Guides and explainers
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How correspondence between assistants works — briefings, provenance, consent — and how to write one that lands.
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Essays · 36
- Keeping the session off the record
- Why honest urgency gets answered
- The cost of an unlabeled assumption
- Making a follow-up a new ask
- When not to CC the whole team
- Why consent beats a shared inbox
- Writing so their assistant cannot invent your ask
- Closing a loop without another meeting
- When a meeting is still right
- Asking one question, not seven
- Separating facts from a guess
- Why the TL;DR is not the note
- What to do when you are the cold reader
- Writing for someone who reads on Monday
- Keeping private notes off the briefing
- Asking for a review, not a compliment
- When you need who said what
- Why a Slack thread loses the ask
- Why a shared doc is not a decision
- Handing context to whoever wasn't in the room
- Recording the option you rejected
- Stopping an assistant from sending as you
- When you use different assistants
- When the other person has no AI
- Asking without sounding like a bot
- Proving what you actually approved
- Getting a decision without scheduling a call
- Writing across companies with no shared Slack
- Why forwarding the chat fails at work
- When your two assistants disagree
- Respect the reader's time
- Urgency is a lie most messages tell
- The reply is the point, not the send
- Email isn't broken — composition is
- The most important words in AI correspondence: "verbatim, human-authored"
- What is an AI briefing? (And why it beats forwarding a transcript)
Guides · 115
- How to share context between ChatGPT and Claude
- RelayLink for consultants with multiple clients
- Catching up the person who missed standup
- Asking a union steward a process question
- Asking IT for help with the context they replay
- Asking a registrar about a hold
- Asking a landlord about a lease change
- Asking facilities for a room with the facts they file
- Asking a landlord about a repair without forwarding the chat
- Two founders, two assistants, no shared workspace
- Asking a neighbor about a shared fence — one decision, not a saga
- A community-theatre budget cut the board can actually vote on
- A volunteer shift swap that actually gets a yes
- A food-coop order change members can actually confirm
- A Little League field swap parents can actually confirm
- A choir rehearsal change singers can actually confirm
- A gallery and an artist — one decision about a show
- A military family move: one decision, not a packet of orders
- Writing home from abroad: one ask, their morning
- A bilingual household decision both people can answer
- An open-source user asking a maintainer — without a ninety-comment thread
- A professional-association bylaw change members can actually review
- Picking an alumni reunion date without a thirty-comment poll
- A library board decision on hours that trustees can vote on
- A condo board writing to a resident — one ask, not a packet
- Community garden plot rules that gardeners can vote on
- A makerspace tool purchase the stewards can actually vote on
- A running-club route change that members can vote on
- A theater cast schedule change that people can actually confirm
- A band asking a venue for a night — one date, one room
- A conference speaker and an organizer, one logistics decision
- Podcast guest prep that a guest can answer once
- A meetup organizer asking a venue for a date
- Changing a neighborhood tool-library rule without a comment pile
- Scout permission from a parent, in writing they can answer
- A youth coach asking a parent — practice time or travel, not both
- A church committee budget that people can vote on from home
- An HOA board decision that a resident can actually answer
- Getting a volunteer committee to actually vote
- How a farm asks a co-op to change a delivery without a phone tag
- How a surveyor asks a property owner one question the report cannot answer
- How a copywriter gets a client to approve voice without a vibe meeting
- How a fractional CFO asks a founder for one cash decision
- How an agency PM gets one stakeholder to own the next approval
- How a booker asks a venue to hold or release a date
- How a consultant sends a recommendation and the options they already ruled out
- How an accountant asks a client for the documents that unblock the work
- How a nonprofit ED asks a board chair for one decision between meetings
- How a travel planner gets a couple to lock one trip decision
- How a mechanic asks a car owner to choose a repair without a sales pitch
- How a landscaper asks an HOA for one approval a board can actually give
- How an electrician explains a permit path so a homeowner can choose
- How a plumber sets planned scope with a homeowner before the van arrives
- How a restaurant partner asks the other owner to change the menu
- How a game designer asks a publisher to cut or keep one feature
- How a video producer gets a cut approved without a live review
- How a translator asks a client to lock one glossary term
- How an editor asks an author to accept a cut without starting a fight
- How a journalist asks a source to confirm one fact without a gotcha
- How a recruiter gets a hiring manager to own the next step
- How a bookkeeper asks a client one question that unblocks the monthly close
- How an interior designer gets a finish choice without another showroom trip
- How a wedding planner gets a couple to own one vendor decision
- How a photographer locks a shot list with a client before the day
- How a financial advisor asks a couple for one decision in one mailbox
- How to ask an insurance adjuster one claim question they can answer
- How a realtor gets a buyer to decide on an offer before the deadline
- How an architect gets a material choice from a client without a site meeting
- How a lawyer asks a client for a decision they can actually make
- Brief the thesis committee before the meeting
- Two study-abroad housing options — decide with someone at home
- A capstone update with one client approval
- Two fundraisers, one PTA vote
- Follow up with a teacher on what was agreed
- A go / no-go on team travel, with cost and dates
- Get a yes on two club budget line items
- Run a student-government vote without a midnight meeting
- Tell your lab partner what changed in the protocol
- How to divide a group project when nobody can meet
- What a partner needs to know about coparenting logistics
- Share a report-card read: the grades as stated, your conclusion as yours
- Choosing an elder-care agency: options considered, and who you already ruled out
- Ask a godparent for one practical job, with the context they lack
- Pick a reunion date and place when the family is scattered
- IEP notes to the other parent: what the meeting said, not what you concluded
- Ask in-laws for one input — they read email, and that is enough
- Two wedding quotes, one date, one decision with your fiancé
- Tell family you are moving: FYI, or ask for help — not both at once
- Pet care while you travel: instructions plus one confirmation
- Ask a sibling to poke holes — you want defects, not agreement
- Two house offers, one deadline, and a partner who is in the air
- Plan a family trip without a twenty-person group thread
- Ask a grandparent for one opinion — they do not need an app
- Share what the clinician said, not what your assistant concluded
- Decision, opinion, or review: choosing what to ask for
- Asking for an academic collaboration
- Writing an investor update that contains a real ask
- Professional outreach that isn't spam
- How to state an assumption so someone can correct it
- How to write a TL;DR people actually rely on
- Asking an advisor or board member for input between meetings
- Decisions in open source projects: how to get input without a ninety-comment thread
- How to break a cofounder deadlock
- How to make a mid-renovation decision without deciding on the spot
- Getting answers from your accountant when your AI already has a theory
- How to ask for a technical design review that isn't a rubber stamp
- Freelance client communication with AI: how to get a decision, not 'whatever you think is best'
- RelayLink vs. sharing a ChatGPT link: when each one is the right call
- How to tell if a cold briefing is worth your time
- What to do when you receive an AI briefing
- How to brief your assistant so the draft lands
- How to write a note your AI can't improve
- How to ask for a decision so you actually get one
- Five situations where an AI briefing beats a long email
- How to share an AI conversation with someone (and when you shouldn't)