Two words that have had a monumental impact in my life are: Yes And.
This is something I learned after taking 4 years of improv and comedy writing classes at The Second City Training Center.
The concept is foundational to learning improv and it centers around supporting others by building upon their ideas (not shutting them down.)
Something magical happens when you are standing on stage and you know your cast mates have your back and are there to support you. You are all in it together and you want each other to succeed.
As part of this, it is super important that you become an active listener. It is hard to build upon others ideas if you are in your head thinking about what you are going to say next.
The Yes And concept is super applicable to our business and every day lives.
Think about how often you are having a conversation and someone jumps in with their thought before you are done, or you do it to someone else. When you are looking out for it you’ll notice that it happens non-stop.
By applying the principals of Yes And you come from a mindset of supporting others first. That means when you are having conversations you are actively listening AND you are looking to build upon their ideas.
In a conversation this could be asking a question to keep the conversation going instead of leading with a sentence that begins with “I…”
As you adopt a Yes And mindset and implement it in your business things start to run better because everyone is looking to support each other and a culture of positivity emerges. This sort of culture becomes contagious and can lead to amazing growth.
As an action item, I challenge you to have a conversation today where you actively listen to the other person AND keep it going by asking them another question. When you do let me know how it goes.
Bacon Sports is a sports content & social media marketing agency that turns your audience into raving fans by creating fun and engaging videos, podcasts, and social media content.
