How Improv Makes You More Confident and Less Anxious…

Scroll down for a transcription of this episode.

Just 20 minutes of improv theater can foster creativity and confidence, and help with anxiety, depression, and your ability to tolerate uncertainty.

Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/4t9rjj58
Episode summary:

Deema Altaher was never one for the spotlight. So when her husband signed them up for improv classes, she had no idea what to expect. And yet after one class, Deema was hooked. From active listening games to “yes, and” prompts, she found that improv exercises shifted the way she connected with other people, and eased her nerves as she navigated all the uncomfortable parts of starting a new job. She was also inspired to “say yes” to new life opportunities. In fact, an emerging science shows that improv can benefit many people in terms of fostering greater comfort with new situations, inspiring creativity, lifting your mood, and even easing anxiety and depression. Professor Peter Felsman is a social scientist and improviser himself who has tested this spontaneous style of theater in the lab. Felsman explains how improv might cause these improvements, and others, like lessening social anxiety in children.
Try Improv On Your Own:

11 Easy Improv Games for Beginners – https://tinyurl.com/24xrre2y
Deema Altaher is an engineer who recently moved back to the United States from the United Arab Emirates.
Peter Felsman is a professor of social work at Northern Michigan University who specializes in the intersection between mindfulness, psychology and the arts.

Today’s guests:

Learn more about Peter Felsman’s work: https://tinyurl.com/5h47wsxs
Resources from The Greater Good Science Center:

Seven Ways to Cope with Uncertainty: https://tinyurl.com/4zh3m36e

Embracing Discomfort Can Help You Grow: https://tinyurl.com/5ftvvce3

The Power of Performance: https://tinyurl.com/3mc78yzb

What Mel Brooks Can Teach Us about “Group Flow”: https://tinyurl.com/2rxmrzhn
More Resources on Improv

NPR – The rules of improv can make you funnier. They can also make you more confident: https://tinyurl.com/2wvpk53j

Harvard Gazette – For more than just laughs: https://tinyurl.com/2zzxacpu

TED – How Improv Comedy Improves Mental Health: https://tinyurl.com/5a8vpt67
What helps you destress and cope with big changes? Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu or use the hashtag #happinesspod.

Help us share The Science of Happiness!

Rate us on Spotify and share this link with someone who might like the show: https://tinyurl.com/wnfb99cy

Transcript:

Deema Altaher: I was feeling a little nervous about my upcoming week at this new job.

And I felt a lot of pressure on myself and a little bit less confidence than I usually did of myself of well, I’m no longer the expert in the room. I’m a little bit hesitant to ask for help because then how does that reflect on me? Will they think like, oh no, we hired the wrong person. She asks way too many questions. So I would feel a little bit reluctant to kinda open myself up to that and be vulnerable. And each day was just something, something different. Like a sort of a different metaphorical fire.

I was hoping for something to take my mind off of those feelings and my husband Mustafa found that a local comedy theater in Oakland called All Out Comedy was offering these improv sampler classes. And by the end of it, I was pretty hooked.

Dacher Keltner: Moving to a new city, starting a new job, and struggling with all the nerves that go along with that — It’s a feeling I think most of us can relate to.

But what if there was something that science had shown to help us feel more comfortable with new situations, and maybe even boost our social skills? An emerging body of research shows that practicing the rules of improv comedy can lift your mood, make you more comfortable with uncertainty, and it can even reduce anxiety – especially social anxiety.

Welcome to The Science of Happiness, I’m Dacher Keltner.

Today we’ll dive into the principles of improv and how it can impact our lives. We’ll also learn what the science says about how it works.

Peter Felsman: The most important rule of improv is just take care of your scene partner, make your scene partner look good. If everyone is taking care of each other, then there’s less of a burden to worry about yourself, because you can trust that you’ll be taken care of.

Dacher Keltner: And improv doesn’t have to be a performance you do on stage or in a class you pay for, it can be as simple as goofing around with a friend, making up a story together.

More, after this break.

Welcome to The Science of Happiness, I’m Dacher Keltner.

