Week 1 · Grounded Presence
First Impressions & Presence
People decide a lot about you before you finish your first sentence. This week makes those seconds work for you, then helps you hold attention once you have it.
Day 1 · The 100-Millisecond Verdict
Monday · Lesson · 10 min
People shown a face for a tenth of a second made much the same judgements about trustworthiness and competence as people given as long as they liked. Extra time barely changed the verdict; mostly it made people more confident in it.
You learn: Pause at the threshold · Scan, then land · Open body
Day 2 · Small Talk That Goes Somewhere
Tuesday · Lesson · 12 min
People who ask more questions, especially follow-up questions, are liked more. The ones who are “good at small talk” aren’t funnier than you. They let the other person be interesting.
You learn: Open with ARE · Swap the default question for a spark · Two follow-ups before a new topic
Day 3 · Eye Contact Without the Stare
Wednesday · Lesson · 10 min
In one study, people were most comfortable with eye contact that lasted about three seconds. Longer starts to feel like a stare. The skill is the rhythm: hold, release, return.
You learn: Hold about three seconds · More while listening · Break sideways, not down
Day 4 · A Body That Says “I Belong Here”
Thursday · Lesson · 12 min
Your body speaks before you do, and keeps talking while you do. Many people undercut themselves in three ways: shrinking, fidgeting, and touching their face or neck to calm themselves. The people around them tend to read that for exactly what it is.
You learn: Open and wide · Hands visible and still at rest · Gesture in the box
Day 5 · The Voice People Lean Into
Friday · Lesson · 15 min
Under pressure many voices go faster, higher and flatter, with sentences that trail up. A one- to two-second pause before a key point feels like an eternity to you and sounds like authority to everyone else.
You learn: 140 to 160 words a minute · Pause instead of “um” · Land your sentences
Day 6 · The Deliberate Room
Saturday · Out in the world · 5 min
Go somewhere with people in it: a party, a barbecue, a networking event, team drinks. Run the whole week once. Threshold pause, scan and land, warmth first, ARE, two follow-ups, clean exit. Eyes: three seconds, break sideways. Hands: visible and still. Voice: pause instead of “um”, land your sentences. One conversation is enough.
Day 7 · Week 1 Review
Sunday · Review · 10 min
Review days are where the gains stick. Redo the Day 5 prompt in Speak and compare pace and fillers with your Day 5 run (your history is in Me). Then answer three questions in today’s notes: what already feels more natural, what did you avoid this week, and which single habit will you carry into Week 2. Pick one. One habit carried beats five noted.
Week 2 · Calm Authority
Confidence & Authority
Confidence is not a feeling you wait for. It is what shows up after the reps. This week builds vocal control under pressure and the quiet signals that make people treat you as the person in charge.
Day 8 · Confidence Is a Verb
Monday · Lesson · 10 min
Confidence comes after the action, not before it. The strongest source of self-belief is doing the thing slightly beyond your comfort, and surviving. Waiting to feel ready is the trap.
You learn: Do the small brave thing before you feel ready · “I’m excited”, out loud · Smaller is stronger
Day 9 · Vocal Control Under Load
Tuesday · Lesson · 12 min
Under stress your breathing goes high and shallow, and your voice follows: thin and fast. In one study, five minutes of double breaths in through the nose and long breaths out eased anxiety and lifted mood. Fix the breath and the voice follows.
You learn: Two physiological sighs · Short first sentence · Belly, not throat
Day 10 · Playful Authority
Wednesday · Lesson · 10 min
The people we find magnetic turn up three dials at once: presence, power and warmth. Power without warmth is intimidating; warmth without power is merely nice. Playfulness is what lets you show both.
You learn: Presence · Power · Warmth
Day 11 · The Authority Effect
Thursday · Lesson · 12 min
Authority in a room isn’t a title. It’s a speaking pattern: conclusion first, few words, no hedging. In one study, people asking to jump the queue to copy a few pages were let through far more often when they gave a reason, even a meaningless one.
You learn: Conclusion, then because, then detail · Cut the hedges · One reason stated plainly
Day 12 · Carry Yourself Like a Leader
Friday · Lesson · 12 min
When senior executives were asked what “executive presence” is made of, the biggest part by far was gravitas: how you carry yourself under pressure. It shows in tempo. The person a little slower than the room is read as the one in control of it.
You learn: Walk, turn and answer a half-beat slower · Sit back · The one-second hold
Day 13 · Lead One Moment
Saturday · Out in the world · 5 min
Pick one small moment today to lead: suggest where the group goes, open the meeting, make the toast, be the one who says “Right, let’s go.” Run the Week 2 kit: two sighs, short first sentence, conclusion first, pause, stop. Notice whether anyone pushes back. They almost never do.
