So how on earth did this happen?
A few weeks ago, I learned that my very good mate Lisa Leong was going to be MC-ing a conference I was booked as the closing speaker for - the Australian Human Resources Institute annual convention. (If you don’t know Lisa, she is an ABC broadcaster and host of the very awesome podcast This Working Life).
I immediately called up Lisa to say “How exciting! We get to work together!”
Lisa: “After your keynote, we should do something fun to close out the conference together!”.
Me: “Yes!”
Lisa: “How about we sing a song together?”
My inner voice: WTF!
My outer voice: “Sounds like fun, Lisa!”
We agreed to write a parody of "The Power of Love" by Huey Lewis and the News (fitting the conference dinner's Back to the Future theme). When Lisa visited on me for my birthday last week, we decided to choreograph a dance too. (In for a penny, in for a pound...)
(Curious about the result? Follow me on LinkedIn, where I promise to post the resulting performance in the coming days.)
So what is the point of this story? Two things:
The power of “Yes And”
The experience reminded me of a foundational Improv technique: "Yes And". In Improv, no matter how crazy an offer is, you accept it and build upon it. Sadly, our corporate world is often full of "No But" people, shutting down ideas before they have a chance to bloom.
Now I am not saying that all ideas are great (many are not), but imagine if we responded with Yes And a bit more. Our days would feel very different.
A challenge (if you're up for it): Next time you feel the urge to "No But" someone today, force yourself to say "Yes And" instead. Watch how it transforms the conversation and potentially your relationships. After all, "No But-ers" aren't exactly winning popularity contests at work.
“I am here to play.”
Due to having done hundreds of keynote presentations over the years, I find it fairly easy to manage my nerves. But I definitely felt them yesterday.
Usually, I reframe the physiological signs of nervousness as excitement. But this time, inspired by a recent conversation with mindset coach Ben Crowe, I tried something new.
I told myself: I am here to play.
This simple mantra shifted my perspective entirely. Instead of focusing on potential mistakes or judgment, I concentrated on the joy of the moment.
So I kept telling myself: "I am here to play. And I am here to bring a sense of play to the conference room with Lisa."
Judging by the joyous reaction we received from most (?) of the audience, I think we achieved just that.
(As always, I love hearing thoughts and feedback from readers - hit reply if you want to share. A human - me - reads all your responses).
(P.S. If you found value in this post, why not forward it to a colleague who could use a dose of "Yes And" in their life?)
(P.P.S. Lisa and I are available for weddings, parties, anything.)