Merrill Dubrow: My name is Merrill Dubrow, CEO of M/A/R/C Research, and a 35 plus year veteran of Insights Community and a host of our podcast On the M/A/R/C. Welcome to another On the M/A/R/C Merill-ISM. "Just Ask." Of course, today's Merrill-ISM is going to start with a story. Last month, I get a text from my buddy Tim Urmston, which was a picture from LinkedIn from a presentation I did with Cynt Marshall, the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks. With the picture was some text that read, "Wow, you got her." Which was amazing that a few months prior to that text, Tim sent me a link to a podcast that he thought was impressive and made sense and wanted to share with me. The podcast featured none other than Cynt Marshall. I actually shared it with the company. And the funny thing is, Tim wasn't aware that I knew Cynt at all. He was surprised to see a picture of us on stage at Quirk's. After I got the text, I actually called Tim really quickly. During our discussion, he said something, "How did you get her to present with you?" I said, "It's funny. I just asked. I wasn't sure her schedule would allow her to. But as always, she was amazing and extremely accommodating and she actually changed her schedule, Tim, to do it." I then mentioned I did the same thing with Sir Martin Sorrell, who, as most of you know, is a giant in the business community and the insights community as well, and he was the king at WPP for so long. I used the same exact approach. I just asked, and guess what? He said yes. Today's podcast is, "Just ask." If you're chairing a conference, set your sights very high and go for a big name, or someone who has a compelling story and a takeaway for your audience or maybe about an author, somebody whose book is just on fire. Just ask. If they say no, OK, respect their decision and time and move to the next potential speaker. If you're on a programming committee or want to bring in a guest speaker to present to your company, just ask. If you do, my sense and belief is most times guess what? You're going to get a yes. And remember, if you can't get a yes, you can't get it without asking. Just ask. Thanks for listening to today's On the M/A/R/C Merill-ISM "Just Ask." My name is Merrill Dubrow. I look forward to hearing from you. Stay well. Stay safe, and please stay in touch.