The most deliciously uncomfortable fluency accelerator in Grandomastery: two back-to-back, utterly mortifying predicaments appear (e.g., “You accidentally sent a love confession to your entire company Slack” + “Your trousers split on stage during a TED Talk”). In 8–12 minutes you must deliver one seamless, charismatic spoken monologue (or written reflection) that: recounts both incidents with vivid, self-deprecating humour, calmly explains your split-second reasoning, turns e

The most mind-bending “where the hell am I?” exercise in Grandomastery: Google Maps drops you at a truly bizarre, randomly chosen real-world coordinate (an abandoned Soviet submarine base in Ukraine, a lonely vending machine in the middle of Hokkaido countryside, a neon-lit rooftop in Jakarta, a salt flat in Bolivia with a single tree). You have 8–12 minutes to deliver a completely convincing, deadpan spoken monologue (or written field report) that: explains exactly why you,

The ultimate test of global sophistication: a completely random country appears (e.g., Nauru, Bhutan, São Tomé and Príncipe, Liechtenstein). You have exactly 8–12 minutes to confidently inhabit the role of someone who has lived there for years. Without Googling, you must fluently describe daily life, culture, food, social etiquette, hidden gems, current challenges, and personal anecdotes – all sounding 100% authentic, logical, and richly detailed, even if you knew nothing abo