Kymberlee: It's our final episode in Talking Technique.
Alan: So, why don't you...
Kymberlee: Embrace experimenting?
Experimenting is such an incredible way to look at anything you're going to do, because here's the thing, if you treat something as an experiment, one of two things can happen: It will either be a huge success, or it won't be a success (it may be a failure) but you'll have a great story to tell.
Alan: I think we all shy away from taking risks. And experimenting is a way to consider taking the risk in a way that you can see a benefit from it. If you see it as an experiment, you're going to try it, see if it comes out. If it works well or not. And then you can make change based on those results. It's a lot easier to go ahead and take the risk of another way of presenting your talk.
Kymberlee: For example you may want to do a video series just like this to train your audience on something that you know like the back of your hand. But you're not sure if it's going to work, or how long it should be, or how many episodes, or if you want to commit to the year. All of these things. All of that can stop you right in your tracks. And if you instead position it in your brain as an experiment, you're going to try it. You'll try 10 episodes, or 50 episodes, and then reevaluate.
Alan: And you can be assured when you try this sort of different environment, your usual way of doing something isn't going to work. You have to experiment, you have to try something new. Whether that's trying a character or a different way of holding your body, or whole new choreography. All the elements that we talk about all the time with speaking, this is chance to experiment. Think about experimenting to see how well it works.
Kymberlee: I experimented with improv. As a speaker I heard that improv could probably help my speaking a little bit. So I thought this scares me, this terrifies me, let's treat it as an experiment. I'm going to try one class and see what happens.
Alan: How many years?
Kymberlee: And now, three years later, this guy ... I mean now improv is my life. I think about it every day all day. I train on it, we perform in it. Improv has become part of who I am, and it all started with an experiment.
Alan: If you're going to pull that card, I'm going to say that I've been training improv a long time, but I've never been in front of the camera or trained speakers, until this woman came into my life, and made me experiment and step out of my comfort zone and see what I could do, and that I actually had something to offer. And how to offer it.
Kymberlee: So, why don't you treat things as an experiment? Allow yourself the room to do what scares you, and then see what happens.
Alan: Exactly. So, why don't you?
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Alan: I remember when you walked in. You came and you ... did you call me? You might have called me in advance.
Kymberlee: Oh, yes, I called you.
Alan: It followed a very typical thing. I joke about this all the time. A woman calls, says her partner, boyfriend, husband is really funny and wants to bring them to improv.
Kymberlee: That's not what I said.
Kymberlee: So, here's how my first experience with improv went, as an experiment. I understood that improv could help my speaking ability, so I did research, as you do, and looked up every single improv school I could possibly go to. And I found Santa Barbara Improv. And I called Alan, had a long, lengthy discussion with him, lots of questions of course. And I thought okay, how can I get my husband and our best friend to come with us? So it wasn't just me, no, I didn't want to be by myself at my first improv. So, I told them okay, don't plan anything for this particular Wednesday night. And as the days went on, they asked, "Well what are we doing?" And I said, "Don't worry about it, surprise, it's going to be fun."
Kymberlee: So, I gathered them in the car, we walk into the improv class, and Alan greets them at the door and says, "Oh, hi, you must be here for improv." And their eyes went like this, I remember that. I was like, "Yes, yes, this is what we're doing."
Alan: I remember it.
