Video Transcript

Carrie Beckstrom: Hello, and welcome to Power Speaking Live. I'm Carrie Beckstrom, the host of this monthly series, and the CEO of Power Speaking Incorporated. Given the topic, I'd like to kick things off with a quick activity. So I'm going to say something, and then your role is to add on, beginning with the words, yes and. Ready? The workplace would be so much more fun and productive if all meetings started with a personal icebreaker. Okay, your turn. In chat, build on that, starting with the words, yes, and. Again, my response was, the workplace would be so much more fun if all meetings started with a personal icebreaker. Yes, and a big smile! Yes, and we go to find out one secret from each team member. Yes, and finishing the meetings with some uplifting comments not related to work. Yes! Alright, thank you so much for joining in. What we just did there is a fundamental principle of improv. And improv isn't just for actors on stage. It is a mindset shift that can transform the way we communicate at work. Think about it. You're in a meeting, and your boss suddenly asks for your input on a project that you're not prepared to discuss. Or you're in the middle of a high-stakes presentation, and suddenly your slides freeze. In those moments, you don't have time to script a perfect reply. You have to improvise. And the good news is, improv isn't about being funny and theatrical, it's about listening deeply, being 100% present, and responding in a way that builds trust and connection. And that is what we're going to be delving into today. We're going to be talking about how improv skills can be used to help you respond with confidence when the unexpected occurs, whether you are delivering a presentation, contributing in a meeting, or simply navigating those inevitable curveballs. And today, to contribute to this conversation, we have two expert improv facilitators with us. I am delighted to introduce both of them. First up is Vince Rickey. As an improv facilitator, Stanford instructor, and creative coach for design teams, Vince has over 3 decades of experience spanning education, admissions counseling, and curriculum development. Among other things, he currently teaches the Stanford Continuing Studies course, The Improviser's Toolbox, which is a course for adults seeking more confidence, creativity, and calm in uncertain moments. Who doesn't want that? Vince, I want to learn more about that course and sign up. It is such a treat to have you here today.

Vince Ricci: Thanks for having me, Carrie.

Carrie Beckstrom: Alright, and also joining us is Jess Rogers. Jess recently joined our Power Speaking team as a facilitator and coach, working out of the UK, and Jess is an experienced and passionate communication and improv facilitator, specializing in enhancing all types of conversations, from team collaboration to group presentations, one-on-one discussions, and everything in between. Jess helps people find their best, most authentic personal style to craft and deliver stories and messages in a compelling way. And I just learned Jess is also a dancer. I love how you were swaying the opening music. It's a delightful.

Jess Rogers: I'm a horrible dancer, but I can't resist a little shoulder wiggle.

Carrie Beckstrom: Yeah, you did well work... working out of your chair. All right, so... So, and thank you to the audience. You played from the very start, so I can already tell this is going to be a very engaging, fun, and insightful conversation, and I encourage you in the audience to contribute your ideas and ask your questions, we'd love to take them. So, I'd like to start off with you, Jess. In your experience, what's the most common misconception about improv and its role in the workplace?

Jess Rogers: I think, for me, the biggest misconception is that improvisation is winging it. Like, just with absolutely no prep, no thought, no structure, just see what happens. That isn't what improv is about. Like, we do so much practice and rehearsal, and learning loads of, like, very tangible, specific techniques, so that we can create in the moment, and be flexible and adaptable and go with the flow and all those sorts of things. So, yeah, we're not... we're not just winging it. It's very thought through, it's very rehearsed. What we're not rehearsing is the content. What we are rehearsing is the techniques and the structures and the formats. And also, I think there's a little bit of a misconception that you have to be, like, quick and funny and, like, quick-witted to do it. That's not true. Improv makes you think faster, and find the joke faster, and dance on your feet. Like, it makes you those things. You don't have to be them to do it.

Carrie Beckstrom: That is... that is so insightful, and it... it really builds on what I was saying at the beginning, that this is really a mindset shift and a set of skills that can help you respond in the moment with more confidence. And... and I have to share, I'm... I'm an introvert, and I took a bit of, theater classes when I was younger, while I was working, just for fun, I just really enjoyed it. And the thing that terrified me the most was improv, because I'm I'm the type of person that really, really likes to prepare. I don't like to be on the spot, and I learned over time that it can really help you. Vince, what would you like, to add on.

Vince Ricci: Oh, it's all been really clear so far. The only thing I'll add is from... so I'm also an improv performer, also had a speech impediment, learning, you know, learning issues, stuttering... so improv, for me is sort of therapeutic. But when you're on stage, and also when you're in the workplace, your partner is a genius. So everyone thinks it's just, again, you're nervous, oh, I'm not funny, I'm not clever. Well, who cares? It's about making the other person look good.

