Brandon Zimmerman

Brandon sat there realizing he was breaking every rule.

One week out, he threw the entire script away.

Four months of practice gone.

and seven days to write a brand new speech and memorize it before the biggest stage of his career.

He tested the new version on the toughest crowd he had.

His in-laws.

Both engineers.

He trusted what John Luke had said about the narrative.

He believed the structure made sense and took the new version to the finals.

The evening before the National Slam, the finalists ran through their talks one last time in front of each other and the coach.

Brandon stood up, opened his mouth,

So that night, he sent an email.

He asked the people from Lawrence Livermore who'd traveled with him to meet him the next morning.

And there, in the hotel lobby, he ran it one more time in front of the people who would sharpen him the most, his peers.

Just a few hours later, Brandon was sitting in that room with the small screen of the stage, waiting to be called.

There were several hundred people.

And it wasn't just the room.

Back home, every national lab was streaming it live.

Next thing he knew, he was on stage.

The finalists waited while the judges made their final decisions.