Say No to a Senior Manager
Your skip-level boss asks you to take on a big extra project. You're already full. Practice saying no clearly, without guilt or over-apologizing.
Realistic · You'll face Richard, your senior manager
Hard conversations at work you can practice out loud
Every scenario in Rehearse is a real situation with a character who behaves like the person on the other side of the table — they interrupt, deflect and push back. Pick the one you are dreading, rehearse it by voice or face to face, and get a score with the moments that earned it.
Saying no 5
Turning down your boss, a peer or a stakeholder without the apology spiral — and holding the line when they ask again.
Push Back on an Unrealistic Deadline
Leadership wants a project done in half the realistic time. Practice pushing back with facts, not fear.
Tough · You'll face Meredith, a results-driven director
Set a Boundary on Late-Night Messages
A keen report messages you at 11pm most nights and expects an answer. You want the enthusiasm and not the hours. Practice drawing the line clearly, without making them feel told off for caring.
Realistic · You'll face Elijah, an eager junior report
Hold the No When They Ask Again
You have already declined this once, with reasons. They are asking again as though you never did. Practice holding the same no a second time without re-opening the negotiation or apologising for it.
Tough · You'll face Vanessa, a director who restates rather than rethinks
Say No to Your Own Manager
Another team was cut and your manager wants yours to pick up what they were doing — no extra people, no change to your own targets, and it is framed as temporary. Practice declining upward: name what would have to drop for this to fit, and ask which of those she is choosing, rather than agreeing and hoping.
Realistic · You'll face Sarah, your budget-conscious manager
Difficult people 4
The defensive report, the former peer who wanted your job, the colleague who talks over you. Practice staying steady when they do not.
Handle a Defensive Report
You give feedback and they immediately make excuses and blame others. Practice holding the line without escalating.
Tough · You'll face Ashley, a defensive report
Manage Someone You Were Peers With
You were promoted over someone you used to sit beside, and they have been cool with you ever since. Practice naming the change directly and rebuilding the working relationship, without apologising for the promotion.
Realistic · You'll face Victor, a former peer who wanted the job
When They Go Round You
Someone on your team keeps raising things with your manager that he has not raised with you, and each time you hear about it second-hand. Practice naming the pattern once, plainly, and agreeing what comes to you first — without turning it into a complaint about loyalty.
Tough · You'll face Victor, a former peer who wanted the job
The One Who Will Not Use the New Tools
Your most experienced person is still doing it the old way, slower, and treats the new workflow as a fad that will pass. Practice separating the standard from the preference: she does not have to like it, and the team cannot run two processes.
Realistic · You'll face Diane, a seasoned colleague
Feedback 4
Critical feedback that lands without wounding — to a report, to someone more senior, or upward to your own manager.
Give Your First Critical Feedback
Your first time giving tough feedback as a new manager. Practice being specific and supportive, not vague or harsh.
Easy · You'll face Kevin, a receptive team member
Feedback to Someone Senior
You need to give feedback to someone older or more experienced than you. Practice being respectful and confident at once.
Tough · You'll face Diane, a seasoned colleague
Tell Your Boss the Target Is Not Real
Your senior manager has committed to output that only works if the new tools deliver what the vendor promised, and they have not. Practice giving upward feedback with evidence: what you have actually measured, what is achievable, and what you need decided — rather than absorbing the gap quietly and missing it later.
Tough · You'll face Richard, your senior manager
She Read the Pay Band
A recent hire has seen the advertised band for her own role and sits near the bottom of it. Practice answering honestly about where she sits and what moves it, without inventing a promise you cannot keep or hiding behind policy.
Realistic · You'll face Chelsea, a new hire who thinks it is going well
Stakeholders 4
Asking for what your team needs, protecting its scope, and getting two groups who disagree to one plan.
Ask for What Your Team Needs
Your team is under-resourced and it is starting to show. Your manager's budget is already spoken for. Practice making the case with evidence, and asking for a decision rather than sympathy.
Realistic · You'll face Sarah, your budget-conscious manager
When Another Lead Blames Your Team
Another team lead has blamed your team for a missed deadline, in front of other people. Practice correcting the record calmly and defending your team without escalating it into a fight.
Tough · You'll face Gabriel, an out-of-patience peer lead
The Favour That Is Really a Project
He is warm, he is senior, and what he is describing as a couple of days is a month of your team's time on something nobody has prioritised. Practice protecting the plan without making an enemy: make the trade visible and hand the choice back to him.
Realistic · You'll face Mark, a charming senior stakeholder
When Someone Tries to Take Your Best Person
She approached one of your people directly about a move and is presenting it to you as nearly settled. Practice slowing it down without trapping anyone: what the person actually wants, what the team needs, and who decides.
Tough · You'll face Vanessa, a director who restates rather than rethinks
Hard moments 4
Layoffs, burnout, a resignation, a probation that is not going to pass. The conversations no one trains you for.
Tell Someone They Are Not Passing Probation
Someone you hired is not going to pass probation, and they do not know it yet. Practice saying it without burying it in praise, and without taking the decision back when they get upset.
Tough · You'll face Chelsea, a new hire who thinks it is going well
The Week After People Left
The round is over for now and you genuinely do not know what happens next quarter. Practice being honest about uncertainty without either promising safety you cannot promise or leaving him to fill the silence with the worst version.
Tough · You'll face Nathan, a worried team member
Enforce a Policy You Did Not Choose
The mandate came from above, you did not set it, and she arranged her life around the old arrangement. Practice holding a line you did not draw: own the decision as the manager rather than hiding behind whoever made it, and be straight about what is and is not negotiable.
Tough · You'll face Ashley, a defensive report
Someone Good Just Resigned
One of your strongest people has handed in notice and the offer is better than anything you can match today. Practice finding out what is actually driving it, saying plainly what you can and cannot do, and keeping the relationship whichever way it goes.
Realistic · You'll face Kevin, a receptive team member
Rehearse the one you are dreading
30 free credits to start — enough for half an hour of voice practice. Or write your own scenario for the conversation that is not on this list.
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