Three Lessons from Toastmasters, Improv, & an Invisible Trunk

At Toastmasters last week, I was the table topics master. Pulling a rabbit out of my improv hat, I got someone to help me drag an invisible attic trunk up to the front. (Not the acrylic one shown, an actual invisible trunk. Trust me, it was invisible.) I then pulled out invisible objects from the trunk, called up a volunteer, "handed them" the object and briefly described the imaginary, fantastic objects and had each speaker use their 1 to 2 minutes to explain or describe what the object was for or its background.

Wow.

My club knocked it out of the park. Here are three product marketing lessons I learned that I hope may help you too.

1. You are a coach even when you may not realize it

Our club has members of all speaking experiences. I made everyone comfortable, tried to "create" objects that matched the skills of the speaker, and gave everyone a great opportunity to succeed. And they did. In the language of improvisation, I helped my scene partner thrive. I gave them a present. When the meeting was over, almost everyone came up to me and said the experience was amazing. Without planning it, I helped a number of people expand their comfort zone talking about an object that didn't really exist! Turns out I was a public speaking coach without actually knowing it ahead of time.

2. In speaking (and product planning) the fantastic can apply to the realistic

None of the objects were real. There was a laser hammer with ancient writing on it. A very large pole. A small furry animal. A locked wooden box that couldn't be opened that had unknown contents. A 100+ year old unknown medical device. And more.

Yet, each person who spoke was able to clearly articulate what the object was, and was for, in under two minutes! Especially impressive since the objects were all imaginary and quite odd. How many people on your team can articulate what your product or service is in under two minutes? Especially considering your offering isn't imaginary (one would hope). It's a good elevator pitch practice.

Also, when ideating a product or a feature, having the courage to "play pretend" and say "what if" in a childlike (not childish, but childlike -- that's another blog entry) way. This is a skill we too often lose as adults -- and marketers.

3. Fail fast

One speaker started out in one direction, realized it wasn't working, and pivoted. The pivot worked. Nobody really remembered the "false start" approaches since the end result was so amazing. Try, fail. Try, fail. Try, fail. Just like you should try to work for and with people who aren't afraid to try something even if they aren't 100% sure it is going to work.

What experiences do you have in formal or informal improv classes or from Toastmasters that you can share?

Gary