I met Kat Koppett at the Applied Improvisation Network World Conference in August, but I’ve actually been a fan of hers for a long time.
Kat is the author of a “bible” in the world of applied improvisation, Training to Imagine: Practical Improvisational Theatre Techniques for Trainers and Managers to Enhance Creativity, Teamwork, Leadership, and Learning.
Kat got into improv rather accidentally. She trained as an actor, and fell in love with improv because, ironically, there were rules for being spontaneous!
(Remind you of anything? Yours truly had to create “rules” in order to free myself of the perfectionist paralysis that was keeping me from doing the creative things I longed to do. “Rules” that ultimately became the 10 Guideposts of my book, The Creative Sandbox Way.)
Plus in improv, unlike in scripted theater, you can play anything. And you get to be writer and director and actor, all at the same time!
I’ve been doing improv for about four and a half years now, and I’ve been telling people for four and a half years that if I could recommend one thing to make a positive impact on your life, your business, your relationships, it would be to take improv classes.
Kat reflected this when she said in our conversation that “improv is the gym for life.”
In other words, improv is the gym for a lot of the skills that individuals and organizations realize they need to help people expand their awareness of their performance and the impact it has, and the range of options they have, so when the choices they make aren’t reaching their objectives, they can make other choices.
Any situation in which you need to collaborate or communicate with other humans, improv is the gym.
#improvisthegym
Listen to our conversation to hear Kat share what it’s like to be in the room during a training, applied improv vs. “purposeless play,” why her book has “the worst title in the world,” and a lot more.
Find Kat online at:
Website: http://koppett.com
Kat’s theater company, MopCo: https://www.mopco.org/
Kat’s new podcast, Dare to Be Human: http://daretobehumanpodcast.com/
Resources:
Something Cool
From Kat:
Oxgord Dog Poop Bags with Clip-on Leash Dispenser
From Melissa:
OXO Good Grips Two-Fold Grater
Enjoy!
Listeners Wanted!
Has the Live Creative Now podcast made a difference in your life? Would you like to be featured on the podcast?
I want to start sharing listener stories, so if you have a story of how listening to the podcast has changed your life for the better in some way — big or small — I want to feature you in a Listener Spotlight.
Here’s how it works:
1. Just log into iTunes and leave a rating and review. (If you don’t know how to do that, you’ll find step-by-step instructions at livecreativenow.com/itunes-review).
2. Then copy and paste what you wrote in your review into an email, and send it to me, along with why you want to be featured in a Listener Spotlight, and how the podcast has made a difference in your life. You can email me at livecreativenow.com/contact.
That’s it!
If I pick you for a Listener Spotlight, we’ll have a relaxed, fun conversation, and the recording of our conversation will be part of a future episode! How cool is that?
Want a creative kick start?
Check out my book!
What would change for you if you could totally revel in the joy of creating? You CAN, with The Creative Sandbox Way!
You’ll learn:
- Melissa’s 10 fool-proof guideposts that have helped thousands get joyfully creating.
- 5 reasons why creative play is good for you, AND for the world (it’s neuroscience, baby!)
- Why “I’m not creative” is always a lie, and how to bust it.
- How to turn creative blocks into friends.
AND you’ll get creating right in the book itself.
“It’s one part field guide, one part creative practice—and I loved it. The Creative Sandbox Way is an adventure packaged as a book.”
~Chris Guillebeau
NYT best-selling author of The Happiness of Pursuit and The $100 Startup
Hear ye, hear ye! This is to serve as official notice that all links to anything for sale, be it books or courses, are likely to be affiliate links. What this means is that if you click through said links and make a purchase, although it won’t affect the price that you pay, a few coins will jangle into my coffers, enabling me to buy a packet of hard gluten-free biscuits to feed myself and my husband for another day, or perhaps a pen with which to create some artwork. Or perhaps they will contribute toward paying a fraction of my web hosting bill, so that this blog and podcast can continue to exist. Thank you kindly for your attention.
Thanks for Listening!
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Now go get creating!
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