It's A Good Bet

Gonna keep it going with the theme of improv recommendations that help you out in real life! I took a small break from writing since last month was busiest month of live interactive events we have ever had. It was also across the country, which is great. Therefore this idea has been running around in my head for over a month. The phrase for this entry is “Show, don’t tell.” This is an important one for many reasons. I am just starting a new Level 1 class at The Backline Theater in Omaha. This is a great piece of advice for beginning improvisers and is a helpful reminder to when I have become stuck or feel myself in a bit of an improv rut.

The advice to “Show, Don't Tell” means rather than using words to describe everything that is happening, actually show the audience what is happening. It is a reminder to stay in the present because that is far more interesting than using words to tell your scene partner about what happened in the past. Rather than talking about the one time you and your scene partner went to Mars, show the audience the time you are on Mars and have locked your keys in the space rover. When improvisers start telling more than showing, the scene can get unnecessarily complex. It becomes less about what is happening on stage and more about the infinite number of things that could be happening where else and when else in time. That is why this piece of advice is particularly beneficial to beginning improvisers since beginning improvisers feel that they need to create something wild or outrageous. As I have often said the improvisers that I admire the most go on stage and perform simple ideas very well and clearly. It is much easier to do that when the improviser shows what is happening directly in front of them. They delve in deeply into what is right in front of them. Showing what is happening in a scene provides depth. Telling usually leads to excess breadth, with little payout. The concept of Show, Don’t Tell is great for beginning improvisors to get right into the action and be present. It is helpful for me to focus on depth, simplicity, and the present in the scenes that I am in as well.

This is an important idea for me in my own life and my relationships as well. This manifests as the idea of Intent vs Impact. Even if I have great intentions, it means precious little if my impact causes a different effect. I will be better served showing my intentions to make sure it has the intended impact as opposed to telling my intentions and letting the impact fall where it may. Wanting to be there for a friend or family member during a difficult time is not going to be as good as actually being there for them. Showing I want to get better at something is much better than telling someone that I am going to get better at something. Showing and demonstrating activities is a way of showing the world what is important to me. If I am demonstrating a behavior or action, it is right in front of me and I am in the present. If I am telling, rather than showing, about a behavior or action, it is by definition, somewhere or some when else in time, rather than of the moment. Not practicing this can lead to spreading too thin and not delving into what is right in front of me. Well explored by this twitter thread. I also made this sweet power point slide that is pretty far beyond my usual technological prowess. Show, Don’t Tell reminds me to prioritize what is important in my life and make sure my actions demonstrate that prioritization.

Adapted from the book Thanks For the Feedback by Douglas Stone and Sheila Been

This applies to my role in the hospital because I may want to connect with patients, learners, or colleagues, but it will be lost if I do not show them that I want to connect. If I show a patient that I am willing to go the extra mile to improve their health or make their life even a little bit easier, a huge sense of trust will develop compared to just saying those words to them. This week I am doing a workshop on Emotion using improv for Faculty Development at UNMC. It will be paired with a workshop on Trust in two weeks. My argument is that emotions are the brain predictions of what events mean and trust develops when people have the same predictions. What people mean when they say someone is “too emotional”, they really mean that their predictions are not likely. Similarly, the stereotype of stoic people is that they have no emotion. Stoicism is geared towards focusing on what is in our control and often times predictions are not in our control. That can be confused for lack of emotion. All of that to say, to generate trust with the people I work with and serve in the hospital, I need to show a connection with our predictions of certain events. If I have to have a discussion with a patient who is unaware that pancreatic cancer is a serious illness and as I tell the patient about the diagnosis, I start crying, it is unlikely that a connection and/or trust will develop. The same thing would occur if I casually inform the patient that he or she has pancreatic cancer while the patient is aware of the grave nature of that diagnosis. There will be a profound gap in trust. This is because it will appear that my emotional prediction is the diagnosis is not a big deal, while the patient’s emotional prediction is the diagnosis is an extremely big deal. In both the first and the second scenario, I need to show the patient that I have a similar prediction by responding to and connecting with them in the present, not just telling them the information. This must be practiced if I am to develop trust with patients, colleagues, and learners. When I step on the improv stage, I get rapid fire practice of this high stakes skill in a very low stakes environment so that I can show I am in the present with the people I interact with in the hospital each day. Here is a bad example, from which the title of this entry derived from…

 Show, Don’t Tell is a helpful reminder on the improv stage and is essential practice for much more complex parts of working in the high stakes healthcare environment.

Also check me out on the Improvely Speaking podcast! It was a very fun conversation

Until next time!!!!