Hard Asks Made Easy
How to Get Exactly What You Want
The encouraging self-help book Hard Asks Made Easy seeks to improve people’s quality of life by teaching them how to ask questions that are designed to elicit positive responses.
Knowing that people don’t always get what they want out of life, Laura Fredricks’s insightful self-help book Hard Asks Made Easy suggests strategies and techniques for personal success.
Geared toward people of all ages and walks of life, the book shares step-by-step instructions for becoming a “fantastic asker” and explains why life satisfaction and personal success depend on the quality of the questions that people ask themselves and others. Fredricks shares the related psychology, naming techniques and strategies that apply to a wide range of life situations, from work-related questions (asking for a promotion or a substantial raise) to family issues (asking children for more help around the house) and fundraising requests. Also addressed are sensitive personal situations like asking for the return of loaned money, for forgiveness, for financial assistance, and for reassurance of love and trust in relationships.
The book also guides its audience through formulating requests in such a way as to guarantee the highest possible likelihood of a yes. Lively stories of lives changed through these methods reinforce such encouragements, as do recommendations for keeping communication open so that a response of maybe or no might become a future yes. There’s a quiz included to determine which of the four asking styles is one’s own, with subsequent suggestions for making the most of each type’s strengths. In combination with the book’s downloadable charts, highlighted salient points, chapter-ending lists of takeaways, and reflective exercises and prompts, this makes for actionable work.
While the prose is friendly and conversational, there are also some interruptive missing and extra words, malapropisms, and muddled statements. Further, much of what is noted in the book is common knowledge, like the need to trust one’s instincts and intuitions. However, the book amplifies these truisms with potent illustrations of their importance. Further, some of the book’s insights are piquing, including the idea that asking to be hired for a job increases the likelihood of getting it and the revelation that most people enjoy being asked for help and (if asked the right way) will most often give it.
The encouraging self-help book Hard Asks Made Easy seeks to improve people’s quality of life by teaching them how to ask questions that are designed to elicit positive responses.
Reviewed by
Kristine Morris
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
