Practising difficult conversations
The general method: five things to settle first, a structure that holds for most hard conversations, and three rehearsal exercises.
Poised: Conversation Practice
Rehearse the conversation before you have it.
Pick the conversation you are facing, or describe it in your own words. An AI counterpart plays the other person and pushes back the way they actually would — then tells you how you handled it.
Poised at a glance
Coach
A ready-to-send draft, plus the reasoning: what to say, what to avoid, and why it lands. Make it warmer, firmer or shorter in a tap.
Practice
Role-play against an AI counterpart at Cooperative, Realistic or Difficult. Hints mid-conversation, then a debrief.
Small talk
Rehearse the casual part too — networking rooms, parties, people you have just met.
What people bring to it
The conversations that keep you up.
At work
Ask for a raise. Deliver feedback that lands without wrecking the relationship. Decline an offer. Send the email you've been avoiding since Tuesday.
Personal
Set a boundary with family. Deliver hard news gently. Apologise in a way that sounds like an apology rather than a defence.
Money
Negotiate rent, chase an invoice, request a refund, or haggle without the conversation going sideways.
Small talk
The networking room, the party where you know one person, the conversation that has to start somewhere.
Where your words go
You're typing the most sensitive thing you'll write this week.
Resignation drafts, arguments with family, salary numbers. That text deserves a shorter journey than most apps give it.
No account. Your history stays on your device.
There is no sign-up, and your practice history and drafts are written to your phone — clear them in the app or delete the app and they are gone. To generate a reply, the text you enter is sent to Anthropic's Claude models through OpenRouter, and only after you agree to it.
- Nothing is sent until you tap Continue on the consent dialog
- Requests route through OpenRouter to Anthropic's Claude models
- Your text is not sold, used for advertising, or used to train AI models
- Microphone access is requested only if you choose to dictate
- Consent can be withdrawn at any time in Settings
- Crash reporting and product analytics are described in the privacy policy
Practice guides
How to prepare for the conversation you're facing
Free guides to the conversations people bring to Poised — what to prepare, what to say, and what usually comes back at you. Each one ends with how to rehearse it in the app.
How to ask for a raise
When to ask, how to build a case your manager can pass upwards, what to say, and how to answer the six responses managers actually give.
Salary negotiation practice
Rehearsing an offer negotiation: what to settle before the call, a five-beat structure, and the pushback to expect from a recruiter.
A difficult conversation with your boss
Workload, feedback upward, boundaries and bad news — how to open, and what to do if your manager gets defensive.
Small talk practice
Four moves that open and sustain a conversation, what to do when the answers stay short, and how to leave without an elaborate excuse.
Questions
Before you download
What kinds of conversations is Poised for?
Anything you'd rewrite six times before sending — asking for a raise,
giving critical feedback, declining an offer, setting a boundary,
apologising properly, negotiating rent, requesting a refund.
How is Practice different from Coach?
Coach gives you a message to send. Practice runs the conversation:
the AI plays the other person, you reply in real time, you get hints
during the exchange and a debrief on how you handled it afterwards.
Which languages does it support?
Poised's interface is available in a range of languages, selectable
in Settings.
Are my messages stored anywhere?
Your history is kept on your device, not in an account. What you type
is sent for AI processing only after you agree to it. Crash reports
and product analytics are covered in the
privacy policy.
Do I need an account?
No account, no sign-up. Poised doesn't collect your name, email,
contacts or location.
How much is it?
Three sessions are free — a practice session or a Coach draft each
counts as one. After that, Premium is $8.99 a month or $59.99 a year
in the US, and the annual plan starts with a 3-day free trial.
Subscriptions are billed by Apple through your App Store account and
can be cancelled there at any time.
Say it properly the first time
First 3 sessions free, then Premium from $8.99/month (US). No account, and your history stays on your device.