If you get lucky and receive a favourable reply (most people eventually respond well to a brief, intelligent request), talk to your boss before you respond.
Belarus has requested talks.
After the latest break-in, the South Korean Embassy requested talks with the Chinese Foreign Ministry but got no immediate response.
On Tuesday, three of his generals requested talks, a plea taken as a sign that the 65-year-old was ready to stand down.
South Korea's president, Lee Myung-bak, has been reluctant to engage at all, saying the North was following an old strategy of provoking its neighbor and then requesting talks and economic aid.
But the South, led by President Lee Myung-bak, has been reluctant, saying that the North appeared to be following an old strategy of provoking its neighbor and then requesting talks and aid.
Scotland is on the brink of staging a fresh referendum on independence after Nicola Sturgeon requested talks with the EU on separate membership after the UK's vote to leave.
Canada has requested talks with the EU at the World Trade Organisation, which is the first step before launching an official trade challenge to salvage a Canadian industry valued at £6.46m in exports last year.
Aung San Suu Kyi has requested talks with the president, Thein Sein, and the army chief, Min Aung Hlaing, to try and smooth a change of leadership that will further chip away at the military's influence.
