Amy Poehler’s Nine Rules for Improv (and life)
- Keep saying yes
- Be a good listener
- Find your team
- Find the game (what is the purpose of this situation)
- Take up space (believing you belong here, advocate for yourself, don’t shrink, be fearless). But ask yourself, “does the scene need you?”
- Can’t be halfway in (life is a parade, you can watch from the sidelines, waiting to join the perfect float, or you can jump in and rock out!).
- Don’t bail on your partners. Everyone remembers, when things are at their worst, the people who scram. Conversely, you are closest to the people that go down with the ship with you.
- Don’t worry about being cool.
- Playing with status. Being aware of status (Who you are in relation to other people) in social or professional situations can be entertaining or elucidating.
