most senior. They were the ones who had three skills, in sequence, that almost no woman is taught. 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. A sharp ask shrinks the senior person's network, on their behalf, to one specific person they can already see in their head. A stalled ask widens the room. "I am open to opportunities." They have to imagine your industry and their network. So they do nothing. A sharp ask narrows it to one person. "I am moving from Regional Marketing Director into a CMO seat in the next twelve months. Who in your last six months of meetings is the Board Chair who could tell me what the first year of that transition actually cost her." It names a destination. It dates it. It tells them which corner of their network to scan. And what the meeting is for. If you cannot ask in two sentences and have them nodding by the second, it is not ready. This skill does ninety percent of the work. 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗛𝗼𝘄. Senior people do not say no to senior women. They say "let me think about who" and forget by the next meeting. The how is what you write for them before they need it. Bring the introduction email already drafted. Three sentences about you, two about why this person, one on what you want the meeting to do. Say: "I have written what you could forward. Edit anything, take my name off if you prefer." You are not putting words in their mouth. You are removing the cognitive load that stops busy people from helping. The how is good when they make one edit and forward the draft the same day. 𝗦𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝟯. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄-𝘂𝗽. This decides whether the same person will spend capital on you a second time, or never. Within 48 hours, write back. Not "thank you so much." A specific sentence. "Introduction landed yesterday. Meeting Thursday at 4pm. Will tell you what I learn." After the meeting, close the loop. "Met her Thursday. The first year of that transition cost her two things she had not anticipated. I am rethinking the timing of my move. Thank you. It changed the question I am asking." A senior person who sees their action produced a result will spend capital again. One who never hears back will not. Most senior women lose the relationship here. In the silence after the ask. The three compound. ✔️ A question without a how puts the burden back. ✔️ A how without a question is a forwarded email to nowhere. ✔️ Both without a follow-up is a one-time favour. If you have been waiting to be discovered for two years, the gap is the three sentences you have not yet learned to write. We built a course for that. It is called From Mentored to Championed. The full sponsorship playbook, Link in comment