The academy
20 topics. Each one is a short video and ten exercises.
Watch the video first. It takes about two minutes. Then do the exercises in real life, one a night. They start easy and get harder. Every video is free to watch. The exercises need a free account.
All 20 topics · 200 exercises
Free▶Topic 01
How to start a conversation with someone new, in a shop, at work or on an app. You do not need an excuse, and you learn to shrug it off when it goes nowhere.
Free▶Topic 02
How to keep it going: ask a second question, call back to something they said, tease in a way that flatters. Being interested without it becoming an interview.
Free▶Topic 05
How to get over a bad night in under an hour, instead of replaying it for a week.
Free▶Topic 07
The 1936 bestseller, read honestly: what still works about making people feel important, and where it tips over into flattery.
Free▶Topic 11
Most dating now starts in writing, where tone gets lost. How to sound warm in a message, and when to stop typing.
Free▶Topic 13
Pace, pitch and pauses. People hear these before they take in your words, and you can train all three.
Free▶Topic 19
You can make close friends as an adult. It takes hours together, and someone has to suggest them. These ten exercises show you how to be that person.
Gold▶Topic 03
How to build anticipation and pace things. Pulling back only works when it is honest, and you learn to tell the difference.
Gold▶Topic 04
Turn a friendship into something more, or leave it as it is and move on. Either one is a good outcome. Staying unclear is not.
Gold▶Topic 06
How early chemistry turns into something worth keeping: repairing after a row, staying interested, and still wanting each other once you know each other well.
Gold▶Topic 08
How to disagree with someone, or be in a bad mood around them, without pushing them away.
Gold▶Topic 09
What Casanova's memoirs teach: pay attention, be useful, be good company and leave well. We also cover the two episodes his legend leaves out.
Gold▶Topic 10
Marilyn Monroe built her presence as a skill and could switch it on at will. You practise the same behaviours, and learn what it cost her.
Gold▶Topic 12
Parties, work drinks and weddings. How to walk into a room where you know nobody, and leave having met someone.
Gold▶Topic 14
How to tease and be playful so the other person joins in, and where teasing goes too far.
Gold▶Topic 15
How to say no, leave first and end things kindly and honestly. Almost nobody practises this.
GoldTopic 16
The person you see every week at the café, the gym or work. Ten moves that take you from nodding to talking, spread over weeks.
GoldTopic 17
Ten things to do before, during and after a first date, for people whose voice goes when it matters. They go from easy to hard.
GoldTopic 18
What to send, when to send one more message, and when to stop. A slow reply means less than it feels like.
Gold▶Topic 20
Your mind goes blank because you are watching yourself while you try to talk. Ten exercises that move your attention back to the other person.
Also worth watching
Tonight takes nine minutes.
You watch one video and try one exercise. A free account keeps your streak and your notes, and opens 7 topics for good.
Start free practiceTopic photography from Pexels · Sami TÜRK · Valeria Boltneva · Fandy Much · Aui Vimuktanon · Rachel Claire · cottonbro studio · Thirdman · ANTONI SHKRABA production · Berta Raspall · tu nguyen · Ron Lach