You have rehearsed this in your head for weeks. In your head you are calm, they say yes, and nobody mentions the budget. Rehearse it somewhere it can go badly first.
They lose it to "let us revisit at review time", which is not a no, is not an answer, and is very easy to accept while it is happening. Then the meeting ends, everyone is friendly, and nothing has changed.
Asking inside a job you already have is harder than asking at a new one. There is no deadline, no competing offer, and a manager who can close the conversation without ever refusing you. The room gives you that manager, including the budget excuse you already know is coming, and lets you rehearse not folding.
You name the number, and the excuse you expect
A figure and one line about what your manager will say. Be specific. Vagueness here becomes vagueness in the room.
You talk, out loud, and it pushes back
Your voice, not typing. It answers in real time and it does not simply agree with you. When you say the number, expect the silence afterwards to be left for you to fill.
You see where you went reactive
A debrief on the specific moments where you softened, hedged, or answered a question nobody asked. That is the part that carries into the real conversation.
You need a microphone, somewhere you can speak freely, and eight to twelve minutes. Chrome, Edge and Safari can do this. Firefox cannot yet.
Your voice never leaves your device. Your browser turns your speech into text on your own machine. The audio is not uploaded, not stored, and not heard by anybody.
The other person is an AI. Not a recording, and not a person listening in. It answers in a synthesised voice and it will push back.
No signup. Two full rehearsals, free, and nothing to create before you begin.