Triple Step: The Tree in the Storm
Hold one clear direction while integrating distractions, so nothing can derail your speaking
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 4
- Confidence
- 90%
A deliberate-practice game that builds resilience against distraction. You pick a strong single direction on a random topic, then integrate a stream of random words thrown at you mid-speech as seamlessly as if they'd been planned. The principle is to be the tree in the storm — grounded enough not to snap, flexible enough to bend — so that a yawn, a dropped pen, or an unexpected question can't pull you off your thought. It doubles as a brain warm-up before high-stakes speaking.
Origin
An Ultraspeaking game from Tristan de Montebello and Michael Gendler, designed for people who get easily distracted or knocked off a single thought.
Core principles
- 01Choose a strong direction at the start — the stronger the direction, the more ideas flow and the easier everything gets
- 02Be firm enough not to break, flexible enough to absorb the gust — the tree in the storm
- 03Distractions ('turbulence') are added on purpose to surface what you need to work on
- 04Words can be integrated literally or metaphorically — give yourself maximum leeway
- 05Goal: lower the likelihood that a mistake or interruption actually hurts you
How to run it
- 1
Choose one strong direction
Take the random title and immediately commit to a single clear direction or thesis — that's your firm grounding, the trunk of the tree.
Pro tip The stronger the direction you choose at the beginning, the more ideas you'll have and the easier integration becomes.
Watch out Don't let each injected word start a NEW thought — that's the common failure; hold your one line.
- 2
Integrate each word seamlessly
As random words appear (e.g. six in a minute), weave each into your speech as if it had been part of the plan the whole time, staying in your groove.
Pro tip Integrate literally OR metaphorically ('the internet of my mind') — give yourself as much leeway as possible.
Watch out Ideal is that a listener can't pick out which words were injected; don't announce or stumble on them.
- 3
Stay composed and finish
Keep composure through the chaos and reach the end. The more focused you stay on your one groove, the easier the words are to absorb.
Pro tip Start with fewer words (four) if new; six in a minute is hard mode.
- 4
Use it as resilience training and a warm-up
Do reps to build the belief that you can navigate any turbulence gracefully; use a few reps (with rapid-fire analogies) to light up your brain before a podcast, interview, or meeting.
Pro tip 'If I can do triple step on hard mode I can do anything' — the disproportion makes real talks feel easy.
In the wild
De Montebello holds one direction ('I've been described as a labrador') while integrating french fries, massage, daydreaming, cartwheels, microwave, and internet — some literally, some metaphorically ('access to the internet inside me').
→ A coherent, on-theme minute where the injected words are hard to spot — the demonstration of the tree-in-the-storm principle.
On Lenny's first attempt each new word launched a new thought ('another thing is beards…'); de Montebello coached him to instead hold one line (approach fears head-on) and bend the words into it.
→ On the next attempt with four words Lenny held direction and integrated them — 'that works, that's really good.'
Common mistakes
Letting each word start a new thought
Finishing a thought and jumping to the next with every injected word makes the speech a list; the skill is bending words into one continuous direction.
Being too rigid or too flexible
Too rigid and a strong gust snaps you in half; too flexible and you swing every direction — you need firm grounding plus adaptive bend.
Is it for you?
Best for
Speakers who lose their thread when distracted or interrupted, and anyone wanting a pre-event brain warm-up
Not ideal for
People whose weakness is expressive range rather than focus — Conductor may be their game instead
From the transcript
“my goal is to integrate the words into the speech as seamlessly as I can as if they were part of the speech the whole…”
“you want to be that tree in the storm that is not so rigid that if the wind is too strong it's going to break…”
“the stronger the direction you choose in the beginning the more ideas you're going to have”
“if I can do triple step on hard mode I can do anything”
“try to hold on to One Direction”
From the episode
Why most public speaking advice is wrong—and how to finally overcome your speaking anxiety
Tristan de Montebello (CEO & co-founder of Ultraspeaking)