Your quality of Presence is revealed through the power of Focus

When working with a large group, it is often desirable to have the participants form duos, triads, quartets or quintets in order to enable everyone to participate in a particular game. As the different teams are absorbed into their tasks, a substantial racket is normally generated, frequently punctuated by gusts of laughter. During the subsequent debrief, I ask for a show of hands by those who had been distracted by the cacophony. Usually, it’s only a few hands that go up.  “How can this be in a room that is so noisy?” I ask. The answer comes quickly, clearly and from many parts of the room. “We were focused on what we were doing,” is the explanation. That “focus” is so strong it actually serves as a “mute” button or “white noise” box.

Having established the power of focus, my interest shifts to what, if anything, does throw the players off track. Here, the answers are more varied. “Surprise at my partner’s answer,” “I kept expecting the story to go in a particular direction and it wouldn’t,” and  “I had a better story in mind and my partner wouldn’t go along” are three of the most common replies.

An individual’s inner dialogue turns out to be much more distracting than the external commotion. Our self-talk is disruptive because it takes us away from the present, where our task is, and whisks us to either the past or the future.  Refocusing brings us back to the present while the ongoing self-talk keeps us somewhere other than the here-and-now.

IMPROV TECHNIQUE TO PRACTICE: Since so much is going on for the players during an Improv structure, they must know how to focus on the essence of each game. It is essential that they concentrate on what is important while staying away from the unimportant. Improvisors understand that every activity has a focal point. Improv pioneer Viola Spolin named this fundamental detail the Point of Concentration (PoC). For example, if a volleyball game were an improv structure, the PoC would be the ball.

HERE’S WHY IT WORKS: With so many stimuli flooding our senses, it’s difficult to pay attention to any one thing at any one time. Many of us feel like we “are all over the place,” perhaps because in our minds, we ARE all over the place. Multi-tasking may seem like a solution to overlapping priorities yet even that approach requires us to be present moment to moment.

Finding the PoC for any desired outcome forces us to be more focused, and less distractible.  Call it focused awareness, mindfulness, or presence.  Once revealed, the PoC becomes home base for any wandering thoughts, feelings or behaviors.  You can’t be lost if you know how to find your way back home.

Thanks for playing along! Stay well and mirthful. Izzy

People Assess Your Value/Reputation Based on How Your Actions Impact Their Emotions.

Early on in my programs, I invite a volunteer to come up and learn an Improv game. Generally, there are very few takers. I then ask for some of the folks who hadn’t volunteered to share what thinking they went through that kept their hands from going up. The reasons are many. Among the most common answers are: “I don’t want to look foolish,” “I don’t know what the game is about”, “I don’t like to be first”, and “I was taught never to volunteer.”

Eventually, someone does volunteer. As the person comes up, I ask the people sitting in the audience how they feel now that someone had volunteered. Most of the comments are about much relief was felt, how relaxed they now were able to be, and how grateful they were to the volunteer for stepping up. In other words, the person who stepped up had the power, through his or her action, to transform the emotional climate for the whole group. The volunteer thereby gains a very high status in the group. A status gained not by a conscious effort to be liked, but by a desire to volunteer to play for whatever personal reason. And the entire group took note!

IMPROV TECHNIQUE TO PRACTICE: Trying to figure out what’s right or best or most creative or most helpful or most controlling is futile in Improv. The only way through is to be spontaneous, authentic and expeditious in your actions. Make your statements or actions flow from what you want to do. Whenever you notice yourself attempting to figure out what someone else needs or desires, bring your focus back to what you want or need to do.

HERE’S WHY IT WORKS: In life, once you know that others are watching you and judging you based on their own feelings, you realize you may as well act on your own beliefs and desires. Do what you want to do and how you want to do it. There is a saying that “nature knows neither right nor wrong, only consequences”.

Since it is futile to try and figure out how to please all others or what they are expecting, you may as well do what you believe is right. If you fail, at least you fail with your own truth. Living your own truth is the simplest way to being authentic in your life.

Thanks for playing along! Stay well and mirthful!

The Difference Between Acceptance and Agreement

Whether you are a teacher, coach, corporate executive, sales representative, stay-at-home mom, blue-collar worker or professional speaker, you will find these ideas to be intuitive, fascinating and immediately applicable to what you face on a day-to-day basis. Instructional Moments is directed toward individuals who desire to become more confident, playful, spontaneous, and effective.

The easiest and perhaps the most concrete way to incorporate Improv Theater techniques into daily living is by understanding and adopting the concept of YES…AND. For improvisers, YES…AND serves the same purpose as the North Star does for sailors: that of a guiding light and a way to keep moving forward, even though the outcome of the journey is uncertain.

The fundamental Improv principal is that there is a difference between ACCEPTANCE and AGREEMENT. It trains us to take what we are given and build on it. Brought into our everyday lives, the concept of YES…AND allows us to deal with things as they are, not as we wish they were. We may not agree with what is said or done, but we need to accept it because that is reality. Because of YES…AND, improvisers never seem stuck or off-balance. They don’t spend time judging what they’ve been given or evaluating their response. They simply ACCEPT what they are given and ACT on it. In other words, improvisers understand the distinction between ACKNOWLEDGEMENT and APPROVAL.

IMPROV TECHNIQUE TO PRACTICE: Pay attention to all the times YES…BUT is used by you and by others around you. Develop the habit of substituting YES…AND wherever and whenever you can

HERE’S WHY IT WORKS: By training yourself to substitute YES…AND for the more common, and almost reflexive, YES…BUT, you can transform any relationship from a zero-sum game, where someone has to be right and another has to be wrong, into a dialogue where complementary, different and even opposing opinions can co-exist. You become better able to co-create with others who are allies. You also become adept at staying in dialogue with someone you disagree with. This gives you a better shot at a mutually satisfactory outcome whenever you are in communication with someone else.

Thanks for playing along! Stay well and mirthful. Izzy