ask two questions

Free · interactive · about 5 minutes

Say the fact first.

One page for the moment you cannot say a plain yes. Pick who is asking and what you are pushing back on, write the fact you hold, and copy a short plain-text script that offers a scoped yes.

Jump to your script ↓

Not sure what to say? Read the guide on how to push back on a request politely: a short, plain explanation of the moves this builder uses, with a worked example.

Every example on this page is fictional. What you type stays on this page: nothing is saved, sent or stored, and there are no cookies. Print gives you the filled sheet on one page.

Step 1. What was asked, in their words
Step 2. Who is asking, and what are you pushing back on?

Pick one of each. The wording of the questions follows who is asking. The kind decides which moves the script uses.

What are you pushing back on?

Pick who is asking and what you are pushing back on.

Step 3. The fact I hold (question 1)

One sentence with a number, a time or a record. The script says it first. Then say what you are missing: how much, which, when.

Fill both hours only if you know them. The script compares them only when the work needs more than you have.

Where does the fact come from?

Step 4. Who decides (question 2)

One name for the person who can say yes and have it hold, or Unknown. Never two names, and never a tool.

How do you know?

Step 5. What I can say yes to

A scoped yes says what is in and what is out. It stays a proposal until the person who decides confirms it.

Step 6. Before I say it

Check a line only when it is true. The page warns when a checked line is not backed by what you wrote.

Step 7. Their reply (optional, after you have said it)

Skip this until they have answered. Then pick what they said and the page drafts your follow-up in writing: what was agreed, who decides, by when. Nothing is agreed until it is in their words.

What they said, in their words

Your script draft

It is built from the sheet above and updates as you type. Blanks stay in [brackets]. Read it once and change anything before you send it.

A scoped yes is a proposal until the person who decides confirms it. A script asks for a fact or an owner; it is not for winning an argument. This builder is practice material, not advice about a real situation. It is template 6 of the template pack; the PDF version is in the template pack v3 add-on.

Practice the two questions first.
Play a short fictional case, ask for the missing facts and see who decides.

Play a free case ↗

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