Program Officer Conversations: Scripts, Etiquette & Red Flags
A deeper dive into the initial phase of building relationships with program officers
Hey there, welcome to this week’s premium edition, and thanks for reading. We’ll dive deeper into the initial phase of building relationships with program officers.
The free issue this week established the foundation: program officers want to trust you, they read faster than you think, and they genuinely want to say yes.
Today, we get into the mechanics of the conversations themselves—what to do before you pick up the phone or log in to Zoom, how to conduct a pre-submission call with confidence, how to navigate a site visit, how to follow up without being annoying, and what the red flags look like on both sides of the relationship.
I’m going to give you sample language to use in your communications. Scripts aren’t words you read verbatim—they’re scaffolds you internalize, so that when you’re in the moment, the right words come more naturally.
