Improvising life

I was clearing out some old note books when I found one full of notes that I made at a drama improvisation workshop last year. We were taught by the maestro himself, Keith Johnstone. I realised many of the ideas could be linked to living an inspiring, fun, creative and fully ‘improvised’ life – so here are my top tips!

1. Keep it simple – the simpler the better for all concerned

2. Love to fail. Laugh at failure, it shows you are taking risks!

3. Be bold and play.

4. Take some risks and see what happens.

5. You win if your audience (customers/ friends/ lovers) has a good time - it’s not about YOU.

6. Be positive – accept all ideas. Say ‘yes.....and’ add to the plan and go for it!

7. The audience (the world) wants to see things and people changed.

8. Allow yourself to be changed, feel your emotions and be involved in the world.

9. Language and words are not the most important means to make yourself understood.

10. You have to do things badly lots of times, in order to learn how to do it well.

11. Be patient. Don’t try to be good when you start. Have fun with the learning stage.

12. Be thrilled by mistakes – they show you are learning what NOT to do.

13. Do what is most obvious to you.

14. Status is not about position or title, but about focus, energy, stillness.

15. Go on stage (life) to make relationships.
16. Jump and justify – take massive action, then work out what to do next!

17. Stop ‘thinking’ so much and start ‘feeling’ more – use your unconscious/ intuition to make decisions/ connect/ act/ create.

18. Distracting your mind with physical movement can help to access the unconscious.

19. What is the subtext (unspoken communication)? There is always some....

20. Say ‘I love you, I love you, I love you’ in your head when talking to people you want to create a connection with and see what happens.

21. Be spontaneous and stop planning everything in advance. Go with the flow.

22. Audiences (clients/ customers/ lovers) love positive people.

23. Eye contact creates connection between actors/ people and establishes unconscious communication.

24. Enjoy your inner child – laugh, play, try stuff, be open and flexible. Life is one big experiment!

25. Always move the action (your life) forward. No-one wants to see, or re-enact the same scene over and over again.

26. Speak up and be heard. Use your voice.

27. ‘Mirror and match’ other people to create rapport.

28. Practice 500 times then you will start to get better at it!

29. Think of inventive ways to do things – give others a good time, always!

30. Life is not a rehearsal – this is it!

Copyright Claire Westwood 2007

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