Carrie Beckstrom: Oh, I love that! I love that, and that's something we really stress when we talk about ways to overcome anxiety, or a lack of confidence when it comes to presenting, is it's not about you. It's about being in service of the audience. And when you kind of shift it to that, it helps to take that tension away and just be in the moment and contribute. So, in improv, it's about helping your partner look good. Yeah, yeah, gosh, there's so many intersections here. So, let's talk a little bit about the application of improv as it relates to presentations, kind of as I was just touching on. Often what, makes a lot of people really uneasy when it comes to presenting is fear of the unexpected. Fear that there's gonna be a technical glitch. Fear that suddenly you're on stage, everyone's looking at you, and you forget what you're going to say. Fear that you're gonna get a really difficult question. So, Jess, how can we use improv to respond with more confidence in those unexpected moments.

Jess Rogers: So, one of the things that improv has really helped me to have is this sort of mindset of, like, I can cope with whatever is said, because you... obviously, it's not scripted. And like Vince, I'm a performer as well, and so you're going on stage, and you genuinely don't know what's going to happen. And so you learn through the techniques, like yes and, and the yes and sort of practical application is really about accepting reality, accepting someone else's reality, and engaging with it, and building on it. And so, through techniques like that, you kind of get to this space where you're like, I genuinely am fine with whatever happens. Like, I can cope with, if you say that we're gonna be monkeys on the moon, great. And so then suddenly a tech glitch is, like, not that deep. So, you just... you just get to a place where you're like, I'm... yeah, I'm... I can cope. I can cope with whatever is gonna happen.

Carrie Beckstrom: Fence?

Vince Ricci: Remind me the question.

Carrie Beckstrom: The question is, how can you use improv to feel more at ease, when delivering presentations, especially as it relates to, fearing that unexpected?

Vince Ricci: So a technique I love is just looking around the room and counting things. I did it just now, because I had a little panic when I forgot the question, and then I just decided to over-accept it, smile, and say, sorry, what was the question again? I forgot to apologize, but I forgot the question, I really did. What I'm doing right now is I'm noticing there are 3 lights on around me. What I'm noticing right now is exactly where the door is. I'm noticing my coffee cup. You just get out of your head, and you get into reality. So when you're on stage, and you're panicking, it's easy to say, think of the audience, it's not about you, but an actual practical tip to do that is just like, interesting, I wonder how many chairs are in here. The carpet's red. That's an interesting color of red. There's a stain on the carpet. Whatever, just notice what's going on, and then pretty much after that, you stop thinking about the terror inside of you.

Carrie Beckstrom: Okay, yeah, and I would imagine that technique helps you to also be completely present, which helps to get you out of your head and just being in the moment and taking whatever comes. Okay, all right, good. All right, another question related to presentations and improv. We all know that to deliver an effective presentation takes a whole lot of preparation and practice. However, we want to come off extemporaneous in the moment, so how can improv help to come off more authentic and present, and not overly scripted.

Vince Ricci: Patricia... Patricia Ryan Madsen, who's my main mentor in this space, who you know well, Carrie, wrote this book, Improv Wisdom, and one of the anecdotes in her book is... she doesn't... when she gives a presentation, she doesn't memorize the content, she just memorizes a few questions. And you've probably already taught this technique in Power Speaking, which is to sort of, like. You just have a framework, you don't have a script. who am I, why am I here, what's important to me, or whatever it is, 3 questions, five questions. So you're answering questions, you're having a dialogue with yourself, rather than delivering content word for word.

Carrie Beckstrom: Excellent, yes, and as you know, Jess, that is one of the tools that are threaded throughout all of our workshops, is the value of having that framework, that structure, that helps to organize your thoughts, being clear on the main messages that you want to convey, but not have it memorized and scripted, which, again, enables you to be more present in that moment. Very good, very good. So, let's, also talk about meetings. Meetings are obviously an integral part of our workplace and outside of work. And I know a challenge that a lot of people have, especially depending on who's in the meeting, the purpose of the meeting, is, a thing that holds them back from contributing is overthinking their response. So, Jess, how can improv help? Respond, more, with ease and without rambling.

