How to ask a contact to introduce you to someone they know
A short playbook for asking an existing contact for an introduction: be specific about who you want to meet, write a blurb they can forward, and make it easy to say no.
THE SHORT ANSWER
Ask an existing contact to introduce you to someone they know by naming the specific person or role you're hoping to meet and briefly explaining why. Write a short blurb they can forward with little editing, and make the ask easy to decline by saying you understand if the timing isn't right. This keeps the request low-effort for your contact and protects the relationship no matter the answer.
Start with a specific, low-effort request
Before asking a contact to open a door, get specific about who you want to meet and why. According to UC Berkeley Career Engagement, it is reasonable to ask a contact for names of other people to contact in order to gather different perspectives. Ping's editorial checklist suggests naming the person or role you're hoping to reach, the topic you'd like to discuss, and why this particular contact seems well-positioned to help, so the request takes seconds to evaluate.
Fictional example: Ping editorial imagines a marketer named Dana who emails a former colleague, naming the specific product team she'd like an introduction to and explaining she's exploring a career move. Dana closes by saying she understands if now isn't a good time. Ping suggests this level of specificity because a vague general request asks the contact to do all the thinking on your behalf.
Sources: UC Berkeley Career Engagement: Informational Interviews
Write a forwardable blurb
According to Ping, tapping the ring opens a shared profile on the other person's phone without requiring an app on their end, which is one reason a forwardable note might simply point to that profile instead of restating contact details. Ping's editorial checklist recommends drafting a two- or three-sentence blurb the contact can paste directly into an email: who you are, what you're hoping to learn, and one detail that shows you did some homework.
Our editorial suggestion is to write the blurb in third person, as though your contact were introducing you, so they don't have to rewrite it before sending. Keeping the blurb short reduces the editing burden on the person doing the forwarding. Ping's checklist also recommends pointing to a single piece of contact information rather than several, so the person being introduced has one clear next step.
Sources: Ping Ring: official product page
Give explicit permission to decline
According to Harvard FAS Mignone Center for Career Success, people are more likely to help someone they know and trust, which is part of why a gracious opt-out matters when the ask involves a contact vouching for you. Ping's editorial guidance is to add a line such as an explicit 'no worries at all if this isn't the right time or fit' near the top of the message, not buried at the end.
Fictional example: Ping editorial pictures a contact named Sam who wants to introduce a colleague but isn't sure the timing is right; because the original request included permission to decline, Sam feels comfortable replying honestly instead of going silent. Ping suggests treating a 'not now' answer as useful information rather than a rejection, since it keeps the relationship open for a better-timed ask later on.
Sources: Harvard FAS Mignone Center for Career Success: Maximizing Your Network for Job Opportunities
Sources and editorial notes
Reviewed September 26, 2026. This article's original contribution is a two-part forwarding workflow, pairing a specific ask with a ready-to-forward blurb and an explicit decline clause, which distinguishes it from Ping's existing pieces on making or declining introductions between two other people.