Day 14 · Week 2 Review
Sunday · Review · 10 min
Redo the Day 9 prompt in Speak: “What I’m working on, and why it matters”. This time look at hedges as well as fillers; hedges are what make you sound unsure. Compare with your Day 9 run. Then answer in today’s notes: which brave action did you do and what happened, where did you hedge this week and with whom, and what is the one habit to carry into Week 3.
Week 3 · Measured Influence
Stories, Listening & Influence
Once people are listening, what do you give them? This week is about saying less and landing more, telling stories people remember, listening in a way they can feel, making asks people say yes to, and reading what they are not saying.
Day 15 · Say Less, Land More
Monday · Lesson · 12 min
Nobody has ever complained that a point was made too clearly in too few words. People remember three things far more easily than seven, and a concrete example sticks where an abstract claim slides off.
You learn: Point · Reason · Example
Day 16 · The Story Spine
Tuesday · Lesson · 15 min
Facts inform; stories move. A story has a shape the listener’s brain already knows how to follow, so they lean in instead of working. The engine is the “one day”: the moment something changed.
You learn: Once upon a time / Every day · But one day · Because of that
Day 17 · Listening People Can Feel
Wednesday · Lesson · 12 min
The most charismatic thing you can do in a conversation is listen so well the other person feels it. Repeat their last few words as a question, then wait. People keep going, and they like the person who listened.
You learn: Mirror · Label · Two follow-ups
Day 18 · Influence Without Pushing
Thursday · Lesson · 12 min
People say yes for predictable reasons: you gave first, they already said a small yes, people like them are doing it, they like and trust you. Learning them isn’t about manipulating. It’s about no longer making asks that ignore how people decide.
You learn: Situation · Ask · Why it’s good for them
Day 19 · Reading the Room
Friday · Lesson · 12 min
“93% of communication is non-verbal” is a myth. The useful truth is narrower: when someone’s words and body disagree, people believe the body. Feet and torso often point where someone wants to be.
You learn: Baseline first · Feet and torso · Pacifiers can mean discomfort
Day 20 · Tell One Story
Saturday · Out in the world · 5 min
Today’s mission is a story. Pick one from your bank of five and find a natural moment to tell it: over a meal, at drinks with friends or colleagues, in a voice message if it has to be. Use the story spine. Pause before the “one day”. Watch their feet and torso while you tell it. Are they leaning in?
Day 21 · Week 3 Review
Sunday · Review · 10 min
Tell your best story in Speak, 90 seconds, then record it once on your phone. A good story speeds up in the middle and slows down for the ending, so listen back for that. Compare fillers and hedges with last week. Then: which story landed best in real life? Where did listening, rather than talking, change an outcome this week? One habit for Week 4.
Week 4 · Quiet Gravitas
Pressure, Hard Moments & Habits
The last week is about the moments where it matters: thinking on your feet, hard conversations, presenting to a room, and turning the whole plan into habits you will keep.
Day 22 · Quick on Your Feet
Monday · Lesson · 12 min
The fear in an unexpected question isn’t the question. It’s the three seconds where you don’t know how to start. Have a structure you can reach for blind, and you sound as if you’d prepared.
You learn: What · So what · Now what
Day 23 · Difficult Conversations
Tuesday · Lesson · 15 min
Hard conversations go wrong for a predictable reason: each person argues their story about what happened instead of the facts. Every difficult conversation is really three: what happened, how we feel, and what it says about who we are.
You learn: Observation · Feeling · Need
Day 24 · Presenting to a Room
Wednesday · Lesson · 15 min
A presentation is a story with the lights on. Hook them in the first 20 seconds, say one message three ways, and end by telling people what to do. Everything after your first sentence is easier.
You learn: Hook in 20 seconds · One message, three supports · Feet planted, lighthouse eyes
Day 25 · The Charisma Habits
Thursday · Lesson · 12 min
A person’s name matters to them more than almost any other word, and forgetting it is a technique problem, not a memory problem. Charisma is mostly small habits of attention that anyone can repeat.
You learn: Names · Specific compliments · One remembered detail
Day 26 · Your Practice Plan
Friday · Lesson · 15 min
Four weeks is enough to know where you stand, not enough to be done. Ten minutes a week helps you keep the gains; zero minutes lets them fade.
You learn: Two numbers to fix · Cue card · Weekly loop
Day 27 · The Full Run
Saturday · Out in the world · 5 min
Find one real event: a dinner or a party, a networking night, an industry function, the team drinks. Run everything. Entrance sequence. ARE and two follow-ups. Three-second eyes. Still hands. Two sighs before anything that matters. One story. One specific compliment. One clean exit.
Day 28 · Compare the Tape
Sunday · Review · 10 min
Redo the Day 1 prompt in Speak: your name, one sentence about what you do, then describe it, 60 seconds in all. Compare with your first run in Me: pace, fillers, hedges. If you filmed yourself on Day 1, film it again and watch both muted. In today’s notes, write the three things that changed. Then decide what’s next: run the plan again and set yourself harder field missions, or keep the weekly loop. You did the reps. That is the whole secret.
