Hey Jon. Thanks for reading the article & posting a comment. Interesting question.
I haven't and I feel that it could get a bit more akward, if you haven't established some sort of connection first.
Another reason against it might be that if the other person blanks out, you don't know enough about him to fill the void. In the example I've given with Matthew, when he blanked I knew enough about him and his endeavour (writing a book) to come up with a few ideas how he could do research for his book.
On the other hand, asking this upfront sets the tone for the entire meeting. That is also a great benefit.
I haven't and I feel that it could get a bit more akward, if you haven't established some sort of connection first.
Another reason against it might be that if the other person blanks out, you don't know enough about him to fill the void. In the example I've given with Matthew, when he blanked I knew enough about him and his endeavour (writing a book) to come up with a few ideas how he could do research for his book.
On the other hand, asking this upfront sets the tone for the entire meeting. That is also a great benefit.
tl;dr: I might have to A/B test this - right?