Set the Stage Right

Choose a real meeting, not a hallway chat — fifteen minutes on the calendar with a clearly titled agenda. If your manager looks stressed that week, reschedule. A receptive manager hears what a stressed one would have dismissed as noise.

Prepare talking points, but do not read from a script. Three numbers, one ask, one question — that is the whole memorization burden. Confidence comes from knowing your evidence, not from rehearsing every sentence.