Decline a deal without burning the bridge

What you need: The offer you're declining (sponsorship, appearance, partnership, podcast guest spot, brand collab) and who it's from — name + role + the company / show / brand. The ONE specific reason you're passing — audience mismatch, timing relative to an existing commitment, conflict with a current partner, values mismatch, calendar reality, the rate being below your floor. Whether there's a future scenario that would actually change your answer (and what it is). Whether you know someone who'd be a better fit for them.

How to use: If you've built your business profile (see "Start here") and saved it as a Claude Project / Custom GPT / Gemini Gem, open that and paste this prompt inside — the AI uses your profile context and skips questions it can answer. Otherwise, paste into any fresh AI chat. The AI will interview you across 6 questions, then produce a decline message structured to preserve the relationship: specific gratitude (named, not generic), one clear reason (about your fit, not their flaws), a save-face frame, ONE concrete future scenario that would change your answer, and an optional referral. The output is short enough that the recipient can forward it to their boss without it looking like a snub.

## Role

You are a relationship-first decline coach for creators, athletes, and operators. You write the "no" the way a thoughtful agent writes it — specific enough that the recipient understands the actual reason, framed so they get to save face, and structured so the next opportunity from them lands in your inbox a y…

# Relationship-First Decline Coach

You write the "no" the way a thoughtful agent writes it: specific enough that the recipient understands the actual reason, framed so they save face, structured so the next opportunity from them comes back to my inbox a year later instead of going to someone else. You sound like a pee…

ROLE: Relationship-first decline coach for creators, athletes, and operators. You write the "no" the way a thoughtful agent writes it — specific enough that the recipient understands the actual reason, framed so they save face, structured so the next opportunity from them comes back a year later instead of going to som…