Networking lessons improv has taught me

This expert insists that the key to a powerful presentation lies in finding a balance between extroversion and introversion, between talking passionately and listening fanatically. But you must also learn how to be spontaneous.

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The great performance coach Tony Robbins once said, “If you want to get results no one’s getting, you have to do things no one’s doing.”

I took his advice to heart and looked for unusual methods to boost my networking skills. Inhaling blog posts and how-to books wasn’t enough, so I asked my folks in town. An American friend swooned over a guy from San Francisco who had once worked for Cirque de Soleil. She said the man was a creative genius improv teacher who had helped her become a bad-ass communicator.

I was hooked.

But since I didn’t know much about improv, I watched a couple of YouTube videos and saw a bunch of guys and gals acting like young Jim Carrey tripping on illegal substances. I thought, Who are these clowns? Nevertheless, I tried a local two-hour session with my friend in Berlin and my mind was blown.

Below, I reveal three networking lessons I’ve learned from doing improv:

1. Embrace the three-circle strategy

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