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Your hardest conversation. Practiced before it counts.

We help technical leaders practice their hardest conversations so they can communicate clearly under pressure.

Try it free at Open Night Book a 60-minute demo

You were hired for your engineering.Now the job is mostly conversations.

A senior engineer, in front of your team“Your design won't survive qual. We should do it my way.”

Your program lead“Why am I only hearing about this now?”

A former peer who now reports to you“Wait, I thought my work was fine.”

Most new leaders have read the books.
Pressure exposes your true skill level.
Not what you know, but what you can actually do.

The difference one practice round makes

Take 1
0:24

“Thanks for taking some time to meet with me. I've got some feedback I'd like to go over with you. Looking at past performances, it's just not up to standard. So I'm just curious to hear what you have to say.”

Take 2
0:38

“Thanks for taking some time to meet with me. My goal for this meeting is to make sure that our team is operating at its full capacity, that we're hitting our targets, and that people feel good about the work they're doing. Life is too short not to do that. The challenge, however, is that some of the behaviors and performance are not up to standard, and that's causing a myriad of issues across the team that I want to address. So my goal is to resolve that tension and come up with ways that are clear, helpful, and work for everybody involved.”

How it works

Pressure-tested with a trained actor

Storytelling frameworks are your tools.We teach them as skills.Then a trained improv actor pressure-tests them, so the learning locks in.

  1. Bring the real oneThe conversation you're dreading this month.
  2. An actor pushes backInterrupts, doubts, goes quiet.
  3. Build a story CharacterGoalChallengeResolution You're the engineer this team leans on most. My goal is to ship Friday with something our customers can trust. The challenge is I can see you're burning out, and this is the third weekend in a row. So I'm asking for Saturday, and you take Monday and Tuesday off. Fair?
  4. Go againSame pushback. You hear the difference.
Most training stops here

Workshops, books, slides. You know what to say.

Your first step

Try it free.

Every three weeks, online and in person, we dissect a real conversation.
You're welcome to participate or watch.

    For your team

    Start small.Grow when it works.

    Founding rates lock in for teams that start by Dec 31, 2026 Every session includes a trained improv actor.
    1. Open Night90 minTry it yourselfFreeFree
    2. Demo60 minYour team's real conversationsFreeFree
    3. Kickoff Best first step1 session75 minutes · 100% credited toward the Pilot$150 / person $215$900
    4. Pilot3 sessionsWeeks 1–3$650 / person $895$3,900
    5. Full Program Best value5 sessionsThe complete program, with a before-and-after results report$2,500 / person $3,200$15,000
    6. Practice Lab2 sessions/monthKeeps the skill sharp$395 / person / mo $495$2,370/mo
    7. CustomBuilt from your team's real momentsQuotedAsk us

    $215 = rate from Jan 1, 2027

    *Full Program for 6 people at the founding rate: $4,200 less than the 2027 rate.

    Book a free demo

    Ready now? Start with a Kickoff and we'll reply with dates.

    Practice before it gets real

    Bring one real conversation.