Lessons from the Improv comedy stage can help us improve our communication skills! Comedians Sandy Marshall and Sandy Jobin-Bevans share their expertise – and a few laughs – including playing the scene you’re in, the beauty of mistakes, knowing your audience, testing your audience, “YES-AND,” burning a suggestion, and more! Whether you’re pitching for business, interviewing for a new job, or talking to your kids, these improv lessons can make you a more effective communicator. Thank you Sandy & Sandy!

Downloadable (PDF) version of the shownotes is available HERE.

 SHOWNOTES

Contents

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SUMMARY: Lessons from the Improv Stage

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References & Links

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Andrea’s Commentary

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Interview Transcript

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Conclusion

SUMMARY: Lessons from the IMPROV Stage

 “Improv comedy, at its core,

is about listening and thinking on your feet.”

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Preparation

* Confidence and preparation are key. The Sandys are big proponents of preparing the script (or the 100 slide deck!) in advance but then having an improvised conversation. 

* Mistakes – When you go to an audition, a job interview, or a sales pitch, you either nail it or – you have a great story. It turns out mistakes are where the best comedy comes from.

* Know your audience – Know who’s in the room in advance.  Ask, “Who is everyone going to look at to see if it’s ok to laugh?” 

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Content 

* Test your audience – Comedians will try a few taboos – sexuality, politics, religion,… See where the audience wants to go. Swear once, and see what happens.

* Timing is critical when you’re onstage. We need to know when the show is over – and leave them wanting more.

* Play the scene you’re in, not the one you want to be in.

* Pimping is assigning someone else a task that you don’t want to do.

* Burning a suggestion is asking for a suggestion, with an example that you don’t want to use (e.g. ‘”Can I get a suggestion for character name – like Sandy?”)

* Object work is miming with objects that don’t exist.

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Tone 

* Respect and empathy are key to improv. That means “listening and being a good human.”

* Competition vs. Cooperation – Much of what we do offstage is a zero sum game. The thing about improv, is that it’s not a zero sum game. You can laugh at everybody. Improvisers have a pre-show ritual:  “Got your back. Got your back, got your back.” 

* Thanks for the question – Diffuse a confrontational Q with a sincere, thanks for the question. It gives you a minute to think about your answer and it calms the room. It’s a little piece of jujitsu in those high-pressure situations. 

* YES AND is a core tenet of improv. Yes, I heard your offer. And  I build on that offer. Try responding with “Yes, and.”

References & Links

Sandy Jobin-Bevans

* Twitter: https://twitter.com/SandyJBevans

* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandyjbevans/

Sandy Marshall

* Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarshallSandy

* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/marshallsandy/

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sandymarshall/

Other References

* Norman Howard (their firm) – https://www.