Saying Yes And... The Fundamentals Of Comedy In Business
Monika Smith
This one runs as an interactive workshop: the hour includes exercises your colleagues do themselves, not only a talk.
Success in business is dependent upon collaboration and innovation, and a lack of vulnerability amongst team members causes many new ideas to be squashed before they can flourish. But if team members feel confident that their ideas—both good and bad—will be acknowledged, then a supportive, collaborative, and creative work environment can be established.
And all of this can be achieved through the fundamentals of improvisational comedy. Join Monika Smith, acclaimed improviser and instructor, as she explores the power of active listening and saying “Yes, and…,” in order to radically improve communication and morale in your work environment.
During the expert session, Monika Smith engages the audience through a creative and interactive activity using Mentimeter. She divides participants into smaller groups for collaborative brainstorming sessions, instructing them to build upon each other's ideas instead of competing or shutting down conversations.
Monika uses various examples and techniques to illustrate the concepts she discusses, emphasizing the importance of active listening, reading body language, and considering minor details in brainstorming sessions.
Incorporating the "yes and" technique from improv into business settings can lead to more creative and collaborative brainstorming sessions. By building upon each other's ideas instead of shutting them down, teams can explore unexpected possibilities and foster a safe environment for sharing ideas.
Giving equal consideration to every idea, no matter how unconventional, is crucial for successful brainstorming sessions. Monika Smith uses the example of improv shows where hosts provide specific instructions and details, encouraging participants to think meticulously and consider the significance of minor details in creating a well-thought-out concept.
In the world of improv and business, it's essential to maintain positivity and avoid negation when brainstorming ideas. Monika encourages listeners to transform negative experiences into positive ones by focusing on the details that make a difference in perception, such as bright colors, comfortable seats, or tasty treats, which can significantly impact overall experience.
Monika is excited about the connections between improv and business. She explains how improv originated from various forms in different parts of the world and became a popular art form that helps people create innovative ideas.
Monika emphasizes the importance of active listening in both improv and business environments. She encourages participants to practice techniques like making eye contact, leaning in, and responding appropriately to nonverbal cues to build a "yes and" community and create a safe environment where everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas.
Monika emphasizes the importance of reading body language and using it to understand people's emotions and intentions. She encourages participants to use mirroring, an effective technique for making others feel understood and valued.
Monika also highlights the ability to think on your feet as a crucial skill in any setting, encouraging everyone to go with the flow and build upon new ideas even if they don't initially seem appealing.
Throughout her lecture, Monika uses various examples and techniques to illustrate the concepts she discusses. She instructs participants to engage in collaborative brainstorming sessions. Each group is instructed to think of an animal and a product, with no wrong answers.
Monika encourages participants to use the 'yes and' technique, where they build upon each other's ideas rather than competing or shutting down conversations. She believes that there are no bad ideas and that participants should be open to the unexpected possibilities.
Monika then discusses techniques for enhancing focus and concentration during group sessions. She emphasizes the importance of eliminating distractions, such as phones, and fully engaging with each other.
Monika suggests connecting through shared experiences and building upon one another's ideas rather than competing or shutting down conversations. Monica facilitates a number of exercises that the participants are assigned to
Monika introduces an idea: a cleanest farm where animals wear diapers and are serviced by robots. The farm is sustainable and self-sufficient, producing feed and heating from the farm. She encourages everyone to keep thinking of more details and ideas, emphasizing the significance of considering every aspect in depth.
Later, they discuss a fanciest school with private jet buses, walk-in closets for students, diamond floors, and various unusual activities. Monika reminds the group that saying "yes" doesn't necessarily mean agreement but rather openness to exploring an idea further.
She encourages everyone to validate team members and their ideas, creating a safe environment for brainstorming.
Monika discusses the concept of transforming negative experiences into positive ones, using the example of a Disney jail. She explains how even in the context of a jail, details such as bright colors, comfortable seats, and tasty treats can make a significant difference in perception.
Monika emphasizes the importance of positivity and avoiding negation in brainstorming ideas.
Monika encourages participants to trust one another and build upon each other's ideas, resulting in a creative and engaging story that everyone has contributed to. She shares an exercise where participants take turns adding sentences to build a story together, allowing each person to contribute while building on the previous idea. The goal is to explore different possibilities and work collaboratively as a team.
Monika also discusses using techniques like half-ideas, where an individual presents a concept that intrigues them but isn't sure how to develop it. Her team is encouraged to take a moment and consider these ideas as well.
Additionally, she recommends incorporating this method into regular team building activities, such as weekly meetings.
Monika explains the benefits of improv, such as feeling heard, creative exploration, and unlocking new ideas. She encourages the audience to try this approach in their own lives and businesses. Overall, she stresses the significance of employing subtle maneuvers to ensure every idea feels valued, encouraging creativity and productive discussion.
It is interactive, and the block above says exactly how for this session. Nobody has to speak up who does not want to: the chat and the polls carry most of it, and the questions can come in anonymously.
Success in business is dependent upon collaboration and innovation, and a lack of vulnerability amongst team members causes many new ideas to be squashed before they can flourish. But if team members feel confident that their ideas—both good and bad—will be acknowledged, then a supportive, collaborative, and creative... It is built for a general working audience: no prior knowledge is assumed, and people who already know the subject get the research and the practical side rather than an introduction.
A workshop. The description of this session says so itself: the hour includes exercises and activities that participants do, not only an expert speaking. It still runs live and online, for as many colleagues as you want to invite.
Monika Smith is one of the experts we auditioned ourselves, and we produce every session so we see how each one lands. Participants rate this session 4.0 out of 5, across 35 responses, and rate Monika personally 4.1 out of 5.
It runs 45 min / 15 min: the talk, then live questions. All you do is pick a date. We brief Monika, produce the session, host and moderate it, run the Q&A, and send you the report within an hour of the end.
A team, a department, an employee network or every single employee at once, with no cap and no per-seat price. It runs inside your own Microsoft Teams, Zoom or Google Meet, or on a branded page we build. No integration, no login, no company device or e-mail.
The session is delivered in English, German. You can add high accuracy live subtitles in 8, 16 or 24 languages, so everyone follows in their own. That is a paid option, priced by the number of languages you need.
No, and that is by design. There is nothing to install, nothing to integrate and no connection to your systems, so there is nothing for IT to validate: we join your own Teams, Zoom or Meet as a guest speaker, or we host a page and your people open a link. No software, no accounts, and no data of yours that we can reach. It is why hundreds of companies, among them some of the largest technology and financial firms in the world, were able to start within a day.
We never receive or hold personal data about your employees. Because the session runs in your own environment, attendance and identity stay with you, and what we report back is aggregated: numbers, ratings and survey answers, not people. That is also why IT approval usually takes minutes rather than weeks.
You keep the recording and can share it internally. You also get attendance over time, participant ratings for the content and the speaker, the survey answers, and the topics your people asked for next.
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