Practice the Hard Meetings
Before You're In Them
A small, live bootcamp for Program Managers and TPMs who want to learn to handle the dominators, the silent rooms, and the gridlock… by actually doing it, not just reading about it.
Built from 7 years running this training inside Google, Uber, and Netflix. Capped at 6 people so everyone gets real practice time.
Qualifies for most corporate L&D stipends.
You know the frameworks. The room doesn't care.
You've read the books. You know what good facilitation looks like. Then you're in a real meeting and an engineer goes deep into the weeds, a stakeholder drops a surprise requirement, two execs start arguing, and three conversations are happening at once.
Knowing what to do and doing it under pressure are different skills. This bootcamp is where you build the second one.
4 days. 1 hour a day. Real practice every session.
On Day 1 we cover and drill the basics: influence and accountability, facilitation techniques, and handling tough meeting behaviors. On Days 2 through 4 each participant will run a live 12-minute meeting role-play with the group, using their own meeting doc or template.
The scenarios are fictional (a Hogwarts wand launch, a Starfleet starship delay) so you can focus on the mechanics of running the room, not on whether you know the "right" business answer.
1 hour per day, Tuesday–Friday
2x 12-minute live role-plays each session Wednesday through Friday, rotating roles
Real-time feedback from me and your cohort
Capped at 6 people
A script for naming when a meeting has split into multiple side conversations and pulling it back together
A way to park a tangent on screen so people feel heard without losing the agenda
How to draw a quiet stakeholder into the conversation without putting them on the spot
Real-time note-taking that tracks blockers and assigns action items as they happen, not at the end
Practice handling a stakeholder who won't stop explaining, and one who's checked out entirely
What you'll actually walk away with:
Day 1 — Influence, accountability, and facilitation fundamentals
Day 2 — Live role-plays: the dependency trap, the compliance hijack
Day 3 — Live role-plays: the impossible deadline, the executive standoff
Day 4 — Live role-plays: the tangent-prone friends, the duplicate-effort fight
The Four Days
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"I walked away with a practical toolkit I could use in real meetings right away, and a lot more confidence managing chaos on a tight clock."
Sandeep Chakraborty, Technical Program Manager, Google
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"Don's sessions gave us immediate, actionable strategies for executive communication. And it was genuinely fun."
Nir Erez, Technical Program Manager, Google Cloud
Who’s Teaching This
I've spent 7 years teaching business communication and team facilitation at Google, Netflix, and Uber, including co-developing Google Cloud's TPM bootcamp. Before that, I performed with Cirque du Soleil and Blue Man Group, so I know a thing or two about staying steady when a room goes sideways.
I built this bootcamp because the gap I kept seeing wasn't knowledge. It was practice.
Cost: $595, 6 seats per cohort
Format: Live on Google Meet, 1 hour/ day for 4 days
The Details
Seats are limited, so refunds aren't available once you register. If your schedule shifts, you can transfer to a future cohort (7+ days notice) or send a colleague in your place (up to 48 hours before Day 1).