Networking lessons improv has taught me
This expert insists that the key to a powerful presentation lies in finding a balance between extroversion and introversion, between talking passionately and listening fanatically. But you must also learn how to be spontaneous.
The great performance coach Tony Robbins once said, “If you want to get results no one’s getting, you have to do things no one’s doing.”
I took his advice to heart and looked for unusual methods to boost my networking skills. Inhaling blog posts and how-to books wasn’t enough, so I asked my folks in town. An American friend swooned over a guy from San Francisco who had once worked for Cirque de Soleil. She said the man was a creative genius improv teacher who had helped her become a bad-ass communicator.
I was hooked.
But since I didn’t know much about improv, I watched a couple of YouTube videos and saw a bunch of guys and gals acting like young Jim Carrey tripping on illegal substances. I thought, Who are these clowns? Nevertheless, I tried a local two-hour session with my friend in Berlin and my mind was blown.
Below, I reveal three networking lessons I’ve learned from doing improv:
1. Embrace the three-circle strategy
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