Permission Contract for Speaking
Secure explicit attention before making an important contribution
- Difficulty
- Starter
- Time to result
- ~days to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 97%
Treasure recommends creating an informal contract before delivering an important message. State the time required, signal that the contribution matters, and ask whether the other person is available to listen. A no is accepted rather than treated as rejection; ask for a better time and return then. A yes opens an explicit communication channel and creates a reasonable expectation of attention for the agreed period. If the listener becomes distracted, refer calmly to the agreement and offer to reschedule rather than competing with email or another task. The same mechanism can be used in a meeting by asking whether now is a useful moment to contribute. The method does not manufacture expertise or guarantee agreement. It creates the conditions in which the content can receive a fair hearing.
Origin
Extracted from The Diary of a CEO. Julian Treasure recommends informal time-and-attention agreements as a way to speak with authority to powerful people or in unequal meetings.
Core principles
- 01Authority can come from an agreed channel rather than job title alone
- 02A genuine no is better than speaking into unavailable attention
- 03Permission creates a mutual expectation to listen
- 04Respecting time makes it easier to request attention directly
- 05A contribution should justify the time requested
How to run it
- 1
Bound the Request
Decide how much time the contribution genuinely needs and what value it may add. Make the request concrete rather than asking vaguely to talk.
Pro tip Short, credible time estimates are easier to accept and easier to honor.
- 2
Ask for the Channel
Ask whether the person has the stated amount of time and is willing to listen. In a meeting, ask whether this is a useful moment to add the point.
Pro tip Signal relevance in one sentence before asking.
Watch out Permission must be real; do not punish or pressure someone for saying no.
- 3
Reschedule a No
If the answer is no, respect the current constraint and ask when would be better. Do not deliver the whole message while pretending to reschedule it.
Pro tip Confirm a specific time when the issue is important.
- 4
Use the Agreed Window
Deliver the contribution clearly and within the stated time. Lead with the decision, concern, or insight rather than a long preamble.
Pro tip Prepare the first sentence before requesting the window.
- 5
Protect or Reopen the Contract
If attention moves elsewhere, refer to the agreement without accusation and offer to continue later. End when the agreed time expires unless invited to continue.
Pro tip Ask whether a different time would now work better.
Watch out An agreement to listen is not an agreement with the message.
In the wild
Treasure models asking a powerful person for five minutes to hear something important. If they decline, the speaker asks for a better time; if they accept but become distracted, the speaker can refer to the five-minute agreement and offer to reschedule.
→ The speaker gains an explicit listening window without relying solely on hierarchy.
Illustrative example: a junior analyst sees a risk the room has missed. Instead of repeatedly trying to interrupt, she says she has a finding relevant to the decision and asks whether now is the right time for a two-minute explanation.
→ The room explicitly opens a channel for the contribution and can evaluate it on its merits.
Common mistakes
Treating No as Disrespect
The method depends on accepting that the listener may not have attention available at that moment.
Breaking the Time Promise
Requesting five minutes and taking far longer weakens the credibility of future attention contracts.
Confusing Attention With Agreement
Permission opens a channel for the message; it does not obligate the listener to endorse it.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for short, important contributions to busy or senior people and for meetings where speaking rights feel uneven.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for emergencies that require immediate warning, or as a manipulative claim on attention after consent has been withdrawn.
From the transcript
“do you have five minutes”
“you have just made a commitment to listen to me”
“you have a Channel of communication that's been opened explicitly”
From the episode
The Speaking Expert: How To Speak So Everyone Hears You: Julian Treasure