Episode 113 - Moving Improv workshops online by thinking on your feet with Jen Oleniczak Brown
I hope you’re keeping safe, eating a variety of food, getting some movement into your day while we navigate this uncertainty and complexity.
This week, I’m keeping the content fresh again and talking to a person who wrote the book about adapting to change, it’s called “Think on your feet: Tips and Tricks to Improve Your Communication Skills on the Job”, this book was recently featured at Inc. Magazine as the first of 20 Books That Will Kick Off 2020 On the Right Foot.
So appropriate for a time like this, when all of us are having to adapt to new news + ways of working, every moment.
In this interview we talk through Jen’s pivot into online offerings and how she’s running improv workshops using Zoom, she shares how improv comedy and a background in acting has helped shape her career, using an improv phrase, “yes and” instead of ‘yes but’ to keep conversation going in workshops, how to engage in small talk at networking events + that moment before a workshop, when a few participants have arrived early.
About today’s guest: Jen Brown
Jen Oleniczak Brown is the founder of The Engaging Educator (EE), a women- owned and operated company dedicated to helping people find their unapologetic, authentic and best voice, communication style and self through improv-based education. Since 2012, EE has served over 50,000 students, working with such companies as Viacom, Food Network, The New York Times, Saks Fifth Avenue and CBS. EE is based out of NYC, LA, SF and Winston Salem, NC.
Jen’s work can be found in publications including Bustle, Fast Company, Forbes, Moneyish and others. Aside from her entrepreneurial endeavors, Jen has done three TEDx talks on the power of improv, including one TEDxWomen on uplifting and elevating women. A firm believer in the idea that Yes, And can change the world – so firm it’s tattooed on her arm, Jen’s personal mission is to empower as many women as possible to stop playing small and know their incredible supernova powers. She currently lives in Winston Salem, NC with her husband Alex, dog Drumstick, and about two-dozen houseplants.
Resouces mentioned in this episode:
Twitter: @JenOleniczak
Instagram: @yesandjenbrown
Episode sponsor: Go Live (Before You Go Live)
With the push for our face-to-face workshops and training events to be moved to a virtual setting, some of us may be a little out of practice with facilitating online experiences.
If you’d like to “go live, before you go live”, Leanne Hughes from the First Time Facilitator podcast is organising an opportunity for peers to practice sharing screens, putting out polls, using interactive instructions (“raise your hands!”), responding to the chat and more; in a safe training environment.
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Continue the conversation when the show is over by joining my free Facebook group called The Flipchart. We have over 730 facilitators, from all over the world, sharing ideas and asking questions, it’s a fun and supportive community.
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