Page 39 of 107 Days

By the second day I was working without my note cards, and we were going the full ninety minutes. Then doing it again. And again. It matters that you get your reps in.

You must get used to the cadence; you must get used to the clock. As for an athlete, a great shooter can’t score if the shot comes after the buzzer.

Say the subject is the color green. You might have a bunch of incredible things to say on the subject of green, but the buzzer goes before you’ve landed your best point, and by the time you get to speak again, the subject’s changed to orange.

If you try to make your final great point about green, you won’t have time left to spell out your position on orange.

Complex answers are often punished by the unforgiving clock.

After we ran through a full mock debate, I would leave the ballroom while the team deconstructed and analyzed my every answer.

Because there were so many advisers, they didn’t want ten or a dozen different voices bombarding me.

While I was out of the room, they’d synthesize everyone’s opinions: “She was visibly annoyed by that question—we’ve got to get her immune to that.

” “She needs to get to that answer faster.” “She forgot to make that point.”

Storm would make me a cup of tea. The team, if they were being kind, would bring me a small bag of Doritos, which felt like being handed a doggy treat.

I’d come back in, and Karen or Rohini would deliver the critique.

Then we’d do it all over again, going late into the evening so that I practiced how it felt to do the debate at the actual time it would take place.

I was on my feet the whole time. It’s a test of endurance as much as anything. Keeping up the energy, staying focused. Questions I’d prepared for, new ones that I hadn’t. And always, under the glare of the lights, the digital clock flashing.