Our guest today, Deema Altaher uprooted her life to move from Abu Dhabi to Oakland, California to start a new job, and new life with her husband.

She was struggling – until she stumbled upon improv comedy.

Deema joins us to share how improv helped her grow into her new situation and relationships.

Deema, welcome.

Deema Altaher: Thank you so much, Dacher, for having me.

Dacher Keltner: I wanted to ask you, and you know, for somebody like me who’s a little bit leery of acting and being on stage I’m curious what was going on in your life when you made that decision? Like, “I’m gonna do improv.”

Deema Altaher: It was a little bit of a spontaneous moment because I think if I had thought too much about the decision to do improv, I would’ve talked myself out of it.

I’m an engineer. I don’t like, I don’t like public speaking very much. I never did like really drama class or anything in school, but I thought it would be just something fun and kind of silly to do. And I said, okay. It’s just one class you know, just a couple hours and you go and see what it’s like. And by the end of it, I was pretty hooked and we signed up for multiple weeks.

Dacher Keltner: Nice! Walk me through the first class and what did you guys do and how were you feeling? Were you, did you have — stagefright or nervous butterflies in your stomach?

Deema Altaher: Yeah so it started out with just your basic, like introduce yourself with a name and a pose. And then everyone else copies that. And at first you’re very much in your head about, oh gosh, how am I gonna say my name? Which is such a normal thing to say. And what kind of pose are you gonna come up with? But seeing everyone else copy it and mirror it back to you is really an interesting like feeling because no matter what you do, they have to also copy it and do it so you feel supported, you feel seen. That’s a really nice feeling. I think you get out of improv is, you feel like like someone understands you and gets you, even if they’re just repeating your name and doing a little pose that represents you. It gives you a little bit more confidence in being yourself.

The owner of the theater was the one who was doing the sort of introductory class and I think she had put it in a really interesting way. She related it to the Karate Kid where she’s like, I’m gonna Mr. Miyagi you guys, and I’m going to give you little games and different things and kind of introduce you to concepts of improv. And then by the end of it you’ll realize you actually have been practicing these little practices all along —

Dacher Keltner: No way.

Deema Altaher: — In a way that’ll help you prepare to feel, you know, confident on the stage as best you can be.

Dacher Keltner: Can you give an example of that?

Deema Altaher: I will reflect on something that was like a recent exercise where each person stands sort of at the end of each corner of the stage —

Improv Class: Okay. Suggestions, Sailing. Captain. I think I spot land. Oh my God. We’ve been here for like seven days in the middle of the ocean, yeah. Oh my god.

Deema Altaher: And that point of the exercise is you take a step closer every time you establish a sort of relationship or connection with the other character.

Dacher Keltner: Wow.

Deema Altaher: Or the other person.

Improv Class: That’s crazy seven days from strangers to lovers to — we moved really fast. That’s what being stranded at sea will do to you. I know. Any two people stranded at sea together. Eventually they’ll think to themselves, is Warner Brothers a good company? And I’ve been asking myself that over and over. Because like, I think they may make a movie out of this. I mean, it may or may not be a good company, but you are a good company.

Deema Altaher: It really helps, I think, with your communication, your ability to like connect with people. it made me feel like, okay, if I just view my new colleagues at work or my new friends, as other people that I’m just trying to take a step forward and make some kind of connection or some kind of relationship between us, then that’s just going to bring us, one step closer to accomplishing some kind of goal. Getting to know each other better or getting to finish a project successfully. Or making the scene in improv class happen.

Dacher Keltner: Yeah. What a lesson to embody and to think through the lessons of getting closer and trusting.

Deema Altaher: I think it really was helpful to sort of have this weekly grounding

practice. To be able to feel like there’s some exercises that I can learn from the class and kind of take with me and carry me through the rest of the week. Until I get to the next class.

Dacher Keltner: Can you give an example of that? Like one exercise that suddenly helped you during the course of the week?

Deema Altaher: Yeah, I would say finding ways to do like active listening, telling a story one word at a time as we go around the circle. And so you’re trying to prepare, what am I gonna say that’s gonna be clever or funny or could fit in the story. But you can’t get too in your head about, oh, I have to say something clever or funny because you have to be paying attention to what’s going on in the story. By the time it gets to your turn, the funny thing that you were gonna say probably doesn’t apply anymore.

