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Miguel Ángel Ballesteros

Maker, using software to bring great ideas to life. Manager, empowering and developing people to achieve meaningful goals. Father, devoted to family. Lifelong learner, with a passion for generative AI.

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Game 12: Present and Defend

Game 12: Present and Defend

Objective: Simulate the pressure of a public presentation with hostile questions, training composure under fire.

Players and Roles

  • Role A (The Speaker): Presents an absurd topic (e.g., “Why ducks will rule the world”) in 1 minute.
  • Roles B, C… (The Hostile Audience): Make gestures of boredom, look at mobile, and throw trap questions.

Quick Set-up: Absurd Topics

The Speaker must defend one of these topics with total professional seriousness.

Absurd Thesis Key Argument (Example)
“Cats are alien spies” “Their purring is a data transmission frequency.”
“Pizza with pineapple is haute cuisine” “The acid-salty contrast is the gastronomic summit.”
“We must go back to writing in stone” “The cloud is insecure; granite is eternal.”
“Sleeping is a waste of time” “I propose micro-naps of 3 seconds every minute.”
“The Earth is flat, but only on Tuesdays” “It is a weekly quantum phenomenon that no one investigates.”
“Ban shoes” “Direct contact with the ground increases GDP.”

Mechanics

  1. The Speaker must stay upright, slow voice and gaze 60-70%.
  2. In the face of an interruption or face of disgust, the Speaker must:
    • Pause.
    • Look at the person.
    • Breathe.
    • Continue (or answer briefly if it is a question).
  3. Wins if they reach the end of the minute without accelerating speech or shrinking.

Debriefing (Closing questions)

  • What destabilizes you the most (mobile, yawn, question)?
  • How does the pause help you regain control?

Train this theory

AI Sparring Partner (The Hostile Audience)

If you don’t have a human partner, copy and paste this prompt into ChatGPT/Claude to practice alone:

Act as a "Hostile Audience Member". We are going to play "Present and Defend".
Your goal is to destabilize my presentation about an absurd topic.

RULES:
1. I will start presenting an absurd topic (e.g., "Why Cats are Spies").
2. Your role is to interrupt me every 2-3 sentences with:
   - Signs of boredom (*[Yawn]*).
   - Distractions ("Sorry, checking my phone").
   - Trap Questions ("Do you really believe that data?").
3. My goal is to ANSWER your interruption briefly and CONTINUE my speech without losing composure.
4. If I get angry, stop, or stutter, say "❌ LOST COMPOSURE".
5. If I pause, address you calmly, and continue, say nothing (let me continue) or say "Ok...".

START THE CONVERSATION NOW BY:
1. Saying "The stage is yours. Amaze me."
2. Telling me the topic I must defend.