A Method To Making It Up

Many people raise an eyebrow when improvisers talk about extensive rehearsals and preparation. An artform specializing in spontaneity requires planning ahead? YES, AND it's paramount to success.

The same goes for the More Fearless Soft Skill System. Structure contains the chaos and creates environments where participants receive ample time to process and practice key concepts. Repetition results in retention. Retention promotes implementation. Implementation maintains the magic.

Pre-Planning

One size fits one. There are literally hundreds of improv-based exercises and even more variations developed over the decades to drill specific skills. And it's important to extract the most value from this vault of options. That starts with identifying the desired outcomes for the training experience.

(Aside: PLEASE don't call this team building. The short version is that while we LOVE trainings with fun, laughter, and levity, we take this improv skill development stuff seriously. If we do our job right (and we will, of course), team building will naturally occur. Yes, And. Win-win. High five!

Pre-Planning: The Meet-up
During the meet up, or micro-discovery session, we discuss:

Pre-Planning: Nuts, Bolts, and Numbers
With a clear understanding of how the More Fearless Improv + Soft Skill System benefits your unique organization, we put together a proposal that best reflects what we discussed at the meeting. The document includes:

Programming - scope, duration, and location informed by conversation

Pricing - based on length, participants, and possible accommodations

Policies - cash down, cancellations, coverages, code of conduct, etc.

Structure

Wait, there are rules? Yes, And they are key to getting the most out of the experience.

In following with the filmmaking format, this is the "production" part of pre-production, production, and post-production. It's the main the event with our prov-fessor and participants ready to learn.

SHOWING UP FOR SHOWTIME. Participants meet at the pre-determined time at the pre-determined place ready to launch into pre-determined programming. Ta-da! Okay, there's more to it than that (a lot more). While the specifics will vary given your unique package, all activities generally involve these keys to unlock success:

Technology-Free Zone - Unless it's a seminar delivered over Zoom, we require each participant to part with all superfluous technology - phones, smart watches, wearables - basically anything that can receive or transmit signals. Limiting distractions improves focus, AND helps participants derive dopamine from human interactions. Trust us, the collective brainpower and lifetimes’ worth of experiences are more than enough to thrive.

Clock Vigilance - We start on time. We end on time. Even when the energy in the room begs to keep good momentum going, we respect and stick to the schedule. We don't shoo away stragglers, and we don't wait either. In the same way, we don't stiffle those who want to socialize after a session, and we honor those obligations that happen outside our time together.

Participation Is Mandatory - A word like "mandatory" tends to freak people out. It's not punishment. It's an expectation to push outside of comfort zones. That's where the learning and the fun happens. Participation also takes different forms. Sometimes it means standing up and standing out. Sometimes it means sharing the spotlight. And more often, it means seamlessly shifting between give and take - listening, moving, encouraging, applauding, and committing to the moment.

Commit With Energy - Speaking of commitment, success stems from effort, and effort requires energy. Not everything thrives at full throttle, full voice, and full range of motion. That's not sustainable. And, it's often not necessary. What is necessary is a willingness to contribute consistently throughout. Fully engage with the material. Energy varies by the individual, by the time of day, by what's going on at home or in the office, etc. All we ask is to "leave nothing left on the field," and commit to giving whatever you've got in the tank.

Safe Spaces + Charitable Assumptions - People need safe spaces to take risks, to potentially fail. Respect is paramount. So is grace. Something happens when instructing people not to think. They don't. These moments create leaps of genius and sometimes lapses in judgment. Things can be said or done that cross the line. It happens. More Fearless practices charitable assumptions. When a cringeworthy or regrettable comment or behavior occurs, we give the benefit of the doubt, address it if necessary, change course, and quickly move on. We encourage participants to do the same.