And now you’re — you just have to focus on what is the person right before me saying, and how can I add to that? How can I make sure that the story keeps going? Even if I’m just going to, you know, say the word “and,” And it, yeah, it really taught me, especially like in a new job, in a new environment to like, listen, see what things I can pick up and learn. It’s a practice, it’s a skill. It’s something to actively work on and be really intentional with.

Deema Altaher: I mean, those are profound lessons to gain in, in learning how to actively listen and adapt to people’s always changing minds, you know, and that exercise you described.

And that aligns with so many of the findings that when you study people who do improv, they get more creative in their thinking. They feel more present and positive in their moods. They can handle the changes of life a little bit more effectively.

I’m getting a sense that as this course really developed in your participation in it developed, you know, Deema, that there’s this philosophy to improv that you were really starting to embody and to take to your work and your friendships and romantic partnerships and the like. Have you had experiences where you’re in a social interaction at work or with your husband or friend and you’re like, wow, that changed, that interaction because of what I learned from these exercises in improv?

Deema Altaher: If you look at improv in these exercises, each thing I’m doing is a gift to contribute to the scene, to this relationship that I’m establishing between these two characters. To establish some kind of story or connection. If you look at that, even outside of the theater you can look at, okay, what I’m contributing to my relationships with my friends, my family, my work colleagues even if I don’t feel a hundred percent confident in it, I have to just say, well, I’m putting something out there. It’s going to be a —

Dacher Keltner: And speaking mind.

Deema Altaher: —Yeah. It’s a gift. Right. And the other person, I can’t control how they’re gonna react, how they’re gonna receive it, but it’s up to them to receive it and respond in kind with their own gift.

Being open to new opportunities and new experiences I think is one of the things that improv has given me. There’s a big philosophy around saying “yes and.” So you have to say yes to what the other person is saying in that moment. And then you also have to say, and, like, what can I contribute? What can I bring to this experience, to this idea.

And I think it’s really interesting because you don’t realize in your day-to-day life, sometimes you say no to a lot of things or no to a lot of opportunities or talk yourself out of it. No, I can’t really do that. That’s not really me. You know, try saying more yes and to opportunities.

You knowI’m not really much of an outdoors person. Coming out to California, everyone goes on hikes and I say, okay, yes, yes I am. I’ll go on hikes. Yes, and I’ll be there with the snacks and I’ll be there with the fun conversation —

Dacher Keltner: — And the games.

Deema Altaher: And the games!

I even have taken from improv class, kind of some of the games that we’ve done and I’ve played it —

Dacher Keltner: Like what?

Deema Altaher: — With friends and family.

I think even a game as simple as telling a story one word at a time. You don’t need any tools. You just sit in a circle with a few other people and see where it goes. Make it funny, make it dramatic. Make it whatever you want and it’s a fun little exercise. You could do it in the car, pass the time on a road trip. You can do it, you know, wherever at a restaurant instead of staring at your phones individually. And see if it, like, sparks any kind of conversation. Any, anything like that. Because all it takes is just listening to each other and contributing to the conversation. And it just allows you to be like in the present moment with your friends, with your family. With whoever it is you’re trying to connect to.

Dacher Keltner: So how have things changed at work?

Deema Altaher: I think it really allowed me to kinda lose that sense of ego maybe that I, would have where before I was very much feeling like I was established as an expert in my very specific field. Now I feel a lot more comfortable with expressing, you know, actually, I don’t know what this subject is. Could you elaborate on this thing?

You can ask for help. You can lean on your castmates, your, your supporting cast. And if you view life that way and or work that way, it can, it can make it a little bit easier to learn new things.

Being a little bit more vulnerable at work has, I think really helped me because being able to take that initiative and show that I am making an effort to get to, like a solution is, a lot better than sort of suffering in silence like I may have been at the beginning.

And I feel definitely a deeper connection with my coworkers because we’re all, you know, working towards the same thing.

