Want to Be a Better Listener and Deepen Connections With Others? Try Improv!

As I wrote the title to this blog, I wondered whether all of us have recently become more adept at improvising.

In March, with little notice, we were thrust into the surreal world of social distancing and remote teaching. And while we all tried our best, at times we may have felt more than a little lost.

That’s where “improv” (improvisation) comes in. In an earlier blog post, I wrote about Alan Alda’s book, If I Understood You Would I Have This Look on My Face? In this exploration of relating and communicating, Alda extols the value of improvisation. In fact, Alda claims he became a better listener through his more familiar work: acting. More specifically, he learned the value of deep listening through the practice of improvisation.

Simply put, improvisation involves two or more actors responding to a prompt or situation without any previous notice or rehearsal. No script, just “in the moment”! You’ve probably seen some of this on TV in shows like Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Alda describes participating in a workshop experience with Paul Sills, the founder of Chicago’s renowned The Second City comedy troupe, where actors would be led through games involving improvisation. Something “magic” began to happen, he writes.

“What one player did was immediately sensed and responded to by the other player. And that, in turn, created a spontaneous response in the first player. It was true relating and responsive listening, which, I’ve come to realize, is necessary on the stage and in life as well (p. 8).

So when I saw an email from Second City about a webinar on using improvisation, I was “all-in.”

Source

The webinar was originally developed for a time before social distancing and the techniques described suggested face-to-face contact. Yet, looking at the three examples below, I think they can be easily adapted to remote learning using Zoom breakout rooms! (So does Zoom – see here!)

And I wonder whether this might be a good time to offer a lighter professional learning session for your colleagues using some techniques?

So, if you’re interested in exploring more about improvisation, how it can make you a better listener, and how it might even build a stronger collaborative culture, consider experimenting with one or more of the following examples.

If you’re curious about other programs and opportunities offered by Second City to help build team spirit, group collaboration and personal commitment, explore their website. You might start with this tempting offer: “Combat video conference fatigue!”