140 - How to use Applied Improv to Enliven your Workshops with Shannon Hughes

Using “yes-and”, following the flow, and focusing on the process as much as the outcomes… Is this improv or facilitation?

The two share a lot in common! When we combine them, we can create amazing, immersive workshops.

And that’s exactly what I discuss with Shannon Hughes in this week’s episode. Shannon dedicates her work to generating ‘aliveness’ – helping leaders come alive and bringing confidence, connection, and creativity to teams.

Now, she’s sharing the lessons she’s learned from bringing applied improv into corporate spaces – and how facilitators can bring a little more improv and play into workshops to amazing effect.

Find out about:

• How beneficial it can be to remember that facilitators are guides, not teachers
• The multiple skills we – as communicators, colleagues, and people – learn from improvisation
• How to apply improvisation for conscious leadership (with a helpful acronym)
• Why absence has a bigger impact than presence – especially when it comes to leaders
• How we can become better listeners and help others to do the same
• The tools you might already be using in your workshops that you can apply to improv

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Questions and Answers

Part one

[01:15] When did you start calling yourself a facilitator – if you do?

[04:34] If you call yourself an experiential facilitator, what is the opposite?

[07:34] What brought you to imrpov and facilitation? And which came first?

[14:20] What is the mindset of improv that we see in facilitation, and how do you apply improv in facilitation?

[15:48] How do you bring this mindset into the room – do people pick it up or do you have to explicitly explain it?

[21:02] Are there building blocks for psychological safety in improv? And what does the concept really mean in improv?

[27:18] Where do you see the risk of applying improv – and especially the “yes and” principle?

[31:43] Exploring – and practicing – Shannon’s favourite exercise: The Pride Rant.

Links

Shannon’s website: www.enlivenedstudios.com 

Connect to Shannon:

On LinkedIn

On Instagram
 

Any thoughts? Share them with us!

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