Tell me more - splash your talks with colour
- Paul Speirs
- May 12
- 2 min read
Welcome, welcome and welcome
“Tell me more about orphan soup.”
The Director’s voice cut through the stage lights. London was burning, it's 1666 after all, and the improvisers on stage had just suggested dousing the flames with Orphan Soup.
"But what about the orphans!" you could feel the audiences panicked thoughts...
That nudge forced a "zoom-in." For a moment, this wholly improvised play jumped into a vivid, ridiculous detail of the orphan soup-house that didn't derail the story; it added fuel to the fire.
This Director's edit is a good old improv trick. They are always looking for a shiny golden thread that can be pulled. Something to be teased. Something that deserves a little bit of extra attention.
And it can be the same in your presentations, these colourful little 'pop-ups' are your Gold Threads.
Let's be honest, a lot of high-level overview-type-talks often feel like a "desert of grey" that are so dry the audience are parched for something to brighten them up.
And by dropping into a time-boxed detail, you provide a hook for them to latch onto. Something they can relate to. You stop them from interpreting the dry-data and start letting them experience it.
As Mark Twain famously noted:
“The difference between the almost right word and the right word is the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.”
Next time you're planning a talk or presentation, don't just give a generic update. Look for the lightning.
All the best,
Paul n Vic
#AppliedImprovisation #YesAnd #BusinessInPlay #BusinessSkills #colouryourtalks #AgilityinBusiness #AdaptabilityQuotient #PositiveEnergy #PlayfulSolutions #throughlines
If you have a work problem to fix and you want to hear how applied improvisation can support you, email us at hello@improvinc.co.uk. We’d love to meet you! All chemistry calls are free.
Colour / Move-On
Aim: To hone storytelling instincts.
Outcome: The exploration and sharing of colourful details, reminding us that we're not taking our audience on a journey to punish them but to delight them.
How it works: a 2 player activity. Give Player 1 a starting point (the edge of a forest, sunset on a beach, a castle wall...). Player 1 will tell the story as it occurs to them in short sentences, allowing the listener, Player 2, to interject.
The listener will either say 'colour' or 'move on', as the story either grabs them and they want more information or they're impatient to move on to get further into the action.
It's a constant zoom-in and zoom-out of focus and you get to see what's delightful for the audience.
Reflections: The listener's job is to be really truthful. What they really want to hear or know about rather than what they think 'good storytelling' should be. It's immediately exposition, narrative and what the audience cares about.
Credit to Kat Koppett, for the original thought