Jess Rogers: Yeah. So, there's sort of two parts to this for me. There's the mindset piece. And this talks to a little bit about what Vince was saying around make other people look good, like, that's one of the first rules that you learn. And, and so we have this notion of offers in improv, like, I'm making an offer, and I'm offering you the location, the, what we're doing, the relationship, whatever it might be. And those offers are helpful. Like, it's helpful, they're needed. Like, it's important for my scene partner that I offer something. Doesn't have to be amazing, it's just offer something. It's like, bring a brick to this wall that we're creating together. And so I think if you have that mindset of, like, no, I am doing... I am helping them by making an offer, rather than I'm trying to, like, show off, or showcase myself, or make myself look clever, or whatever, blah blah. It's not about that, it's about I'm gonna be helpful to my colleagues through this offer. So that kind of mindset piece. And then, for me, the sort of second part of it, the sort of not rambling. So we do what we call monologues in improv, and they're normally true stories that then provide inspiration for a series of scenes if we're doing a sort of longer format of improv. And we have some of these phrases that we use, like, that makes me think of, or that reminds me of a time when… and these little phrases help us to shortcut what is being said, like the suggestion from the audience, or in the meeting situation, the topic that's on the table, to Opinion, point of view, story, and we, like, shortcut to then be able to talk. And then I learned a really useful phrase at the end of a monologue, which… and that made me realize. And so even if you have been rambling a bit, if you've stick in it, and that made me realize, it just ties it up with a neat little bow, and makes it sound, like, in some way thought out, even if it wasn't thought out in the first place. So those little phrases, that makes me think of, that reminds me of a time when that made me realize that those are what we, yeah, we would have as, like, shortcuts to make our brain think faster.

Carrie Beckstrom: Oh, wow! Those are great techniques! Really great, and you're also helping me to appreciate, another reason improv is so relevant in the workplace is it, I would imagine really facilitates collaboration. If you're… you're coming into this… this meeting, the discussion of wanting to make the other person look good, of wanting to be in service of that other person. That's. Great. Not, not, you know, being performative, showing off, etc.

Jess Rogers: Yeah. Excellent. Is there anything you wanted to add on that, Vince?

Vince Ricci: Just one quick thing, the hardest thing for me when I'm doing scene work is I love asking questions, because that's just how I was raised. My dad's a lawyer, and, you know, I wanted to be a good student, and I raised my hand, I have a question. Questions on stage are kind of toxic. Where are we? You know, instead, like, give an offer. Here we are, back in Barcelona. Wow, look at the architecture. Make a statement. So, do... at a meeting, rather than ask questions, which puts other people on the spot, Bill, what would the sales figures for last month, and Bill's like, oh, just a second. So it raises your status, but might make Bill look bad, and then you're not really contributing. Instead of questions, we call them piss-offs, PSOFs, positive statements of fact. Wow, look at the attendance at this meeting. This is the most people we've had in quite a while. Great, well, let's get going. Make a positive statement of fact. Try to avoid questions, unless you're being paid to ask questions, unless you're a consultant. If you're... it's an internal meeting, questions are kind of toxic.

Carrie Beckstrom: What, what was the phrase again? Positive statements.

Vince Ricci: OF, piss off.

Carrie Beckstrom: Piss off, okay. I love that. What if you really want to know, though, from Bill, what the sales figures are?

Vince Ricci: Of course, of course. I'm not saying avoid them. It's not a rule, there are no rules in improv. It's just try to, rather than open with a question. Well, gee, how many people are there here today? You know, gosh, I can't believe it. We have 12 people packed in this room. Normally, this meeting is only 10. Amazing. Welcome to the two new people. Just make us pick... if you have to ask the question, of course ask a question. If that's your job, go ahead.

Carrie Beckstrom: Sure, sure, okay, thank you, that really helps. And, we're having a lot of reaction to techniques that already are just so tangible and helpful. So, Vince, let's build on this concept of how improv can help us in meetings. How could it help us, contribute in a meaningful way if we haven't had the benefit of preparing in advance?

Vince Ricci: I think it just... it's sort of a broken record here, but it just goes back to attention. Notice what's happening in the room, noticing... notice the group dynamic, notice the body language, notice who's speaking, notice who isn't speaking. Seryl, it's great to see you here, and I think I would love to hear from you on this issue. Puts her on the spot, maybe she resents you, more likely she's happy to say something. been intimidated the whole time, assuming you know her and you know that she's not terrified, you know, of speaking in a group. Things like that. Just call, bring people in. Acknowledge the time. Well, guys, okay, so we're at the 90-minute mark, and as we all know, this is a 100-minute meeting. We've got 10 more minutes. Just make statements, keep things moving. Don't be afraid to be a facilitator. That's a different form of leadership, but people appreciate it.

Carrie Beckstrom: Absolutely, and you can play that role regardless of your role within an organization. It's a great way to contribute and draw others out. Jess, how can improv help If, you are asked a question that kind of puts you on the defense, how can improv help you respond in a more positive, non-defensive way?

