{"id":29015,"date":"2023-02-14T12:13:01","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T12:13:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/?post_type=resource&#038;p=29015"},"modified":"2023-02-14T12:13:01","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T12:13:01","slug":"happiful-hack-confidence-tips-improv-comedian","status":"publish","type":"resource","link":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/resource\/happiful-hack-confidence-tips-improv-comedian","title":{"rendered":"Happiful Hack: Confidence tips from an improv comedian"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I improvise comedy for a living. You\u2019ve probably seen people like me on TV shows like <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Whose Line Is It Anyway? <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We go on stage in groups of four or five and try to make an audience laugh, but with absolutely no script whatsoever. The audience shout out suggestions and from that point we are on our own, playing games and making up sketches. It\u2019s hard to think of a more uncertain or anxiety-inducing situation. But believe it or not, I go on stage in a state of calm confidence. A confidence won both through experience and by the internalisation of some simple rules of thumb that allow me to dampen my fears and find my creativity. I\u2019ve used the same tools off-stage to feel less anxious and more empowered in my day-to-day life, both in my relationships and at work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might be thinking: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hang on, what can stage improvisation teach us about life? Afterall, life isn\u2019t a comedy show.<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> And that\u2019s obviously true! But isn\u2019t most of our life improvised? We\u2019re improvising in conversations, we\u2019re improvising when we pursue new projects, we improvise when our train is cancelled, and so on. My world doesn\u2019t just offer us a useful metaphor to think of these challenges in a new way, it also offers a simple and proven methodology to tackle a world of change with poise and equanimity. To be confident despite the curve balls thrown at us by life. With that in mind, here are five tips from improv you can use right now.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Remember it\u2019s not about you.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When I first got into improv, I assumed it was all about what you <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">say<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. I thought the pressure was on me to be as clever and funny as possible: it was suffocating. What I would soon learn is that improv actually begins with listening. All your focus should be all on the other person, on supporting their choices and trying to make them look good. We often say, \u2018If you want to get out of your head, then you\u2019ve got to get into something else.\u2019 That something else is out scene partner. If you\u2019re feeling anxious, it\u2019s because you\u2019re focussed on what you\u2019re saying or doing. Try instead to listen to the other person. We\u2019re often not good at this: we don\u2019t listen, we wait to speak. Pre-planning what we are going to say in our head. Instead, stay present and listen right to the end of what the other person is saying.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Let yourself be obvious.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In social situations we often put pressure on ourselves to be interesting and original. No wonder they make us anxious! Improvisers focus instead on <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">being obvious<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This is about simply saying what is obvious to you in the moment. You\u2019ll find not only does this get the conversation flowing, but that what is obvious to you is often not obvious to other people. So, you sound interesting by accident! Being obvious can be as simple as saying, \u2018Your necklace is pretty.\u2019 Your conversational partner can now react to this, (\u2018Oh this, yeah, I bought it last week,\u2019) and you\u2019re off. People who sound fluent in conversations are often just those people who let themselves be obvious.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Accept and build off what you\u2019re given<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You might think: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ok, being obvious can help me start conversations, but what do I do now? What if I can\u2019t think of anything to say next?<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Improvisers use a tool that helps here: we try to say \u2018Yes, and.\u2019 This is about listening to the last thing that was said and building on that. So, they say, \u2018Oh this, yeah, I bought it last week,\u2019 and you respond: \u2018You bought it last week? Where from?\u2019 Again, another obvious thing to say, but it simply accepts and builds off the last idea they shared and keeps the conversation flowing with almost zero effort.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Remember the goal is not perfection.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We often think in life-and especially when we communicate-that our goal is to be perfect. Not only is that unrealistic, it\u2019s also not how we view other people. To be more confident, you need to get a heathier relationship with your mistakes: it\u2019s how we react to them that\u2019s important. As Miles Davis once said, \u2018It\u2019s not the note you play that\u2019s the wrong note-it\u2019s the note you play afterwards that makes it right or wrong.\u2019 Improvisers treat their mistakes as gifts. When you mess up ask yourself, <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how can I use this?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>It\u2019s not on you to have the answer.<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In meetings or conversations, the pressure isn\u2019t on you to bring the bring <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> idea or solve everything: it is a team effort. We have a phrase in improv that gets at this: <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bring a brick, not a cathedral<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. We are trying to build a metaphorical cathedral in the show: a big, complex, beautiful thing. But we get there by bringing just one brick at a time. All you have to do when it\u2019s your turn to speak is to focus on adding one small thing. Think of your job as not to be the smartest person in the room but simply to keep the energy going. That quietens your inner critic and helps you contribute.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are no wrong choices, only choices and better choices, but you can make ANY choice work if you give it heart<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The stakes are always far lower than your brain is telling you they are. Best advice Scott Oswald has ever given me!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I remember Monkey Toast first class shows&#8230; advice that helped was to \u2018trust first\u2019, put your foot out even before you know what\u2019s going to happen and focus on supporting your team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Happy High Status is the way most great leaders endow themselves and others in life<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Everyone&#8217;s winging it. This goes for impro and for life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Focus all your attention on your partner, that way there\u2019s no space in your mind for self doubt.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Max Dickins is author of\u00a0<em>Improvise! Use the Secrets of Improv to Achieve Extraordinary Results at Work<\/em>\u00a0which is out now. He is co-director of improvisation training company\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/\">Hoopla<\/a>! Hoopla run\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/improv-classes-london.html\">improv classes<\/a>,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/improv-comedy-club-london-bridge.html\">shows<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/improv-corporate-training.html\">corporate training<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":29021,"template":"","format":"standard","class_list":["post-29015","resource","type-resource","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Happiful Hack: Confidence tips from an improv comedian | Hoopla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/resource\/happiful-hack-confidence-tips-improv-comedian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Happiful Hack: Confidence tips from an improv comedian | Hoopla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I improvise comedy for a living. 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The audience shout out suggestions and from that point we are[...] Read More","og_url":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/resource\/happiful-hack-confidence-tips-improv-comedian","og_site_name":"Hoopla","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hooplaimpro\/","og_image":[{"width":1327,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Picture7-e1676376765721.png","type":"image\/png"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@hooplaimpro","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/resource\/happiful-hack-confidence-tips-improv-comedian","url":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/resource\/happiful-hack-confidence-tips-improv-comedian","name":"Happiful Hack: Confidence tips from an improv comedian | Hoopla","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/resource\/happiful-hack-confidence-tips-improv-comedian#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/resource\/happiful-hack-confidence-tips-improv-comedian#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Picture7-e1676376765721.png","datePublished":"2023-02-14T12:13:01+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/resource\/happiful-hack-confidence-tips-improv-comedian#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/resource\/happiful-hack-confidence-tips-improv-comedian"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/resource\/happiful-hack-confidence-tips-improv-comedian#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Picture7-e1676376765721.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/Picture7-e1676376765721.png","width":1327,"height":900},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/resource\/happiful-hack-confidence-tips-improv-comedian#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Resource","item":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/resource"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Happiful Hack: Confidence tips from an improv comedian"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/","name":"Hoopla","description":"The most fun and friendly place to learn improv in the UK","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/#organization","name":"Hoopla","url":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/logo-dark.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/logo-dark.jpg","width":267,"height":56,"caption":"Hoopla"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/hooplaimpro\/","https:\/\/x.com\/hooplaimpro","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/hooplaimpro","https:\/\/uk.linkedin.com\/company\/hooplaimpro","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/hooplaimpro"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource\/29015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/resource"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hooplaimpro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}