The art of improv: How to make decisions without a script

By Tom Yorton

It's known as 'The Actor's Nightmare,' but it happens just as frequently in business: you step in front of an audience ready to dazzle them with your brilliance.

Then you freeze.

What do you do?

For many people, the ability to think on one's feet is either an inherited trait, a special talent, or a skill as mysterious as it is elusive.

We know differently.

Responsiveness pays off

So much of your success in business depends on your ability to be nimble and responsive to the dynamics around you – among your colleagues, with your customers, your competitors, or the market you work in.

What if you could learn to be supremely confident in all these situations? How would it feel to be quicker on your feet in presentations? Or more nimble around changing team dynamics?

What if you could become productive overall – and someone widely recognized for having great ideas and amazing collaboration skills?

And finally, what if the source of that new confidence was the special lessons, insights, and learning that actors in a unique art form rely on every minute they're on stage?

I'm referring to the art of improvisation – and the fact that improv-based training is drawing wide attention in the business world today for its unique application to our fast-moving times.

Affirmation, creation, and mutual support

Improvisation involves working without a script. The special magic of an improv performance comes in the training the actors receive in how to navigate a scene, then show they're performing in ways that build, support, and enhance each other.

At its essence, improvisation is about affirmation, creation, and mutual support.

A simple premise

Improvisational training is best explained this way: one person puts forward an idea or proposition, and other members of the group acknowledge and build upon that idea.

This simple premise is a great tool for brainstorming or presenting to groups in an interactive setting – and it allows new ideas to grow and reach their full potential before being bombarded by the common objections that stop most ideas in their tracks.

Is it naïve to suggest that what works for actors will work in business? Is all this easier said than done?

The easy answer, of course, is to point to the hundreds of companies that have embraced improv methods to help them change their cultures, align their people, develop their leaders, and connect better with their customers.

About the Author:

Tom Yorton is president of The Second City, the 50-year old improvisational theater powerhouse with locations in several North American cities, including Chicago and Toronto. Yorton is also the former president of Second City Communications, the corporate entertainment, business workshops, and marketing services division of The Second City.

Find Out More