Jess Rogers: I've come back to yes and, and I mentioned earlier that it's sort of practical application of yes and. It's so funny, I do a lot of work with a theater in London called Blanche Improv, and myself and the founder, we obviously are complete nerds, and so we talk about improv all the time, and we obviously both coach, and we so often come back, it's like, everything comes back to yes and. And listening so often. And for me, this is really about tapping into the true meaning of yes and. I think that statement alone proves that I'm a nerd about improv, the true meaning of yes and. As I say earlier, this notion of, I am genuinely accepting your reality, and you see beginners improvisers not being able to really yes and, because they still have this sort of ego barrier up, so they're a little defensive in scenes, and they do a lot of sort of yes butting. happens in work a lot as well. And so, this, like, Devoid of ego. genuinely accepting your offer, your reality, your question, your challenge, whatever. I'm accepting that that's true for you, in the very least, in a work context. And then, without that ego, and because I've genuinely accepted it, I'm gonna now lean in and engage with it, and build on it, or whatever it might be. And it, honestly, like, it takes work to be that comfortable, maybe years of therapy, I don't know, but that genuine comfort to be like. I accept your challenge. It doesn't... and this is where character work in improv is very helpful, you know, we're never called by our own names on stage, because we want to have that separation. We don't want to be seen as our characters on stage. So, you know, you can keep a little bit of separation. Just because you're challenging my point doesn't mean you're challenging who I am as a person. And so I'm going to accept your challenge, accept your different reality to mine. And rather than leaning away, which is a but, or a however, if you want to be fancy about it. I'm gonna lean in and engage with it, and be curious, and build on it, or whatever it might be. Even if it takes you somewhere else, you're not blindly agreeing. Sorry, I have so much to say about yes and. Doesn't mean you're just saying, like, yes, I agree with you, that's not what Yes and is. You can disagree, it's just not dismissing. So disagreeing is absolutely great, that's all cool, it's just not dismissing someone's reality.

Carrie Beckstrom: Great, great, I love that. So, can we do a quick example?

Jess Rogers: Yeah, totally.

Carrie Beckstrom: Jess, you work within our organization. I'm the leader of the organization. We have a very, very finite budget, and you really want to bring in an improv workshop to increase collaboration and creativity in the workplace. And, my response to you is, Jess. This is about achieving the bottom line. We don't have time for that, that, non-essential type stuff within the workplace.

Jess Rogers: Yeah, that makes sense. I, I think for me, like, I'd love to understand a little bit more about, like, what do you see as essential and non-essential, so that we can kind of get a bit more specificity around that, and maybe figure out what the... what the sort of boundaries are here. So what... what for you is essential and not essential?

Carrie Beckstrom: Excellent! Excellent! Yeah, I mean, that was...

Jess Rogers: Impress.

Carrie Beckstrom: Right, I mean, not defensive at all, just seeking to understand and hopefully getting to a good spot. We have a question from Mary McGlynn. You talk about advanced preparation for meetings. In the Q&A section of a presentation, how do you incorporate improv techniques?

Vince Ricci: Accept the question, over-accept, repeat the question, acknowledge the question, clarify the question. Active listening. I mean, I can't say that improv is active listening, the VIN diagram here, but active listening is a big part of what improv actually is. So, I don't know if that answers the question, if that's helpful, but, just dig into the details and acknowledge who's asking it has nothing to do with content, because that's specific to the meeting itself. But as an attitude, just use your best active listening, which I know is a big part of your whole platform, right?

Carrie Beckstrom: Exactly, exactly. That's, that's exactly what we teach, is, again, come from a place of seeking to understand, so paraphrasing, obviously, can be a very, very useful technique. And, having the courage, if you're not quite sure about the question behind the question, to, dig into that. Thank you, Mary. So, we've talked a lot about Yes and, the deep meaning of yes and. I would love to hear, Vince, from you, Tell us about a situation in which you were able to turn a no-but person into a yes-ander.

Vince Ricci: So my first job out of college was running a non-profit education organization down in the city. Called New Orleans, which is a really unique part of America, very special and kind of troubled place. And we were outsiders. The program had come in from San Francisco. And it was a bit like an organ transplant. The community hadn't really fully accepted us. They loved the result. We were getting first-generation kids into colleges and, you know, overachieving, kids were getting scholarships to private high schools and colleges. But still, the community was a little bit skeptical, of this group. And I was running the program, and I was just swimming upstream. So what I did was I just gave everything away. I said to... I got a group of parents together who I knew were really active and passionate, because we're teaching their kids, we're helping their students, so they're highly motivated. And the program is essentially free for the families, and we're giving a lot of value to the community, and I just said, look. I'm gonna be leaving, I've been here 5 years, I'm gonna go back to grad school. I wanted to essentially give this program to you guys. I want you to run this program when I leave. And that just activated all of this because they... it didn't feel like some colonizing effect anymore. It was like, no, you guys are in charge. What do you like about this program? What do you not like about this program? Then we brought in a new director to replace me, who was from the local community, and anyway, things really turned around. So we went from being in debt to being... to having a surplus. We went from being... having a slight resistance to being fully accepted, and the program is still there and still going strong many, many decades later. So that's my... I wasn't... I wasn't consciously thinking about improv, but I was using all the improv I had done in college in that moment to just pivot the situation.