Dacher Keltner: Important lessons. Well, Deema thanks for being on our show.

Deema Altaher: Thank you so much, Dacher for having me.

Dacher Keltner: It’s amazing to me that something that seems like a fun extracurricular activity can have so many powerful benefits.

Peter Felsman: Not being able to tolerate uncertainty predicts and maintains anxiety and depression. And improv to me seems like it could help uncertainty be something that we delight in even more than tolerate.

Dacher Keltner: Do you know someone who may want to try out improv – maybe even try it with you? Share this episode with them now, during this sponsor break.

Welcome back to The Science of Happiness, I’m Dacher Keltner.

We’ve been talking about improv theater and the surprising ways it can affect so many important aspects of our lives for the better.

Doing improv can sharpen our ability to be flexible, act with conviction and be truly present in the moment.

Peter Felsman: All the same skills that my psychology professors were like, you know, we teach mindfulness for these reasons.

Dacher Keltner: Peter Felsman is a professor of Social Work at Northern Michigan University, and he loves doing improv.

He wanted to test the overlap between improv and mindfulness, so he brought 131 undergrads into the lab to try some improv games.

Peter Felsman: They did things like one word at a time story.

Dacher Keltner: Plus six other games.

Peter Felsman: I think some definitely, there were some moments of awkwardness and also, moments of joy and surprise and delight, and I think that is common in most improv experiences.

Dacher Keltner: Before they started the games, everyone rated their mood, and also their uncertainty tolerance — the ability to withstand not knowing what’s going to happen next.

Peter Felsman: So not being able to tolerate uncertainty predicts and maintains anxiety and depression mainly through avoidance. So, for example, thinking, I’m not gonna have fun at that party, and then not going to the party denies you the opportunity to have a corrective experience.

Dacher Keltner: Even though these students were all new to improv, overall, they reported feeling better after doing it.

And in a follow-up survey, they agreed more with statements like:

Peter Felsman: I like to try things out, even if nothing comes of it and I like change and excitement.

So in this study, we found that improv led to improved uncertainty tolerance relative to not improvising.

Dacher Keltner: Felsman’s other studies show that improv may also help kids with social anxiety.

Peter Felsman: We looked at adolescents. Those who screened positive for social phobia at the beginning of the program, we saw significant reductions over the course of participating in the improv program.

Dacher Keltner: Felsman believes this may have something to do with the core philosophy of improv: To always take care of your scene partner and make whatever goofy thing they’re doing work, by saying “yes, and” to it.

Peter Felsman: If everyone is taking care of each other, there’s less of a burden to worry about yourself, because you can trust that you’ll be taken care of.

Dacher Keltner: So what can you do if you want to give improv a try, but you can’t join a beginner’s class, like Deema did?

Peter Felsman: You just need people to play with. There are a lot of great resources on doing improv, there are lots of videos describing improv. But I think the most important thing is to find someone you want to play with and play with them and just try out different games and exercises and structures. And just have fun.

Dacher Keltner: Another thing that can help bring a smile to your face is reflecting on funny moments from your own life. That’s what next week’s Science of Happiness episode is all about.

Josh Johnson: I think that there’s a need and a seeking for people to laugh even when they don’t know that they’re actively seeking it.

Sandra Manninen: What is the neurobiology behind social laughter and kind of laughter itself?

Dacher Keltner: Have you ever tried improv, if so, what did it bring you? If not, are you curious about trying it now? We’ve got links to some fun improv games in our show notes.

Check them out – try them out with a friend – and tell us how it went. Email us at happinesspod@berkeley.edu, or use the hashtag happinesspod. We read every email, and your thoughts really do mean a lot to us.

Share this episode with a friend and subscribe to us on Spotify and sign up for notifications, so you always know when we release a new episode.

I’m Dacher Keltner, thanks for joining us on The Science of Happiness.

Our Executive Producer of Audio is Shuka Kalantari. Our producer is Haley Gray. Sound designer Jennie Cataldo of Accompany Studios. And our Associate Producer is Maarya Zafar. Our executive director is Jason Marsh. The Science of Happiness is a co-production of UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and PRX.

Have a wonderful day.