Applying the rules of improv comedy to communication - improving your communication skills, and thus your career.

1. Yes, and!
HOW LESSONS FROM IMPROV COMEDY CAN HELP YOUR
DEVELOPMENT CAREER

3. How many developers
does it take to change
a light bulb?

4. Back to my box…

5. Who am I?
Mike Hagesfeld - @mhagesfeld
Aztek Web – http://www.aztekweb.com -
@Aztekweb
.Net developer – 14 years
Second City – http://www.secondcity.com
Cleveland Training Center - 2000
Something Dada Improvisational Theater –
http://www.somethingdada.com
Since 2001

6. What is improv comedy?

7. What is improv comedy?

8. What is improv comedy?

9. What is improv comedy?

10. What is improv comedy?
Columbus improv:
Columbus Unscripted
http://www.columbusunscripted.com/
Full Frontal Nudity (Mad Lab)
http://www.madlab.net/improv.html
Hashtag Comedy (no, not Jimmy Fallon)
http://www.hashtagcomedy.com/
Improv Wars Columbus
http://www.improvwarscolumbus.com/

11. Why do I care, Mike?

12. Why do I care, Mike?

13. Why do I care, Mike?
=

14. Why do I care, Mike?
=

15. Improv is Communication

16. Improv is Communication

17. But I’m not funny, Mike

18. But I’m not funny, Mike
EVERYTHING
IS
COMMUNICATION

19. Where and When Will I Use This?

20. Where and When Will I Use This?
ALWAYS!

21. Where and When Will I Use This?
ALWAYS!
CONSTANTLY!

22. Where and When Will I Use This?
ALWAYS!
CONSTANTLY!
EVERYWHERE!

23. Where and When Will I Use This?
ALWAYS!
CONSTANTLY!
EVERYWHERE!
EVERYTHING IS COMMUNICATION!

24. OK, you win…but How…?

25. OK, you win…but How…?
Ah, there’s the rub…

26. The Rules

28. YES!
Who doesn’t like to be agreed with?
You’re on my team
You see where I’m coming from
You’re my friend

29. Start in Your Yes-Space
Every communication has a shared goal
Keep this in mind, and move towards it

30. Buying a car
OH PLEASE GOD NO….

31. Buying a car
Buyer
Wants to get the right car
Wants to get the options
they want
Wants a good warranty
Wants the best price
Needs approval from
spouse
Dealer
Wants to meet quota – end of
month
Wants to move specific cars
Wants to move cars on the lot
Wants to make a huge
commission
Wants to get it over with to
get to next sale

32. Buying a car
Buyer
Wants to get the right car
Wants to get the options
they want
Wants a good warranty
Wants the best price
Needs approval from
spouse
Dealer
Wants to meet quota – end of
month
Wants to move specific cars
Wants to move cars on the lot
Wants to make a huge
commission
Wants to get it over with to
get to next sale
THEY BOTH WANT A SALE TO
GET DONE

33. And!
But, don’t just
be a “yes”
person…

34. ADD something…
How we can do it…
Another thing we can do…
An example of something similar you’ve done
before…
A possible problem…
…WITH a possible solution!
SOMETHING relevant

36. NEVER negate
 FIND the good, the agreement
 Every bad idea has a good kernel…and if
not, make one up.
 There’s a reason someone proposes
something…find it, and “yes, and” THAT

38. Buying a car
Buyer – dad, 3 kids, married
◦Wants a red SUV
◦Priced it out wants it for
$40K with DVD player
◦Wants to come back with
wife for final decision
Dealer
◦End of month – needs to
move cars and fast
◦Sold last SUV on the lot
yesterday
◦Gets bonus if they close a
deal today

39. Buying a car
Buyer – dad, 3 kids, married
◦ Wants a red SUV
Dealer

40. Buying a car
Buyer – dad, 3 kids, married
◦ Wants a red SUV
Dealer
◦ YES - need a large car for your family
◦ AND no SUV currently BUT minivan
styling and drive has drastically improved
◦ AND full package with DVD + rear-view
camera = $37K

41. Buying a car
Buyer – dad, 3 kids, married
◦ Wants a red SUV
◦ OK, I’ll take this home and discuss
with my wife, come back tomorrow
Dealer
◦ YES - need a large car for your family
◦ AND no SUV currently BUT minivan
styling and drive has drastically improved
◦ AND full package with DVD + rear-view
camera = $37K

42. Buying a car
Buyer – dad, 3 kids, married
◦ Wants a red SUV
◦ OK, I’ll take this home and discuss
with my wife, come back tomorrow
Dealer
◦ YES - need a large car for your family
◦ AND no SUV currently BUT minivan
styling and drive has drastically improved
◦ AND full package with DVD + rear-view
camera = $37K
◦ YES - major decision you wouldn’t make
alone
◦ AND use my office, I’ll wait
◦ AND take it tonight = $36K

43. Buying a car
Buyer – dad, 3 kids, married
◦ Wants a red SUV
◦ OK, I’ll take this home and discuss
with my wife, come back tomorrow
◦Done
Dealer
◦ YES - need a large car for your family
◦ AND no SUV currently BUT minivan
styling and drive has drastically improved
◦ AND full package with DVD + rear-view
camera = $37K
◦ YES - major decision you wouldn’t make
alone
◦ AND use my office, I’ll wait
◦ AND take it tonight = $36K