Carrie Beckstrom: Oh, so it wasn't being done to them. It was something that they were able to embrace and kind of make their own. That must have been such rewarding work. I mean.

Vince Ricci: It was really fun.

Carrie Beckstrom: But what you were able to do for those first-generation students.

Vince Ricci: It felt great. Yeah, I'm still in touch with a lot of those kids. One of them's gonna... one of them's gonna take my improv class in September.

Carrie Beckstrom: Oh, very cool! Oh, I love that. I love that. Okay, so let's talk about another thing that you touched... both have touched on in terms of, part of what improv is about is deep listening. So, Jess, can you share with us an improv exercise people can do in just a few minutes to sharpen their listening and response skills?

Jess Rogers: Yeah, of course. There are two that come to mind, so I'll just... and they're quite similar, so hopefully we could either do both at the same time, or you can use them separately. So, one exercise we use is you leave a 5-second pause between the end of the last person's line and your next line, and this is actually something I've used in training, particularly with coaching, when we're, like, learning coaching technique. And it just gives that little bit of extra space. Now, the 5 seconds are, you know, loose. You don't want to be only counting in your head and not using that time to process, but it's about put... actively put a pause in between the end of that line and the next one, so you can, as I say, process. And then the other one is you repeat, before you continue with the scene or whatever, you repeat the last line that the previous player said. And you do it in a way that kind of works in the dialogue, so if you, you know, you could arguably have it loosely in your mind in a meeting that you're gonna, like, slightly summarize before you add your next thing. But as a true exercise, you would verbatim repeat the last line, and then build on it. So it's... you're making yourself listen, because you know you're going to repeat it.

Carrie Beckstrom: I was gonna say, I mean, that puts you in this space where you are very focused and very intentional about listening to what other people are contributing. And I love the power of the pause. I mean, that's a technique that we talk about in presentations, of course, and how incredibly powerful and essential it is for a whole host of reasons. Love those! They're just so practical and tangible. We have a question from Rachel. Sometimes paraphrasing as part of active listening comes off as condescending. How can you make it more authentic? I love that.

Jess Rogers: Hmm. Yeah, it's, do you know, I think this is one of my, like, things about presenting. Sometimes authenticity almost counterintuitively takes rehearsal. Like, you kind of have to practice, what is my way of doing that? and figuring out what sounds sort of normal to you. And so, it might be that you find your in of it. So rather than saying something like. it sounds to me like what you're saying is this, which might sound, you know, maybe not right in your voice. Maybe it might be like, okay, cool, so I'm hearing this, this, and this. Great, love that. Here's what I'm thinking now. So you... and, like, you just find your own tone to it, but you might need to, like. practice that a bit, to figure out what your tone is. Sometimes, when we're trying to be authentic with no practice, it doesn't necessarily come off in the way that we might intend it to.

Carrie Beckstrom: Oh, that's, I think... Spot on, and it's something that we talk about a lot as it relates to how to develop what we call powerful presence instead of executive presence, is it often starts with a lot of, internal work. In terms of being really, really clear on how we want to show up, and what is our own personal brand and style, and how does that express itself in a variety of ways. The other thing that comes to mind with regard to this response is Paraphrasing isn't always the right response. So, sometimes a person will have a tendency to paraphrase because they're trying to buy time to come up with an appropriate response, so the person might say, we don't have that in the budget. So what I'm hearing is we don't have funding for this. Well, it was pretty black and white. We don't really need to paraphrase. Actually, that was a really poor example, but I'm trying to think if... if... The objective is to buy yourself time to come up with an appropriate response. Simply say. I need to think about that for a minute.

Jess Rogers: Right?

Carrie Beckstrom: That's authentic, versus a paraphrase when it isn't really necessary, because the question is crystal clear. That wasn't the best example, but, hopefully that helps, Rachel. Whereas anything coming to mind for you, Vince?

Vince Ricci: I learned this thing called iMessages back when I was doing consult resolution when I was a middle school teacher in New Orleans. It's similar, exactly the same. I think you've heard that phrase, it's just, yeah, starting with I. I'm hearing that, we're running out of time, and we might, you know, or I'm hearing that resources are limited, rather than you, you know. I hear you saying that, and everyone's like, no, that's not quite what I meant. And so, yeah, it's more... just be more vulnerable, be more personal.

