Community
Classroom
Members
Map
Leaderboards
About
20d • General discussion
Challenges of Stakeholder Outreach- What if No One Replies to My Emails?
Question: In Step 4 stakeholder outreach? I reached out to 3 researchers and 6 practitioners last week, but haven’t heard back from anyone. Should I keep sending more?”
Lack of replies usually means people are busy, not that your idea is bad. Treat outreach like a numbers + quality game: cast a wide net and make each contact highly relevant. If you email 20 busy professionals, getting 1 reply is common. That’s fine — you’ll get momentum from those 1–2 real conversations.
Step-by-step plan (what to do next)
  1. Build a short target list. Aim for 10 researchers and 10 practitioners (or at least expand to 10 each over time). Include PhD students and postdocs — they reply more often and can be excellent mentors.
  2. Do quick homework on each person. Read 1 recent paper/one project summary. Note a specific line, figure, or method you found interesting. Jot down where your project could connect to their work (1–2 sentences).
  3. 3-attempt rule. Attempt 1 (initial): short, clear, include 1-line value + one concrete ask (e.g., 15-minute call or feedback on a 1-page proposal). Attempt 2 (one week later): add one new, deeper detail (mention a specific paper and one question). Attempt 3 (one week later): final friendly push + offer an easy no-pressure alternative (quick review, intro to a student, or say “if not you, who do you recommend?”).If still no reply after three sincere attempts, move on.
  4. Use multiple channels. If you have a phone number, call them or meet them in person in your local community. 
  5. If you still don’t get a reply: Keep moving down your list. Follow the same process for new people. Parallel track: contact postdocs, graduate students, local university faculty (state schools), and industry practitioners at smaller firms — they respond more often. Post your request in targeted forums (research Slack groups, specialized subreddits, university lab pages) or ask a teacher for a warm intro.
1
0 comments
Jinhua Zhao
2
Challenges of Stakeholder Outreach- What if No One Replies to My Emails?
Learn Scientific Research
Transform high schoolers into confident researchers.
Build excellent research questions that stand out, guided by MIT Prof. Jinhua Zhao
Powered by