Unleash Your Story Creativity With the Power of Improv

Keep Your Creativity Sharp

Improv training is not just for actors. By plugging into some of the core elements of a great improv performer you can improve your storytelling techniques and make your brand story more accessible.
Brian Palermo is an established actor, improv genius, and author. He shares how his passion for improv games and constant practice led him into writing and teaching in the business world to help marketers release their creativity and tell more compelling stories.
He believes that allowing yourself to be collaborative and drawing upon shared emotions are key to curating a brand story that resonates.
Brian will talk about how to apply the main tenets of improv training to the creation of your brand story, how to stay present in the moment, how to use emotionality to connect to your audience, and why it’s so important to keep practicing your story-making skills.

In This Episode

• Why you have to train your storytelling skills like your body in a gym
• How to apply the tenets of improv to your marketing strategy
• The importance of being present in the moment and focusing on your current audience
• How to release your creativity by relaxing and playing collaborative games
• Why finding the emotion in your story will draw the interest of your consumers
• How to combine your marketing goals with the story needs of your audience

Quotes From This Episode

“The communicative guidelines and tools that you learn in improv training are very effective and applicable everywhere you’re trying to communicate. ” —@brianpalermo
“It’s all about giving yourself permission to try.”  —@brianpalermo
“If you show interest in the other person, they all of a sudden like you. That’s a good little connective tool to begin with.”  —@brianpalermo
“If you come up with your fishing product commercial that really hits on the emotion of the moment and not the specificity of the hook barb, then you’ll have a much bigger chance of catching more people.” —@brianpalermo

“It’s not just incumbent upon your partner to do all the work and you sit there and nod and say yes. You also have to add to it. So, right off the bat, it’s teamwork. It builds and forces a connected team. It’s collaboration because the scene will not succeed unless both of you do. This is not a medium where one person can really stand out from the other. If you do, you’re probably stealing focus and not building so much together.” —@brianpalermo

“Ninety-nine percent of the human species has emotions, right? Ninety-nine percent of them may not care about your fishing lure, but ninety-nine perfect of them do have emotions.” —@brianpalermo
“You want to connect to the audience in front of you. Your audience is who you need to connect to. So, I would put the focus on them, put the focus on the other person. That’s an improv tenet as well. —@brianpalermo
“The work of it is often a lot tougher than the theory. I don’t think when I’m teaching improv training that I’m giving anybody the newest ideas in the world. But doing the training, doing the practice, staying as involved as you can keeps your brain sharp. It keeps your active listening skills sharp. It makes those connections.” —@brianpalermo

Resources

• Brian Palermo
• Brian Palermo on Twitter, @brianpalermo
• “Connection: Hollywood Storytelling Meets Critical Thinking” by Randy Olson and Brian Palermo
• The Groundlings
• Dr. Randy Olson
• Wheel of Fortune
• Kristen Wiig
• “The Hero’s Journey,” by Joseph Campbell
• “Your DIY Guide to Crafting and Telling Compelling Brand Stories that Sell,” by Park Howell
• BusinessofStory.com
• Park@BusinessOfStory.com