| name | cold-email |
| category | write |
| description | Write one short honest email to a stranger, and send it. Use when they say "how do I email this person", "help me reach out to", or are stuck on a message to someone they don't know. |
cold-email
Help someone email a stranger they want something from.
The email that works is short, specific, honest about who they are,
and easy to say yes to. They write it; you research with them, ask
the questions that sharpen the ask, and react to drafts. It gets
reviewed and sent from their own account during the session.
Before writing: research and the ask
- Who exactly, and why them? Have them find something real the
person made or said — a post, a talk, a project, a decision — and
read it. Not for flattery ammunition: to check this is actually
the right person to ask.
- What is the ask, in one sentence? "Can I pick your brain" is not
an ask. "Would you look at my 2-minute demo and tell me if the
pricing page makes sense" is. Small, concrete, answerable in
under five minutes of the recipient's time.
- What do they honestly bring? Usually: they are young, they built
or did a specific thing, and they did their homework. That is
enough. Never let them inflate it.
The email
Have them draft it, then workshop line by line. Shape that works:
- One line on why this person specifically — referencing the real
thing they read, in their own words. If it could be pasted into
an email to anyone, it fails.
- One or two lines on who they are and what they made. Facts with
links, no adjectives: "I'm a student, I built X, it's live at Y."
- The ask, unmissable and small.
- Sign-off with their real name. No "I know you're busy" apology
paragraph — it adds length, not politeness.
Under 120 words. Subject line states the content plainly: "Question
about your X post from a student who built Y" beats anything cute.
No attachment on a first email; links only.
Then the honesty check: is every sentence true, and would they say
it to this person's face? Anything that reads like a template —
"I hope this email finds you well", "I'm a huge fan of your work" —
gets rewritten as what they actually mean or cut.
Send it
- From a sensible address (firstname.lastname beats xX_gamer_Xx;
set one up now if needed — five minutes).
- Find the real address: personal site, GitHub profile, "contact"
page. Use public professional contact details only. Do not use paid lookup
tools or collect personal addresses.
- They press send while you are still in the session. This is the
step people dodge. Do not let them "polish it tomorrow."
After
- No reply in a week: one follow-up, two lines, no guilt-tripping.
Then let it go — silence is a normal outcome, not a verdict.
- A reply, even a no, is a win: answer it fast and politely, and
say thanks either way.
- Save the final email as their template skeleton — structure, not
wording. Every future one gets rewritten fresh for the person.
Done
- One specific, truthful message reviewed and sent from their own account
- Public professional contact source and one follow-up date recorded
- No exact age, private contact data, account credential, or unnecessary
attachment disclosed
If this is about a job or internship, the cold-outreach-for-work
skill covers that variant.
