Improv-ing For A Successful Career

Regardless of what you do for a living, being comfortable around others and in front of a crowd is vital for the success of your career. If you can eloquently present your ideas to a group of people and persuade them, you can achieve almost anything!

With this in mind, I’ve set out to accomplish three things:

• Increase my comfort level in front of a crowd
• Take risks with my presentations
• Try new things, even if it means embarrassing myself

I’ve been on a mission to find entertaining and affordable ways to accomplish these goals. I have organized a “curriculum” that will push me so far past my comfort zone that presenting will become something in which I’m eager to participate.

Take an Improv Class

The thought of standing on a stage, being put on the spot and trying to be funny is terrifying enough to almost make me want to rule out the idea all together.  Turns out, improv is one of the best kept secrets of great public speakers. So much so that MIT's Sloan School of Management and Duke's Fuqua School of Business are implementing improv as part of their MBA programs. Robert Kulhan, adjunct assistant professor at Duke University, believes that "improvisation isn't about comedy, it's about reacting -- being focused and present in the moment at a very high level". Kulhan argues that improv can have an impact on your creativity, your ability to communciates ideas and can help shape you into an effective team player and leader.

Saturday Night Live and Second City legend, Tina Fey, attributes her success to the 4 rules of improv, which can help take your career to the next level, even if your day job isn’t comedy. Through improvisation, you will learn to think spontaneously, listen with an open mind and become comfortable with the unknown; it may just be the perfect addition to your career development plan.

Improv classes can be expensive, but there are organizations that offer entry level courses at a discount or even at no cost at all!  If you’re in the Orlando area, join me at Power2Improv’s free 8-week course held at the Orlando Public Library. Yes, I said free. Why not give it a shot?

Join the Toastmasters Mission

Toastmasters International is a premier organization that, since 1924, has focused on communication and leadership development. Toastmasters is a self-paced program that creates a supportive environment of experiential learning. Participants of all different backgrounds come together to practice their skills by delivering speeches, running meetings effectively and exchanging valuable feedback.

I recently found out that many corporations actually have their own Toastmasters Club. Email your HR representative and find out if your organization is one of them. If not, check out the Toastmasters’ site to learn more about clubs near you.

Showing up to a club meeting for the first time can be uncomfortable, let alone a public speaking one. But don’t let that stop you from developing the amazing potential that you have! If you find yourself with first time jitters, check out the Facts for First Timers and jump right in.

Do Something Embarrassing

For as long as I can remember, I’ve said that I don’t like to dance. I was at a wedding while my friends were salsa-dancing away when I realized – it’s not that I don’t enjoy dancing, I’m just afraid to look like I don’t know what I’m doing in front of people that are more experienced than I am.  In an effort to tackle my goals, I decided it was time to do something embarrassing, better yet, to do so in front of a very large group of people. So I joined a salsa studio.

Dancing can benefit both your personal and professional development. Through dancing, you will become more aware of your body-language and posture, improve your social and communication skills, and learn to loosen up in front of a large crowd.  

Salsa lessons for me meant putting my insecurities aside, understanding that it’s more than okay to be the least experienced person in the group, and learning to laugh and keep shimmying forward when I do trip myself up.

Career development doesn’t have to mean overpriced or traditional courses.  Take a risk and join me on this somewhat unconventional journey towards exciting personal and professional development.


Have interesting learning & development ideas of your own? I'd love to hear them! Leave a comment below or check out my about.me site for more ways to connect.