For many people, having the confidence to express their ideas can really hold them back. And for organisations it can stop some of the most innovative and breakthrough ideas ever reaching the surface. The fear of being wrong, the fear of making mistakes and not being listened to can be hugely detrimental.
For other people, they can find themselves in continuos patterns of thinking and may need to reconnect to their creative spirit they may have forgotten. Their untapped potential is being wasted as they suppress their childhood gifts of creativity.
And for others, including many creative types, they may need to work on living more in the present and not flitting from one thing to another. To truly improvise, you must be in the present moment and respond to what in happening in front of you right now.
After spending 6 months learning from professional facilitators I want to share the magic formula and some of the benefits of practicing improv. The simple, effective and transferable less can be applied to many aspects of life and business. Beneath what may seem unstructured chaos are some powerful principles that enable creative ideas to flourish every single time.
5 Reasons to practice Improvising
- You’ll be confident and free to express yourself
- You’ll take more risks
- You’ll be more creative and have better ideas
- You’ll be more flexible in your thinking
- You’ll be more present
2 Key Principles
Whist improvisation cannot be understood until practiced, I want to share with
you two key principles that will change your life and make you way more creative.
1) Say yes to people’s ideas
The first rule of improve is to always “Yes, and…”
Whatever the other person says to you, you must respond with a positive answer and an open invitation. This means that we accept what they have said and will look for a way to build on the idea.
This is how creative ideas can build really quickly.
As a performer this gives you huge confidence that the other person will accept whatever you say and therefore gives you the freedom to say anything without fear of judgement or fear of making a mistake.
2) Pass it on, it’s not about you
By abiding by this rule means that the improvisers do not have to worry about themselves, try to be the funniest or the centre of attention – but instead they create opportunities for their fellow improviser to have the last laugh. In setting there creativity is important, this means your ego is not attached to being the person to have the breakthrough idea, but you focus on the project, the idea or the story.
Do you wish you were more creative?
Would you like to be more confident expressing your ideas?
Do you say no to ideas before they have been fully explored?
To you fully support other people to be freely creative?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, delving into the art of improvisation may be a risk worth taking!
Categories: Creativity
Andy Dunn 
Reblogged this on Launch Port – The Open Door Business Blog.