Stage 1 · Surviving meetings
Daily standup
Give a 60-second update, raise a blocker and ask for help.
Situation
A 15-minute standup with the team in Singapore. It's your turn to give an update.
Sample dialogue
Sarah · Engineering Manager
Okay, let's go around. Minh, do you want to go next?
You · Backend Developer
Sure. Yesterday I worked on the payment retry logic.
You · Backend Developer
It took longer than expected because of some edge cases.
You · Backend Developer
Today I'm going to finish the API integration.
You · Backend Developer
I'm blocked on the staging environment. I'll need some help from the DevOps team on this.
Sarah · Engineering Manager
Got it. I'll ping Alex after the call. Anything else?
You · Backend Developer
No, that's it from me.
Key phrases
Yesterday I worked on the payment retry logic.
Open your standup update with what you did yesterday.
It took longer than expected because of some edge cases.
Explain a delay without sounding defensive.
Today I'm going to finish the API integration.
Say what you plan to do today.
I'm blocked on the staging environment.
Name what is stopping your progress.
I'll need some help from the DevOps team on this.
Ask a specific team for support.
No blockers on my side.
Say briefly that nothing is blocking you.
How to practice
- Listen twice with the transcript, then shadow the lines of "You".
- Write your own update for today using Yesterday / Today / Blocker.
- Say your update in 60 seconds without notes. Repeat 3 times, a bit faster each time.