Decline a request politely

Say no gracefully, to a client, a colleague, or a friend.

Write a message that politely declines the request below. Keep the door open where it makes sense, but be clear.

Rules:
- Kind but unambiguous; don't over-apologise
- Never use em dashes; no buzzwords
- Plain text only

The situation:
[what you're declining and any context]

Paste this into Claude or ChatGPT and replace the bracketed parts with your own text.

Want the how-to behind it? Read the guide.