6 www.ctaahq.org Avish Parashar is an improv comedian who recently spoke at the CTAA Tradeshow held Sept. 9-10, 2022. He uses his background as a comedian to teach audiences creativity, innovation and adaptability, and past audiences have included actors, directors, accountants, sales professionals and college students. Avish is also the author of two books, Improvise to Success and Say Yes, And! The following article summarizes some of the material Avish presented at the conference. Life is the ultimate improvisation. Thinking you can carry out every plan you make is an illusion, even though we like to pretend it isn’t. That’s why it is important to think like an improv artist who can take whatever happens and make it work as though the disruption was always part of the plan. I like to play a game with audiences where I start to tell a story. Someone else holds a hotel-style call bell, and I start telling a story. Every time the bell dings, I change the last part of the story to something else. For example: “Two boys had a cat (ding) dog (ding) mouse (ding) emu.” It goes from there. You have to be quick and creative to make it work, and audiences find the process amusing and instructive. What’s the best way to begin thinking like an improv artist? There are three steps: • Start with mindset • Take it one small step at a time • Say “yes, and” even though it makes things harder Start With Mindset The two key elements of the improviser’s mindset are to have fun and be willing to fail. Being playful is an important part of being creative, but it’s hard to be playful if you aren’t having fun. And big success usually involves taking risks. If you aren’t willing to fail, you aren’t likely to succeed. It is hard to say “yes, and” when you are in a “yes, but” mindset. “Yes, and” can invite collaboration. “Yes, but” shuts Applying Improv Techniques to Life in the Rental Industry
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