When Accepting an Offer is the Best Response

I understand that there is a lot of news about some recent legislation in Florida.

Being honest, I haven't researched enough to know if the "memo" linked here is truly being circulated around Florida schools, or not, but I sure hope so, because it is a perfect example of accepting an offer.

The points made in this memo are excellent, accurate and true. Furthermore, the author of this memo isn't trying to change the reality (that Florida HB1557 is now law) but, is accepting that the bill did pass and is counseling that others follow the bill to the letter.

As someone who performs, teaches and coaches improv I always like to find real-life examples and this is a great one.

It's also a reminder that all of life is an improv!

Those who forget that -or don't understand that- and try to write a rigid script as a means of controlling something or someone are going to be thwarted most of the time. 

I'll be watching this one with great interest.

The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Me

What if, today, in your improv of life, every time something bad happens you say, "This is the best thing that ever happened to me"??

What would that change?

A few years ago, my left hip became incredibly painful and I needed a hip replacement, seems "bad", right?

But, in the process of getting a physical to be cleared for hip replacement surgery, I had a mammogram and cancer was detected.

Needing a hip replacement turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me, to date, because the cancer was caught early. I went through all the necessary treatments and I'm cancer-free today.

I have a couple other instances where something that seemed bad turned out to be the best thing for me.

What's the best "bad" thing that every happened to you?

The Benefits of "Mirroring"

 I talk about it often, how improv can be applied to life situations to great effect!

If I can find it again, I'll drop the link here; because I won't do it justice in words and I want to credit the creator if I can. So, just know this was not my idea but I love it and think it's a great example of applying improv to life.

I just saw a video in which a woman describes how she deals with disgruntled customers, she mirrors their energy and repeats back what the customer says.

For example:

Angry customer, stomps up to counter, yelling: "This is unacceptable! I drove across town to find 2 of these items and you only have one."

Sales Associate, yelling, as well: "This IS unacceptable! I'm going to look in the back!" then proceeds to storm off. When she returns, she yes, "Now THIS is REALLY unacceptable after you drove across town for these. We don't have any more in the BACK. This is so unacceptable."

This brilliant woman goes on to explain that, when she does this, typically, the customer completely changes and says, "That's okay. Really, it's okay."

This sales associate is just mirroring what the angry customer is doing.

Mirroring is a common theatre game, this brilliant sales associate just uses it at work with unsuspecting customers! She's actually, combining it with another improv game where you repeat back what someone says to kick off what you're going to add.

The funny thing is, when you mirror and echo in "real life", it often makes people more comfortable and receptive to you and is a great way to protect yourself from negative energy, you just push it back to the person who started it, rather than holding on to it. 

I will admit, I used this mirroring tactic with a former boss who, quite honestly, behaved abominably to anyone who had less seniority than she did. At first, I started by just physically mirroring her. It actually made me feel less "small" as her physicality was quite aggressive. Then, I started repeating her words back to her; some of which were quite mean. Sometimes she'd adjust what she said after I repeated them back. At any rate, it really did help me to deflect the negative energy.

I also kept detailed notes after every meeting and encounter to cover my ass!

Have you ever tried mirroring before? How did it go?