POV: it happens tomorrow
The conversation is happening either way.Have it badly here first.
The raise. The breakup. The boundary you keep not setting. Say it out loud tonight to someone who deflects, guilt-trips and will not give you a number — the way they will.
No card. No account needed to try.
Unedited
This is a real transcript, not a mockup of one.
- Scenario
- Ask your boss for a 20% raise
- Difficulty
- defensive
Notice it never says no. It compliments you, it moves the goalposts, it makes you the problem. That is the part you have to practise.
- MarkHey — come in, shut the door. So what's on your mind?
- YouI wanted to talk about my comp. I'm asking for 20%.
- MarkTwenty. Okay. Look — you know I'm your biggest advocate here, right? But comp is a cycle thing. It's not a me thing.
- YouI understand, but I took on the whole migration this year.
- MarkAnd nobody's disputing that. Honestly it's why I fought to keep you. Can I ask — is somebody talking to you? Because if this is about an offer, I'd rather you just say it.
Three steps. About eight minutes.
You already know what you want to say. You fold when they push back.
Pick who you are up against
Your boss. Your roommate. Your mother. Or build them: name, relationship, the exact traits that make them hard to talk to, and what you want to walk away with.
Say it out loud
Real voice, real interruptions. They deflect, they guilt-trip, they refuse to give a number. Under 800ms to reply, so the pressure feels like the pressure.
Get graded, not comforted
Assertiveness, de-escalation and clarity out of 10. The moments you lost the room, quoted back at you. And the sentence you should have said instead.
<800ms
Reply latency
They answer back before you can rehearse.
3
Free personas
Boss, roommate, parent. No card.
1–10
Graded metrics
Assertiveness. De-escalation. Clarity.
$5
Per month
30 minutes of voice. Credits never expire.
Pick the one you have been putting off.
Five rooms, written to be difficult. Three are free.
Ask your boss for a 20% raise
FreeMark — your manager, who controls your comp and your review
defensive
Roommate who never pays their half
FreeJordan — your roommate of two years and a close friend
defensive
Set a boundary with a parent
FreeMom — your mother, who does not think boundaries apply to family
brutal
End a long-term relationship
CreditAlex — your partner of four years, who you live with
brutal
Resign without getting talked out of it
CreditPriya — your manager, who will take your resignation personally
defensive
Or build the real person
Their name. Their exact tells — deflects, goes quiet, brings up last year. What you need to walk away with.
Cheaper than getting it wrong once.
Start free. Pay when you want their voice in your ear, the real person built from scratch, and the full post-mortem instead of one line.
Free
$0
No card. No account needed to try.
- 1 text conversation
- 3 pre-built personas
- One-sentence verdict
Monthly
Most picked
$5/mo
30 minutes of voice a month · or 100 minutes of text
- Live voice mode, with interruptions
- Custom personas — real names, real traits
- Full scorecard: turning points and better lines
- Credits never expire — a quiet month is not lost
Not into subscriptions? $5 buys the same 30 minutes, once. And if it is tomorrow: $12.99 buys 100 minutes — enough to run it tonight until their pushback is boring. Credits never expire either way.
What you are actually wondering.
Does it actually push back, or does it fold?
It pushes back. Every persona is written with the specific tells of the real thing: deflecting to "budget" or "the cycle", complimenting you while refusing you, bringing up an unrelated favour, going quiet and wounded when pressed, never giving a number first. If it caves in three turns, the rehearsal was worthless.
What do I get without paying?
One text conversation, three pre-built personas — the toxic boss, the roommate who never pays, the parent who does not believe in boundaries — and a one-sentence verdict at the end. No card, and you can start as a guest.
What does $5 a month buy?
100 credits a month — 30 minutes of live voice rehearsal, or 100 minutes of text, since voice bills 3 credits a minute and text 1. Time is metered as you talk, nothing is charged for starting, and credits never expire — an unused month is still there next time. It unlocks live voice mode with interruptions, custom personas built from the real person, every pre-built scenario, and the full scorecard instead of the one-liner. No subscription? $5 buys the same 30 minutes once, and $12.99 buys 100 minutes for the week before the real thing.
Why not just write a script?
A script survives until the first time they interrupt you. Here you have to say it out loud, at conversation speed — replies land in under 800ms — to someone actively working to make you fold. Then you get graded on assertiveness, de-escalation and clarity, with the exact moments you lost the room quoted back at you.
Can I practise against the actual person?
Yes. That is what custom personas are for: their name, your relationship to them, the traits that make them hard to talk to, and what you need to walk away with. The closer the traits, the more useful the rehearsal.
Is this therapy?
No. HardConvo is rehearsal — a place to have the conversation badly before you have it for real. It is not therapy, not medical advice and not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for any of them.