Ok. You could say, this was a special conference with special people (Applied Improvisation Network in Oxford, August 2016). And there are other conferences. And those can learn a lot out of what is happening here.
So here has been an opening done by a president (Paul Z. Jackson). Short. To the point. Witty and making you smile. And an opening session with over 200 peoples, using the room as it is: It’s called “theatre” and it’s more like a lecture theatre. People sitting very near to each other, seemingly no place to move. Seemingly…
Firstly we say “Good Morning” to each other, in our very different languages, groups stand up from the different countries all over the world.
Then: Matt Weinstein (http://www.playfair.com/who/matt.htm) and Erica Marx (http://www.ericamarx.com/about.html) are the facilitators – I list some of the methods, that were used and add reflections on their effects on learning, fruitful communication, self efficacy. (see this beuatiful video that captures some moments!)
Please add to all following bullet points the starting words it “fosters / helps / encourages”…
They start with a “diamond dance” and within half a minute over 200 people are dancing together. (see this good explanation here http://improblog.mrpetermore.com/2010/12/diamond-dance.html).
- the balance between synchronizing with others and to bring in own variations and completely new ideas
- to experience (with heart, brain, belly – the whole body) connectivity and being part of something (more than a participant)
- To let go fears to show (and tell) something of yourself
And movement gets more intense: Matt and Erica tell us twice to find a partner nearby in the room, not only the neighbor to do “Danish Clapping” (see this explanation and video: http://www.habgames.com/games/danish-clapping/). Added to that we are invited to exchange with this partner in 90 seconds on “What intrigues you about applied improvisation?” “Where is your edge?”, “What are you really curious about right now, what do you want to explore?”
- Exploring and finding common rhythms
- Being aware of the movements of other people (in communication body movements might be far less intense as in danish clapping AND we can not only perceive them but also realize our own movements) -> so it is also about real listening to each other
- Reframing of the word mistake (Even if you are not synchronized the mutual game keeps on going)
Matt and Erica also invite us to find a new partner and to tell each other the story of our first name in one Minute. 90 or even 60 seconds. How is this possible. Improv is also about to trust the first answer that comes to your mind. It helps to summarize, to cut on the chase (see this nice explanation of this phrase http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/cut+to+the+chase). And it often catapults us in a – like Keith Johnstone puts it – trance, a state, where we stop thinking in a “normal” way and surprise us self and others.
Latest here you would have run out of people standing right next to you and people in the theatre started to move around. And it goes on with “find another partner” and the following input:
“The person across from you is your very best friend from back home. It’s 1 week from now, conference is over, you’re telling them all about it “ It went super well, AMAZING! Everything you could hope for: for you personally, for your business, for your perspective, relationships. What happened? What made it so great? You will have 45 seconds”
And then “Now, it’s 10 years in the future! Same friend, and you have not seen them in 10 years. Start with whatever stood you to you from your share.” And the listener is asked to keep pushing the storyteller with putting in “Because of that…” We are reminded in the aspect “amazing”, “everything you could hope for” and also to find things, we are dreaming about.
After that the question is: “Return to the next days. What have you done in the very first days after the conference to make the things you just described come into existence in the very first place?
- Finding, defining aims for own / common learning processes
- Envision a bright future (I often use methods like “letter / email / tweet / drawing / body image from the future”. It is a very powerful way to gain access to hopes, dreams and also the very next steps.)
- Being inspired by ideas of other persons
The next challenge from Matt is to find an other partner and do the “toothache mediation”:
Tell her or him very fast things, “…that are not wrong in your life”. He reminds us to stick to this very starting every own sentence.
- Reframing your life
- Getting stronger aware of own strengths
- Opening up to each other
And if you thought to find I a very tight space two people very often is an inspiring method to bring together as many as possible people in a seemingly no-time-structure look at this: “Sty together with your last partner, find two other couples. Make a line: left is the one with the least experience on AIN-conferences and right the one with the most”. So we do lines. In the very narrow tiers of the theater, with people we perhaps hadn’t realized they are even here before. The person standing at the beginning of this line partners with the one on the other end of the line: “1 min: What advice can you offer the newbies? How to get the most from the conference?”. “Newer delegates: What questions do you have of the veterans?“ (it is a variation of a sociometric activity, for more see e.g. here http://wilderdom.com/games/descriptions/GetToKnowYouSociometricQuestions.html).
- Get to know each other
- Exchanging experiences (and get to know “knowing people”)
- Helping each other (sharing responsibility)
No more movement possible in this room? You are wrong! We are asked to find triads and everyone gets the chance to be the “Perfect boss”: So if it is your turn, you have to tell your staff a method how to make as many as possible people in the room happy, feeling comfortable and also appreciated. So for instance I am asked to tell people a superpower. Or to put a finger to their head and telling “I like you very” much”. I tell to give people a short massage for the neck. And even in my roll as boss I not only observe people running in high speed through the room but also am hugged, told that I am amazing and inspiring, invited to let go all my fears and more J
- Taking and delegate responsibility
- Mutual kindness
- Getting in touch with lots of people
We form another group of three and Erica invites us to be our own guardian angel: “You are now each Guardian angels, and you’re hanging out together in the Guardian angel break room, swapping strategies & sharing about your clients. You are hard-working, dedicated, compassionate Guardian angels. You’re thinking about this upcoming conference. You’ve got an important client, someone you really care about. Because in this next game, you will each play your own guardian angel: what excites them about Applied Improvisation, hopes for how this conference will go and what that means to them, things that are going well in their life. And also… you know what they need and how to take care of them. You know how they can get themselves into trouble, get off track. You know how to bring them back. What advice do you give them? How are you going to take care of them?”
- Selfcare and self efficacy
- Inner reflection, taking in own needs
- Planning a red thread for the conference (learning experience)
Afterwards we are told to “Take your guardian angel with you” <3
At the end we wave to the partners we had before.
Matt and Erica made for the whole hour sure, that there is no need to think on “who is first”, “ho is next”. They put in inputs like “the one with the most hours of sleep”, “the one who had to travel the longest time”, “speaks the most languages”, “youngest goes first”…
So it is not only to get to know each other but also to look on a inspiring learning journey ahead, to define areas were you want to grow and powers you can use! Thank you very much Erica & Matt for sharing your notes, that helped me remembering most of this fabulous session!