Carrie Beckstrom: Yeah, eye phrases. Again, so, so tangible. Vince, I'd like to talk a little bit about lessons leaders can learn from improv, and specifically, how can improv techniques be used to encourage more inclusivity and creativity in group discussions?

Vince Ricci: So, Patricia talks about, in her newer... in her new book, she's still... she's still working on her second book, it's... she talks about the four A's of improv. Her first book has 13 maximums... maxims, and she's 82, and she's like, I can't remember 13 things anymore, so it's all four, down to 4... 13 to 4. And they all start with the letter A, and it's basically... attention, obviously, that's the key. Then, acceptance, accept reality, appreciation, and then action. And the one she thinks of the four, she thinks appreciation's the most important, in terms of this aspect of... for leaders, or for all of us, really. It's just appreciating, you know, even just when you're checking out at your hotel, like I'm gonna do tomorrow morning, just being specific. I was so grateful that they came up and fixed the chair in my room, so I could do my presentation, my webinar, and, you know, not be down here in the frame, or whatever, you know, just being specific about appreciation. So when leaders have a group meeting, again, it can sound phony, it can sound fake, you've got to do it in a way that's real, but I see people do this all the time. I love your hair. You can tell when that's mean, they mean it. Those are cute sandals, just whatever it is, those are superficial, small things, but they kind of keep... they sort of lubricate life, and you can do that in a meeting, too. I've worked in companies and schools and organizations where leaders are really good at that. appreciating other people. Your dedication to making this program work is, you know, whatever it is. So just appreciating others, I think, is always a good practice.

Carrie Beckstrom: Yes, absolutely, and to your point, in a very genuine, individualized way. What are the four A's again?

Vince Ricci: Of course, yeah, and they have to credit her with this one, but it's, attention, acceptance... Appreciation and action.

Carrie Beckstrom: Okay. Oh, I love that. When is the book coming out, do you know?

Vince Ricci: We don't know, I'm trying to help her edit it. Her first book was so successful, you know how it is, like, if your first book is really... it's in, like, 14 languages. Yeah. Yeah.

Vince Ricci: A ton of content, but....

Carrie Beckstrom: But for the audience, Andrew, our producer, if you get a moment, the name of the book again? Not the new one, but... The existing one.

Vince Ricci: I'll type it in, yeah, it's called Improv Wisdom.

Carrie Beckstrom: Improv wisdom.

Vince Ricci: digest.

Carrie Beckstrom: If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it. We actually, read it as one of our Power Speaking Book Club books. Because there were so many applications for, you know, the work that we do. The thing I was so struck by when I read the book is it was beyond how improv can be used to more effectively present, to more effectively contribute. It was a lifestyle choice. I mean, how you choose to live your life. I mean, it was... there was so much depth to it. I was... I was, profoundly impacted, and Patricia was so very gracious to actually join our book club and contribute to the discussion, and she's how I became connected with you, Vince, so... That, that gratitude in action. And I can tell you responded, Jess, that you believe, too, it's, it's... it's a, it's a life.

Jess Rogers: Oh my goodness, it is, like, it really... and again, I know I'm a complete convert, but it's really, like, changed my life, like, it's changed how I communicate, changed how I work. Also, I met my husband through improv, so that helps too, so it really does.

Carrie Beckstrom: All kinds of benefits. All kinds of benefits. And also, I love the point about acceptance, because that harkens back to something we talked about earlier, like, how can we draw an improv to be less anxious or fearful about the unexpected occurring in the middle of a presentation, for example. Accept it. Accept it, this is what's happened, and here's how I'm going to respond in a productive way.

Jess Rogers: Yeah.

Carrie Beckstrom: So... You've both offered so much sage advice, and again, I love that it's all so very tangible and practical. I think our audience deserves to see a little improv in action, and you gave us a taste of that, Jess. So, are you both game for a few, rapid-fire scenarios?

Jess Rogers: Let's do it. Okay.

Carrie Beckstrom: Alright, so what I'm going to do is I'm going to give each of you a common workplace scenario. And your job is to respond as if this were happening in real time. So, we'll lead off with you, Jess. You're in a meeting, and suddenly your boss asks for your input on a high-stakes project you've never heard of. How do you respond?

Jess Rogers: I have to be really honest with you, I haven't heard of that project. Can you give me some more detail, please?

Carrie Beckstrom: Honest!

Jess Rogers: Honest. Great, huh? Great.

Carrie Beckstrom: So what might be some people's tendency?

