Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Good article about improving your conversational skills

I've been thinking it might be fun to do improv around the dinner table.

A friend recently sent me an article about How to think faster, better on your feet. The article starts with:

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Life coach Gail Blanke went to acting school to learn to improvise in any situation. Turns out the tricks that actors use on stage can help you score a date, land a job -- or just make any conversation more engaging

If you repeat what someone else says and then start next phrase with 'and' that comment can become conversation.

There's no getting around it. We live in an unscripted world. You can rehearse in front of a mirror till the cows come home -- for that job interview, for that meeting where you're expected to speak, for the moment when you finally walk up to that very attractive guy at the gym and introduce yourself. But the minute there's another person involved, the script goes out the window. If you mean to make an impression, you have to be able to think on your feet, hurl yourself into the moment, and improvise.
How? Well, obviously, some people are simply naturals. To help the rest of us develop some techniques, I turned to the professionals.


An actor friend had told me about the
Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB), a highly respected training center for comic improv in New York City, so I called up the academic supervisor, Joe Wengert, and asked if I could sit in on one of his classes. Luckily, he said yes. And saying yes, it turns out, is nothing less than the heart and soul of improv.
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The article has three ways to improve our unscripted life. Check it out.


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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the link. As an extreme introvert, I always have trouble talking to people. I loved the practical tips --- and they seemed like things even I could do!

Henry Cate said...

I think it helps to have some ideas about how to improve your conversational skills, when you are an introvert or extrovert. Humans are social creatures, we go through life interacting with others, as parents it helps to teach our children how to do a better job.