PHOTO: Alejandro Loar
“Oh, you’re a confident presenter, are you, Ryan? Why don’t you get on stage and prove it then?”
That wasn’t how the invitation came, but that’s what it felt like, at least. I had the chance to give a talk the week my book The Confident Presenter came out. Seven minutes. On the topic of “reverie’. Other than that, it was wide open.
The only thing I felt was a real pressure to perform. That was just from me, though. And I did.
Speaking on reverie and improvisation
My take on the theme was that learning improv in my early twenties helped me unlock a sweet spot of productivity. A space that exists between thinking and not. A kind of productive distraction (or reverie, if you will), where ideas and instincts can be pursued to their natural conclusion.
This is, of course, what happens onstage with improv. And can very easily be applied offstage as well. And the effect of using improv principles in my offstage life has been profound. The coolest thing was, I didn’t really know this before I started working on this talk; this was an insight I discovered as I created this presentation. A presentation which, by the way, finished with a rap.
Why? Well, because I had the idea and then pursued it to its natural conclusion. The proof of the pudding lies in the eating. 😏
I also had a great time meeting (and listening to) my new friends Ioana and Madhu give their respective takes on the theme. And afterward, I had the chance to sell a few copies of my book. So in the end, I guess my confidence and passion shone through.
Full disclosure: a big part of why I’m sharing this post is because the photos of this event, by Alejandro Loar, are so damn great. All in all, an excellent event I was proud to be a part of.
