[strken]

You want a strategy that works regardless. E.g. if your skip-level manager tells you a project should have been completed a while ago, and this is the first time you're hearing about it, it's better to say "let me follow up on that after the meeting and get back to you, because it's a bit different from the timeline we've set within the project" than to push the blame onto your direct manager, get defensive to your skip-level manager, apologise, or agree to spend the weekend working. Get some breathing room, put together a paper trail of emails and meeting notes, and let everyone cool down.

[nerdponx]

I've had modest success with this kind of thing. Managing to stay calm and maintain your internal composure is very important in the moment.

In a situation like this you need to be able to think on your feet and choose your words carefully, which can be very difficult if you have reverted to a defensive or fearful "fight or flight" mind state.

I personally have benefited a lot from biofeedback and meditation over the years, if only because it has given me the tools to recognize when I am in a fearful state and calm myself down.

The "fear is the mind-killer" mantra from Dune is not really fiction!