I rarely do open Improvyourbiz workshops. So don’t miss the one I am doing on 27th February 2013 in London. Early bird offer if you book before 26th January. What will you be missing if you fail to attend? This …
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The BBC asked me to talk about doing your best at interviews. On a sunny day I gave them the Four L’s (Hello – these are a few notes, just to jog your memory if you were there, or spark your interest if you weren’t …Neil) Impact: Where does it reside? Why so important? An organisation is a social process. Not a thing, not an entity at all. In scientific terms, an organisation cannot be said to exist at all. Far less be like a machine. An organisation is a series of processes of interactive communications – that’s improv! It is constantly being created through social interactions. “The meaning of a gesture is in the response” George Herbert Mead 1934 Ten Tweaks to Help Your Personal Impact (all beginning with L – hurrah) 1. Logistics 2. Learn: Learn names in advance. ”A man’s name is to him the sweetest and most important sound in the English language.” CARNEGIE Learn about the other person. Become genuinely interested in them. 3. Look: Good eye contact linked to being seen as sincere and friendly. 4, Listen: 5. Link: 6. Let: 7. Lighten: 8. Like 9. Limbs 10. Leave well: This was a step into the relatively unknown for me. Talking seriously about myself and my work. I talk about my first encounters with improv, that has become a life-long love affair. I continue to perform with The Comedy Store Players but nowadays I spend most of my time teaching the skills and drills of improv to help people with their creative and communication skills. I’m finding more and more applications. The future is exciting. Here is something about my past… Neil Mullarkey at TEDx. So Maria Franzoni liked Succeedy Song so much that she asked me to do a festive video for her. Here is the result Christmas of Love. We had fun making it. Those sprouts were fairly unpleasant. And that is real fire, rather near my face. Just released today – April 1st 2011. My alter ego gives his thoughts on the finer points of business analytics. You could learn a lot. Why Thinking is the Enemy of Innovation
I was asked by a newspaper to write about the Secret of Comedy, summed up on one word, explained in 150. Here is what I came up with. What do you think? The Secret of Comedy … is Listening Whatever kind of comedy you are performing – solo or ensemble – you need to listen – to your audience, to your fellow player, to your director, to the writer, and to yourself. Why yourself? Because comedy is about cadence and rhythm. You can’t drift off. Though when writing you need to listen to your unconscious. In front of an audience you really need to sense them. I toured with Eric Sykes ten years ago in “Charley’s Aunt”. He is partially deaf (his spectacles contain no lenses, they’re a hearing aid) yet his timing was razor-sharp. Mostly I do Improv, in which listening is ninety percent of the skill. That surprises many who attend my “Improvyourbiz” workshops. It’s not about generating lots of stuff yourself. It’s about using what is given you by others, whether or not you expect it or “like” it. So who is the best listener I have ever worked with? Mike Myers. Ten years ago I did a show called All That Mullarkey, about how I have suffered with my silly name. Here is the overture It was recorded by a very clever person multi-tracking me and a few friends. I think it’s out of copyright so I could tell you who but it might harm his/her career as a serious musician. I spent six days in the Big Apple. It was chance to catch up with some chums, eat some delicious food and be part of a great show at Webster Hall on June 2nd with Stephen Frost, Andy Smart, Steve Steen and special guests Eddie Izzard and Mike Myers. I will be writing more about that soon. With pics. Last week I did my improv workshops for three different organizations. This is what I do much of the time. I love it. I had a thought today about why I feel so comfortable spreading the message. Improv is about listening. It explicitly recognises that we have different perceptions but that we can still work together. In fact, diversity feeds the collaborative process. To misquote Jean-Paul Sartre, Life is Other People. Accepting that means there could be much more creativity and fun in the world. Every time I run a workshop I feel there might just be a little more accepting going in the world, amidst the laughter. That makes me happy, in a way that showbusiness never really did. The thing is, the feeling seems to be mutual. By the way, I regard the Comedy Store Players as outside proper showbusiness. We are in a parallel world, quietly amusing ourselves and 800 people a week, without frightening any horses. So I have found my thang. I wonder if it is possible for everyone, no matter how late, to find their true calling. The strange (or not so strange) thing is, that I feel I receive much more appreciation for doing something I really love. BBC Radio recently covered my work. With a complete lack of modesty, false or otherwise, I will share feedback from those three workshops. Though I acknowledge my enormous debt to those giants upon whose shoulders I stand – the people who developed improv (most especially Viola Spolin and Keith Johnstone) and those who taught it to me. But more of that anon. “Neil Mullarkey delivered (yet another) simply stunning seminar, using his immense experience and knowledge of Improv and its applications in commerce to delight all present. His charm, wit and graceful delivery were infectious; every delegate was captivated, enraptured, enthused and keen to participate, and throughout the rest of our conference the techniques (and games) that Neil introduced were enthusiastically practised in every corner. It’s rare to find a combination of commercial value and fantastic entertainment, but Neil delivers both these values to an extraordinary degree. Brilliant!” RSA (Recruitment agency for interims) “Thank you, thank you and thank you for your brilliant presentation and control of the crowd at last week’s interim event. The feedback has been excellent and it is clear that people found your slot insightful, fun, engaging and thought-provoking. Thanks again – you were superb.” “Neil’s presentation gave me a lot of insights into controlling my verbal communication and listening skills” “Thank you so very, very much for last night. You were fantastic and have really given our guests a few things to think about! One person has made a note on their feedback form to mark your slot as a ‘6 out of 5’!” London Business Forum |
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