Jess Rogers: if I, if I... sorry, what was the name of it? Sorry, could you just...

Carrie Beckstrom: Or worse, make something up.

Jess Rogers: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Carrie Beckstrom: you're protected.

Jess Rogers: Sending an improv, but...

Carrie Beckstrom: You're.

Vince Ricci: What's the one where...

Jess Rogers: Truth and confidence.

Vince Ricci: That's the one we're putting monkeys on the moon, right? I love that idea, yeah.

Jess Rogers: Yes!

Carrie Beckstrom: Right, excellent, excellent. Okay, ready, Vince? You're, in the middle of delivering a presentation to a big client of yours, and the client says. This isn't remotely what we were expecting. How do you respond to try to keep the conversation productive?

Vince Ricci: Just over-accept, and, and, and ask them. Thank you for speaking up. Tell me more. What were you expecting? And just make myself vulnerable and try to get at what they wanted, and if they list off 15 things that I'm totally unprepared for, I'll just say, I'll get back to you soon, let's schedule a follow-up.

Carrie Beckstrom: Yeah, yeah, and...

Vince Ricci: No matter what.

Carrie Beckstrom: I'm stopping what I'm doing. Yeah, I love how you led with, thank you for speaking up! Help me to understand, what were you expecting?

Carrie Beckstrom: Good, good, good. Okay, Jess. You... I was trying to remember what I have here. Okay. You've just finished making a point in a meeting. It's crickets. And the head of the department who's considering you for a promotion is in the meeting.

Jess Rogers: Okay. I probably would laugh, to be honest. I'd probably be like, well, that clearly went down extremely well. You clearly are all bursting with questions. one at a time, please, so I'd probably make a bad, corny joke. And then, at that stage, I'd probably break it down and be like, okay, so I talked about X, how is that going to relate to your job, Vince? And then get specific and ask somebody.

Carrie Beckstrom: Wonderful, wonderful. And, you know, what you just exhibited there, not only is your ability to respond on the spot, but that importance of authenticity. I mean, that... that... that felt very much like that's your natural style.

Jess Rogers: Yeah.

Carrie Beckstrom: And that wouldn't necessarily work for everybody, so that's also the key, is to make it your own, make it real. Wonderful. Okay, Vince, I've got a doozy for you. You're in a virtual team meeting. And, you Make a really snarky comment about the meeting facilitator through private chat to one of your teammates, only to find you accidentally sent it to the entire group.

Jess Rogers: Oh my god, no fear unlocked.

Carrie Beckstrom: What's your name?

Vince Ricci: I... Find the nearest window, and just....

Carrie Beckstrom: It's been a straight.

Vince Ricci: myself. No, I, Oops! I mean, over-accept the oops. I can't, you know, I said that in the heat of temper, that was totally inappropriate. Again, just over, over, fall on my sword and just sort of say, I'm so sorry, let me follow up later and apologize to each and every one of you. Let's please keep the meeting going forward. Right?

Carrie Beckstrom: Well, keeping it real. keeping it real. I'm sorry, that was... I guess... I guess the big lesson there, don't do that. Just don't do that.

Jess Rogers: Don't do it, it's not worth it. It's not worth it. Oh my god, my heart.

Carrie Beckstrom: it's getting into such danger zone. I love it. I loved how authentic you all were, and just kept it real, so thank you. Thank you. I'm listening... we have a question from Lonnie Smith. We have heard great success stories. Can you talk about accepting improv failure in the moment, and the importance of self be vulnerable. Thank you for that question, Lonnie. And I know Lonnie and can tell you that one of his loves, hobby, is theater. So, I haven't punch that perhaps Lottie's encountered this. So, what's your response?

Jess Rogers: It's an interesting question, because it's quite hard to fail in improv. In the sense of, like. Yeah, I'm trying to... I'm trying to sort of think about, like, what actually is a failure, because obviously, like, kind of everything's up for grabs. I mean, when maybe, you're not improvising to the best of your ability, let's say, maybe you've done a few blocks. and you've, like, accidentally said something that really doesn't land with the audience, that is when I, like... and this is when having the tools in your toolkit are so important. Rather than, like, dwelling for ages on the fact that, you know, I asked an unhelpful question in a scene, or, blocked somebody accidentally, or said something that was a bit of faux pas. What I try to do is move on fairly quickly, and do something different. So, like, one of my go-to techniques in improv, which isn't really a transferable thing, but is add into the scene a endowment, confession, or a history. So, endowment of the other character, a confession that something my character has done, or history that I have between the other two, the other character. And it just moves the scene on a bit. And I have to say, where we've had... I've had situations in training where, like, maybe some uninclusive language has been used by somebody in the room, and I've had to call it out, rather than, like, dwelling it on it for a long time, you just... you know, you correct it, and then you move on, and you move away from it, and then you can check back later if it's appropriate, but you give everyone an opportunity for, like, a palate cleanse on what's just happened. Like, acknowledge. Change, and then... move on.

