Players are you ready?! Get Unstuck using improv principles
Players are you ready?! Being in the present moment gets you unstuck
Have you ever needed to start a project or make an important phone call or have a difficult conversation, and, for whatever reason, you don't do it? You were ready to do it, but you felt stuck and just couldn't make it happen. This happens to everybody. Yes, everyone gets stuck sometimes. And, if you think like an improviser, you will free yourself
The problem is you’re in your head. You’re not in the present moment. Improvisers know that the only moment that counts is now. There’s no other time that exists. You know this. Yesterday is over and tomorrow is a present moment yet to come. The only time we have is now.
Improv continually pulls you into the moment and, if you’re going to think like an improviser, you have to be in the present moment.
Also, we call our improvisers “players” . . . not playas. By the way, in my world, you are a player, too. When you are at one of my conferences or workshops, you are a participant, a player, too. There are no observers. Everyone is a part of this thing. You need to be in the present moment, too.
So, before the start of an exercise at a conference, at a workshop or before a scene in a show, I always shout out, “Players are you ready?!”
What’s the only answer I will accept?!
Yes!
I’m not looking for a calm, reserved, tentative, “Yes”. I’m looking for commitment. I want engagement.
So I say, "Players, are you ready?!” to draw everyone to the present moment.
When I ask that, what are your choices?
You have the choice of saying no. What happens when you say no? Nothing. We all know no is terrible.
There’s “maybe”. "Yeah, maybe, maybe we'll do it." You know it’s not going to happen.
Thirdly, we have “Yes, but. That’s the polite no. It makes it seem like we’re considering the idea.
And then there's Yes.
I love Yes, of course! It’s not quite there yet. Yes means we’re in agreement. I need to know where we’re going from Yes. I’m looking for Yes, And.
So when I say, "Players, are you ready?" you're going to answer, "Yes, And." The And means you're going to be taking the action. You're going to be jumping in. You're going to be doing it. You are committed.
Fear prevents us from committing. It’s fear of judgment of others, fear of judgment of ourselves, fear of looking like a fool, fear of not going to be good enough.
When I started doing improv a long time ago, after a show, the coach came up to me and said, "You don't really seem like you want to be on stage. It's almost like you're telegraphing to the audience that I know that you know that this is stupid, so I'm going to do it halfway."
I knew she was right.
"I know that's not you,” she continued. I know you want to be on stage. I know you think this is fun and you want to do the best you can, but you're judging yourself. You're preventing yourself from doing well."
She was right. I wasn't fully committed. I was concerned about how I looked up there. I was concerned that people wouldn’t approve of me. I felt foolish and embarrassed that she could see through me.
From that moment forward, I decided to commit and have fun. Before I speak to a group, get on stage, I fully commit. I’m giving everything I have to it. Firstly, I prepare myself. I think like an improviser. I empty my brain of thoughts. I forget about judgement. I warm up. I tell myself whatever happens happens. The voice in my head, the thinker, is off. I summon my energy. I am going to give of myself and have a blast.
Whether I’m one on one or in front of a crowd, I want to be fully present, listening and observing. I am reacting in the here and now. There’s no halfway for me. I literally say to myself, “Players are you ready?! And I shout out: “Yes!!” And I commit
It gets me unstuck every time.
Think like an improviser at work. Hire me and let’s design a program for you and your team to think like an improviser at work.
