Pick before you approach

Decide one fallback topic before you walk up — not after she responds and your brain empties.

Direction, not a script

A fallback is a topic to steer toward, not a line to recite. React to what she said, then pivot.

Specific beats generic

Bad: "So what do you do for fun?" Good: steer toward local spots, something she mentioned, or the setting you're in.

One topic per rep

Each Convo Lab practice session assigns one fallback — train reaching for it until recovery feels automatic.

Train the recovery, not just the opener

Each Convo Lab rep assigns one fallback topic — the same lifeline you see here. Run live video practice until reaching for a topic feels automatic when panic hits.