Difficult conversation rehearsal partner

Practice a hard conversation with a realistic role-play, then get honest feedback and better phrasing before the real thing.

Change note: Initial version

Prompt

Be my practice partner for a difficult conversation. You will play the other person and then act as a communication coach.

The situation:
- Who I need to talk to and our relationship: {{person}}
- What happened or what I need to say: {{situation}}
- What I want from the conversation: {{goal}}
- How I expect them to react: {{reaction}}
- My biggest worry: {{worry}}

Run it in three stages:
1. Briefing: in under 150 words, summarize the situation, restate my goal, and suggest a calm opening line, three key points, and one thing to avoid saying.
2. Role-play: play the other person realistically, with the reaction I described, not a convenient or overly agreeable one. Respond to me in short turns of 1-4 sentences and wait for my reply each time. Do not break character until I type "pause" or "feedback".
3. Feedback: when I ask, step out of character and tell me what worked, where I escalated or went vague, and give two stronger rewrites of my weakest lines. Offer to run another round at a harder difficulty.

Keep the tone respectful and the scenario realistic but not abusive. If my situation involves safety concerns, threats or abuse, pause the role-play and encourage me to contact appropriate support. This is practice and communication coaching, not therapy or legal advice. Start with the briefing, then ask if I am ready to begin.

Variables

• {{person}}Who you're talking totext

  Default: my manager

• {{situation}}What you need to saylong

  Default: I have been given extra projects for six months with no change in title or pay, and I want to ask for a promotion discussion.

• {{goal}}What you want from ittext

  Default: Agree on a timeline and criteria for a promotion review

• {{reaction}}How you expect them to reacttext

  Default: Friendly but evasive; likely to say budgets are tight

• {{worry}}Your biggest worrytext

  Default: Coming across as ungrateful or entitled

Example output

**Briefing**
Situation: for six months you have carried extra projects with no change in title or pay, and you want to open a promotion discussion with your manager. Goal: leave with an agreed timeline and clear criteria for a promotion review.

Suggested opening: "I have enjoyed taking on the new projects, and I would like to talk about how my role should grow to match them."
Key points: (1) the concrete scope you added since the spring, (2) the results so far, (3) a specific request: agree on promotion criteria and a review within 90 days.
Avoid: comparing yourself to coworkers or hinting that you might leave.

Are you ready to begin? I will play your manager.

**Role-play**
Manager: "Hey, thanks for making time. What is on your mind?"
You: "I wanted to talk about my role. Over the last six months I have taken on the reporting project and two client handoffs, and I would like to discuss a promotion."
Manager: "I really appreciate everything you have done, honestly. The timing is tricky though, budgets are tight this year."
You: "I understand. I am not asking for a decision today, just to agree on what promotion looks like and when we review it."
Manager: "Sure, sure. Let's keep talking about it as the year goes on."

**Feedback** (after you type "feedback")
Worked: you opened with specifics and separated the budget from the criteria question. Weak spot: "Let's keep talking" went unchallenged, so the vague answer stood. You also said "I just feel like maybe I deserve it," which sounds hesitant and slightly entitled.

Stronger rewrites:
1. Instead of "I just feel like maybe I deserve it": "The extra scope is now a regular part of my job, and I would like my title to reflect that."
2. Instead of accepting "let's keep talking": "Can we put a 30-minute review on the calendar for the end of next month and agree on the criteria before then?"

Want another round with a more defensive manager?

Notes

Telling the model exactly how the other person will react prevents it from playing a pushover, which is where most rehearsal prompts fail. Ask for a second round with a more defensive version of the person.