How to Make Requests That Overcome Obstacles to Compliance

Speakers who request information from others often face potential obstacles to getting that information. Their addressees may not know the information, may be unwilling to give it, or may not remember it. In three experiments we show that speakers estimate the greatest potential obstacle to compliance and try to overcome it through their choice of indirect, or conditional, request. I f speakers thought addressees might not remember the time of a concert, they could make their request conditional on the addressees’ remembering the time and choose Do you remember what time the concert begins tonight?, meaning “Do you remember what time the concert begins, and if you do, please tell me.” In selecting their request, speakers in most situations try to pinpoint the obstacle as specifically as they can.