Act 2 Episode 7: Debate2
The facilitator, Burgert Kirsten, looks at the group sitting around the circle. He takes his seat among them.
“Now that you heard you are going to use Improvisation Theatre, what emotions arise for you? Share your response with the person next to you in pairs.”
He gives them a few moments, and then asks: “What came out of your conversation?”
A young 20 something immediately says: “I’m excited, I haven’t tried it before.” “Speak for yourself, his partner responds. She is a middle aged woman “I am terrified”. Others agree with things like “I feel anxious”, “nervous”, “I do not like being put on the spot.” “What if I don’t have anything to say?” a younger woman asks . “I am looking forward to finding out” her friend laughs.
Burgert smiles, “yes, it makes sense that you will feel that way, and we will not push you to go further than what you choose to. Improvisation is like the ocean: it is scary, unsafe and overwhelming when you are out in the deep waters where sharks can find you, but we start on the beach. We take people in only as far as they choose where it is fun and exciting, but not dangerous.
In stories
In the film the Gladiator (2000) Maximus Aurelius refuses to live after he discovers his wife and son murdered. Instead of it inciting him to action, he tries to avoid the ‘Call to Adventure’. When he is picked up by traders and sold as a gladiator, he still tries to resist. It is only after an open conversation with his mentor the gladiator master, that he accepts the call. Red Riding Hood runs off without reservation when her mother asks her to go to grandma, but in the forest she is full of debate: should she pick the flowers or not? Should she listen to the wolf? Which route should she take? Ned Stark and his wife have a debate about his going to King’s Landing after King Robert calls him up to service.
It is important in every story that the hero gets a chance to weigh both sides of possibility ahead of him or her. Doing so allows them to feel that they have chosen themselves, rather than being manipulated into the situation. It means they take more responsibility for their actions and beliefs further down the road.
Your content
This principle applies both to the content of your talk or workshop and to the methods you choose to employ in communicating that content.
Staying with the content for the moment, speakers usually have a good idea of the reservations and questions their ideas might raise, and can address this by listing typical responses and dealing with them one by one. However, it is once again more powerful to allow people to simply share their own questions. It helps a good deal if they talk in pairs about it first so that they can discover they are not the only ones that feel this way. This emboldens them when the facilitator asks them to voice it to the large group. Otherwise they will keep quiet and the facilitator will wrongly assume everyone is on board.
Your method
If your workshop itself is different from what people are used to such as when you use a BBYB exercise, or other strategy that takes them out of their comfort zone, some will feel anxious and intimidated. They have mixed feelings about it and sometimes see obstacles.
Allowing them to air these questions helps people fell validated and helps them get past the emotions that could block further participation and engagement. The trick is not to try and refute or dismiss their doubts off hand, but make real room for them to voice it. It is also of great value to the facilitator to hear what obstacles people experience in accepting the ideas they are putting forward. This information can be used very effectively in the next step of Story-Strategy: preparing for the Journey.