44. Buying a car
Buyer – dad, 3 kids, married
◦ Wants a red SUV
◦ OK, I’ll take this home and discuss
with my wife, come back tomorrow
◦ Done.
Dealer
◦ Yes, I can see you’d need a large car for
your family, AND while we don’t have an
SUV currently, they have made drastic
improvements in minivan styling and
drive AND with the full package with DVD
AND rear-view camera it prices at $37K
◦ Yes, of course this is a major decision and
one you wouldn’t make alone, AND you
can use my office while I wait as long as
you need to discuss it AND if you guys
take it I can go down to $36K
Both sides wanted to get a car sold.
The car got sold.

45. Can you make the logo…

46. Can you make the logo…
BIGGER?!!?

47.  Establishing identity is
key to defining your
brand.
YES!
Can you make the logo…BIGGER?!?!

48.  Establishing identity is
key to defining your
brand.
 Set the logo off with
ample whitespace to
draw attention on it’s
own
 Gives the gravitas of
subtlety.
AND!
Can you make the logo…BIGGER?!?!

49. For our safety supply site….

50. We want a fun box! With hangman!
For our safety supply site….

51. We want a fun box! With hangman!
For our safety supply site….
 People waste time distracting
themselves
 Your product selection is rather
dry
YES!

52.  People waste time distracting
themselves
 Your product selection is rather
dry
 Use cleverly titled blog posts
 direct relevance to your
work
 draw people’s attention
 driving sales
 maximizing visitor utility
 they can crush candy on a site
made for that
AND!
We want a fun box! With hangman!
For our safety supply site….

53. Details
IT’S ALL IN THEM

54. Last night…

55. Last night…
I HAD PIZZA
oIt was deep dish
opepperoni and sausage
oIt was good

56. Last night…
I HAD PIZZA
oIt was deep dish
opepperoni and sausage
oIt was good
I HAD ADRIATICO’S PIZZA
oThick, rich crust
oSauce – spicy, not
overpowering
oGIANT pepperonis
oHomemade sausage, seeds
and all

57. We want to use

58. A rotator on the homepage

59. So we can show

60. Everything about our site

61. In one place

62. The response
NO
Don’t do it.
It’s a bad idea.
People don’t use
them.

63. The response
NO
Don’t do it.
It’s a bad idea.
People don’t use
them.
YES, AND!
YES - communicate the many aspects of
your site
AND - Eric Runyon: ND.edu, 84% of
rotator clicks on slide #1, others equally
distributed
AND people use mobile more, used to
scrolling
same goal more effectively with parallax and
properly placed links*Source: http://erikrunyon.com/2013/01/carousel-stats/

64. Questions
THEY’RE A GOOD THING

67. If questions are so bad…

68. If questions are so bad…
…why are they good?

69. So why?
In improv, you’re responsible for the And.
In everyday communication, you may need to help
your partner find the And.
Questions aren’t inherently bad, but there are bad
questions

70. Questions
BAD
Showing off, not trying to get
info
Hidden agenda – you already
know the answer
Not working towards the And

71. Questions
BAD
Showing off, not trying to get
info
Hidden agenda – you already
know the answer
Not working towards the And
GOOD
Educated – filling in what you
couldn’t find, not asking b/c
you’re not prepared
New perspective – questions
THEY haven’t thought of
Helping them get to the And

72. Good Questions
Which persona would be using this new feature?

73. Good Questions
Which persona would be using this new feature?
Would we be able to apply this new technology to this?

74. Good Questions
Which persona would be using this new feature?
Would we be able to apply this new technology to this?
Did you talk to Person X about the time they did this?

75. Good Questions
Which persona would be using this new feature?
Would we be able to apply this new technology to this?
Did you talk to Person X about the time they did this?
How did you come to this conclusion?

76. Summary
Yes! Start in a Yes-Space, prepared to find the agreement

77. Summary
Yes! Start in a Yes-Space, prepared to find the agreement
AND! Add something to the communication. Be prepared.

78. Summary
Yes! Start in a Yes-Space, prepared to find the agreement
AND! Add something to the communication. Be prepared.
Don’t negate – There’s something good in everything. Find
it, and “yes and” that.

79. Summary
Yes! Start in a Yes-Space, prepared to find the agreement
AND! Add something to the communication. Be prepared.
Don’t negate – There’s something good in everything. Find
it, and “yes and” that.
Details, details, details – Make it clear, eliminate the
ambiguity

80. Summary
Yes! Start in a Yes-Space, prepared to find the agreement
AND! Add something to the communication. Be prepared.
Don’t negate – There’s something good in everything. Find
it, and “yes and” that.
Details, details, details – Make it clear, eliminate the
ambiguity
Ask good questions – Help everyone to find the And

81. Summary
Yes! Start in a Yes-Space, prepared to find the agreement
AND! Add something to the communication. Be prepared.
Don’t negate – There’s something good in everything. Find
it, and “yes and” that.
Details, details, details – Make it clear, eliminate the
ambiguity
Ask good questions – Help everyone to find the And
Support local improv, buy speakers beer