The Best Improv Classes In Annapolis

There's a really great improv exercise that I often use to address listening when working with groups focused on developing sales skills. I used it recently in Annapolis for a team of about twenty remote inside sales reps who were convening in the seaside city to meet their new Director of Sales. I was fortunate to know their new director from his previous role and he requested Silent Speaker.

Silent Speaker calls for a two-person scene in which one of the two actors does not speak. Even though only one actor speaks, both are allotted the same amount of time to speak. This is controlled by the speaking actor who must learn to tame their impulse to keep speaking if they are to be successful.

The instructor should strictly enforce the division of speaking time by reminding the speaker that even in silence their scene partner communicating important information. You can also work with the other actor in the scene on nonverbal communication skills, but I tend not to in corporate settings. There the focus tends to be on growing comfortable with silence.

What is true in an improv scene is also true in a sales discussion. I have rule in sales, that I never contribute more than 50% of the conversation. If I think I'm getting close to going over, I just close my mouth and listen.

Any time we over speak we are trying to control something. But you can never control more than 50% of a comedy scene or of a sales process. Watching and participating in the exercise live, it becomes very clear tat this axiom is true.

I'll often run this exercise en masse, meaning I'll split the room into pairs and ask everyone to find a quiet corner or area they can work in. Then I'll run reps concurrently so that participants get multiple experiences of sitting in silence to really build that muscle.