Did you wake up this morning with a flawless work schedule only to have it disintegrate by 10am? Or have you been in a meeting that went in a completely different direction than was outlined in the agenda? Congratulations, you're an improv master! Every day we're faced with decisions that need to be made on the fly and with a level of creativity that we didn't know we had.

Bridget Quigg lives improv and joins us in breaking down the principles, having fun, and why it's critical both on and off the stage (or meeting) to make others look good every time.  Find out why Bridget thinks everyone is an improv genius and should embrace the circus bow in their career!

What is improv? - Improv is life!

• Improv is a frame of mind (quick, clever, funny)
• There are rules in improv that even the professionals on television live by
• Principles of improv for the workplace
  • Acknowledge everything
  • Yes, and…(listen and build on it)
  • Make your partner look good
• Blocking ourselves and others (I love your purple hat…)
• Study and practice improv to increase your conversational skills and home and at work
• Your improv "scene" is in the meeting, 1:1s, the latest project
• The point of improv is not to be funny, but to make the person you're with feel amazing every time
• Go in with the original intent of making others feel heard
• How to be professionally appropriate
• The goal is to honor your first thought
• Spend an extra 10 seconds listening to someone else and yourself
• Bridget's class rules of improv:
  • Be average: this is not about being excellent
  • Celebrate failure: take a huge circus bow
  • Do not think: don't deny the connection to your creativity
• 80/20 rule
  • Instruction = 20%
  • Participation = 80%
• Zip, Zap, Zop: clap pointing game
  • You have to be ready to accept
• Gift giving:
• Over-accept everything
• Acknowledge the gift and say thank you
• Party planner
  • Round 1: Yes, but…chip away on every idea
  • Round 2: Yes, and…build on every idea
• Go to an improv show and observe
• Take an improv class
• When an idea is blocked in improv, the scene is over…does that happen in your workplace?
• Story spine (Ken Adams) - the hero's journey
• You go to the grocery store with a plan…then there are cookies!
• We improvise in life every single day
• Trust yourself, trust the other person, listen, express yourself