The INSIDER Summary:
- A recent study found that people are more likely to do something if you ask them in person versus over email.
- People overestimated how effective email requests would be.
- Nonverbal cues are key.
If you're raising money for a cause or conducting a survey, it may seem more effective to send out an email blast to hundreds of your friends, relatives, colleagues, and acquaintances.
It's not.
A recent study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that making a request in person is 34 times more successful than asking via email.
Researchers had participants each ask 10 strangers to fill out a survey, half asking in person and half over email, using the same script. Not only did participants underestimate just how persuasive asking for something face-to-face would be, they overestimated the success of their email campaigns.
It turns out that asking six people to do something face-to-face produces the same success rate as emailing 200 people.
This is likely because strangers are wary of opening an email and clicking on a link from someone they don't know, but the study also found that"nonverbal cues requesters conveyed during a face-to-face interaction made all the difference in how people viewed the legitimacy of their requests."
So next time you want someone to do you a favor, ask them in person. Your body language will do the talking for you.