Saturday 8 March 2014

How to ask people for money

For many people, asking for money is one of the hardest things they face in life.

Read the following list. If even one of these things pops into your mind when you think about asking someone for money, this video is for you.



Sure, the video runs for an hour and a half. It's a workshop; they do that. But it's worth it.

When I was a kid, I stood on street corners after school, bellowing out the name of the local paper and hoping that the drunks coming out of the pub would buy one. (Only older Australians will appreciate this story.) Those were pre-decimal currency days. The paper cost five pence. I hoped the drunks were sober enough to want a paper, but drunk enough to pay with a sixpence and say "Keep the change." Tips were the point of the exercise, not the miserable pay. I quit that job when Australia changed to dollars and cents. The paper suddenly cost five cents and the drunks paid with a five cent coin. Keep the change.

The point of the story is that I faced up to asking for money early in life, but it still makes me uncomfortable. I was deeply impressed by Andrew Frank and his workshop.

Okay, enough procrastination. Watch the video already.



1 comment:

Unknown said...

Andrew Frank seems eminently qualified in this most difficult of areas. He has posted his first workshop using PowerPoint and seems uncomfortable in the medium. This is inspiring for a workshop but too slow for a movie.

Andrew Frank's advice boils down to recognising and releasing negative emotions associated with requesting money and replacing these with positive energy; creating practical ideas and planning how they will be implemented; and creating new avenues for funds.

Sorry, Henry, I couldn't spend the 90 minutes. For someone in need of funds, this would be a very good 90 minutes invested.