Carrie Beckstrom: I like that. And Vince, you demonstrated that with the last scenario I gave you. You owned it. you apologized, let's keep this meeting moving. You know, the last thing you want to do is just go... because then you're... you're making it all about you, and not the sting and the impact that you've caused in that moment. Oh, those are great, Jess. I saw your wheels churning. Vince, anything you want to add?

Vince Ricci: I was just running through scenarios. I mean, I took a... so that PSOF thing, I have to credit a guy named Dave Dennison, who was the head of education at a group called BATS, Bay Area theater Sports, which is a Keith... Jess, do you know Keith... the work of Keith Johnstone?

Jess Rogers: Yeah, yeah. Use of grit.

Vince Ricci: Brit who became a Canadian, anyway, So Dave teaches workshops at Bath, and PSOF was his thing. Dave's a very harsh teacher, and he was really critical of me in his workshop a couple months ago, because I get so... I go so fast sometimes. My nervous energy... so that's a failure. I just sort of talk too much, talk too quickly, even though I've been doing this a long time, I still get nervous, we all get nervous. So that's one fail point. And another failed point in general I've already mentioned is just failing to be specific, and Jess has already touched on this, where, like, an entire scene goes by, we don't know anyone's name on the stage. Names kind of matter. Or, like, we don't know where you are. And what's your relationship to each other? Fundamental things just go unframed. So that's improv performance, but they... forwards into the workplace, again, where it's like, context. And just... and appreciation of reality, and acknowledgement of situations, and people's roles, and contributions, etc. I would say those would be fail points for me.

Carrie Beckstrom: Excellent. Thank you for owning that. And I don't know why this just popped into my head. I think when you acknowledged, despite how long you've been doing this and how experienced you are, you get nervous. And it just made me think of, I just... it's extra, impactful from my perspective that you're doing the work you do knowing that you had a stutter at one point. I mean, that's... that's just incredible to push through that. Let's see. Rachel said, our Andrew Moore recently shared that in stand-up comedy, the worst thing you can do when a joke doesn't land and is to dwell on it. Best to move on quickly. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Okay, wonderful. Gosh, the audience participation has been terrific. Thank you so much. So I'd like to close us out with each of you Giving our listeners one improv mindset to carry into every workplace interaction starting tomorrow. Vince, why don't we kick off with you?

Vince Ricci: Well, I said it before, but it begs repeating. Find a way every single day to appreciate someone around you for something super specific that they did or do, and to go into the really almost painful detail about, you know, the way that you made that report is so different than I've seen before. It gives us really actionable items that must have taken a long time, and I'm really grateful. You know, something rather than a nice report, or good job, you know, those kind of platitudes, a pat on the back. So find ways to be specifically appreciative.

Carrie Beckstrom: Oh, love that, love that. Jess?

Jess Rogers: There's so many, it's really difficult. I'll try to choose something that maybe has been spoken about in passing, but rather than, sort of going... is that presence piece. You, Carrie, you kind of talked about it as a, like, an outcome of the sort of deep listening, but I think it can be more than an outcome, it can be a proactive choice as well, and in order to genuinely, truly improvise and collaborate and create. You have to decide, and it is a choice, to be present, to put aside whatever is going on for you, and this is why we do warm-ups and stuff before shows and la la, even if it's just 2 minutes. but making the conscious choice to be present, and that then paves the way for your ability to yes and, to do the listening, to create, to do the confessions, whatever it might be. So, make the choice to be present, I would say.

Carrie Beckstrom: Make the choice.

Vince Ricci: Hmm.

Carrie Beckstrom: Make the choice to be present, and it is. It is a choice.

Jess Rogers: Yeah, it's hard. Hard today, particularly, like, but yeah.

Carrie Beckstrom: Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, you have to be very, very intentional, and also be intentional about, Recognizing someone's contribution and be very specific about it. That's wonderful too, Vince. Thank you both! This has been such an enjoyable conversation, and Very, very insightful. I picked up a lot of new techniques, and I will share for the audience, because there were so many nuggets in here. We, frequently follow up these live events with a blog. And I know we will in this case, so there'll be, more opportunity to consume and digest and apply, the great advice that both of our incredible guests offer. Thank you both so much, and I am going to close by teeing up the topic for next month's live. We're going to be talking about change and the critical role communication plays in helping to do that effectively within an organization. Join us.