Showing up to my first day of Improv 101 was a lot like showing up for the first day of Kindergarten; I had no idea what to expect and I was wearing a T-shirt with a platypus on it.
However, I realized after the first class that improvisation is more than just a comedic style.
I realized I would be getting more out of the class than a pipe-dream to become the next Tina Fey. I quickly found out the tenents of improvisation could and should be applied to all aspects of my life, personally to professionally.
So much of life in the office has to be improvised. You can’t always plan for setbacks, illnesses or staff changes. What you can control is how well you adapt and improvise in the moment to find a solution.
Here’s how an improv class will make you a better worker.
1. Improv Gives You Confidence
Public speaking is the number one fear among adults in America.
People find it scarier standing up and speaking in front of a room than they do jumping out of a plane or swimming with sharks. This shows you how natural it is to care about what people think, but also how inhibiting it can be.
In your career, if you’re afraid to speak up your voice won’t be heard. You could have amazing ideas, but you have to be willing to contribute them.
An improv class will teach you to be confident and to believe that your voice matters. In improv, every voice on stage matters and is essential to building a good scene. An improv scene dies if all players on stage don’t contribute their part.
Improv will get you in the mindset to speak up in a way that contributes without overshadowing the other players.
2. Improv Teaches You To Say “Yes and”
One of the first things we learned in Improv 101 is the “yes and” philosophy of improv.
This philosophy trains your mind to not only say yes to what the person in your scene offers up, but also to add your own value to the scene by contributing your own “and.”
Saying “no” immediately shuts down opportunities and conversations. Saying “yes” gives those opportunities and conversations a chance to survive.
Saying “yes and” ensures those opportunities and conversations will thrive by not only affirming them, but also adding your own element to the idea.
Practice this in your professional life by encouraging your co-workers with the “yes and” philosophy of improv. See what happens when you don’t immediately shut down new ideas that seem risky, but instead give them a chance to develop by saying “yes and.”