The power of improvising

Who, me?

You want me to speak?

Yep. You’re unexpectedly called on to present or report at a meeting…

And you haven’t - prepared - anything.

Yikes!

It’s OK, there is a solution at hand.

*

For several years, I was part of an improvisation group led by my friend and colleague Dominique Hudson.

We were called the Scènomènes, and played in Spanish, French… and a little English.

I went from stunned stage fright, to taking part in an improv match in front of 400 (!) people.

The basis of improv is the concept ‘Yes, and…’

You accept whatever your co-actors propose (yes…), and build on it.

This means:

·      Trusting you’ll know what to do or say next.

·      Trusting too the other actors and their resources.

·      Accepting silences as spaces for ideas to spring up. 

If you think about it, we all know how to improvise. We do it all the time.

Once you accept that improvising is fine – actually, it’s an opportunity - you can turn,

“Who, me?” into, “Why not me?”

And the good thing?

You don’t have to practice improv to get there (although it is fun!).

Once we trust in ourselves -  

and accept others are there to fill any gaps, we just have to ask them -

We can step up and speak up in any situation.

And that, is pretty empowering.