 Sample Outline

While each program differs in terms of particular trainings, exercises, format, number of participants, environment, etc., the More Fearless Improv + Soft Skill System relies on a similar structure to contain the chaos and channel enthusiasm for the most productive outcomes. More often than not, whether a workshop or breakout, a session looks a little like this:

Greetings, Ground Rules, Housekeeping, and Overview - Circle up! It's time to get the basics out of the way. These few minutes cover the purpose of the day, what do when nature calls, the importance of ditching all devices, and a brief summary of core concepts we'll discuss and practice throughout the session.

Warm Ups - These exercises limber both body and mind. They provide an excellent way for prov-fessors to assess and dial in energy levels while helping particpants simultaneously (and perhaps paradoxically) loosen up and lock in.

Atomic Skill Exercise - Training starts with the small, simple stuff and layering onward and upward to greater levels of complexity. Think of absorbing and practicing concepts like catching a tennis ball. Most people can catch one ball, and then another with their free hand, and maybe a third sandwiched between the previous two. However, throw three balls at once and there's a good chance someone will miss grabbing any of them.

Atomic Skills Explanation and Applications - Each exercise has a reason behind it. Some are more obvious than others. In every instance, once the exercise is over, the "why" comes to light with a discussion of how the exercise felt to try and how an exercise or component applies to various scenarios in life or the workplace.

Skill Exercises B, C, D, And So On - Whether it's a specific concept like divergent/convergent thinking, active listening, adaptability, etc, the session format continues with the same atomic exercise, add-on, and explanation/application format for the bulk of the time.

Conclusion and Parting Gifts - Clap it up! Congratulations on a successful session! Hopefully participants are that exhilrated type of tired, like completing a stellar work out (because they have.) As they say, it's not how you start, but how you finish. We feel the ending is crucial, so we recap the concepts, all the progress participants made, and provide a small, practical piece of advice on how they can practice and share what they learned at home or back at the office.

Post Script For The Unscripted

In the voice of infomercial legend Billy Mays, "But wait! There's more!"

Mastering improvisation or soft skills is a lifelong pursuit. Like learning a language, if you don't use it, you lose it. The More Fearless Improv + Soft Skill System wants to avoid vanishing in a poof of smoke after the last session ends. Following up is part of our follow-through to help these skills stick and stretch your investment further. (And selfishly, hope you see the value to come back and train new team members or go even wider/deeper into these skills.)

A SUMMARY FOR STARTERS. Even elephants eventually forget something. Each prov-fessor writes up a session summary as possible. What clicked? What caused confusion? What were the highlights? What dynamics improved? What were the biggest areas of growth? What could be improved? What were the crumbs of insights that could be forgotten if not captured while the proverbial iron was still hot?

We're sticklers for the whole "no technology" thing. That said, there's a lot of potential in discarded sketches, notes, and other scrap paper following a session. We snap photos or transpose these par-baked ideas into a digital format for the team to have an review. They not only have the potential to jog memory, they also serve as a well of ideas or jumping off points for future use.

Participants are also encouraged to submit honest Google Reviews at this time.

IF, THEN MOMENTUM. A major part of improvisation training employs the principle to "play at the top of your intelligence." This means asking in the moment, "If this interesting thing is true, then what else is true." The line of thinking helps keep unscripted scenes grounded, so the unusual thing (the comedy) stands out.

Workshops and skill suite programs often lead to an assortment of potential ideas. If those ideas are worth exploring, then how can the team take action?

More Fearless will provide recommendations on next steps. Sometimes that means focusing on similar skills, introducing new concepts, incorporating new teams/departments/partners, separate sessions specific to implementation, or any number of things that follow these "if/then" statements. Opinions are free. Ideas are cheap. Breathing new, revolutionary, or otherwise cool stuff into existence is one of, if not the greatest reward.

WRAP RECAP. As an option, stakeholders of the More Fearless Improv + Soft Skill System experience can request a wrap recap. This brief presentation summarizes the entirety of the project - goals, objectives, programming, participation, ideas, insights, findings, friction, fun, future opportunities, next step recommendations and more. It's an excellent opportunity to provide two-way feedback, ask questions, and give substance to an otherwise intangible event.