In improv, an audience will watch a boring scene about returning a toaster if the actors are fully committed. However, they will tune out a brilliant premise if the actors have “one foot out the door.”
Business leaders often sabotage their own authority by hedging. We use qualifying language like “I think what I’m trying to say is…” or “this might not apply to everyone.” These phrases act as escape hatches, signaling uncertainty to your listener. To build credibility, you must close the escape hatch and commit fully to your message (even if it feels simple.)
In this micro-episode:
- Why audiences forgive boring topics but punish hesitation
- How “qualifying language” undermines your expert status
- Why confidence is the result of commitment, not the prerequisite
Resources: Find more episodes and subscribe at stereoforest.com/minute.
Transcript
WEBVTT
::Improv audiences will get on board with whatever you're doing if you really commit to it.
::Now I watched scenes where the premise was nothing great.
::Like it was two people standing at a bus stop or maybe a customer goes in and returns a toaster at Sears.
::Like there's nothing really special or clever in these worlds that are being built up.
::However, if the performers in that scene committed completely, then the audience is really going to stay
locked in and engaged in that performance no matter how the setup is like. I've also watched scenes that
have really good premises, but they just kind of self-destruct because the performers are kind of keeping
one foot out the door.
::They were slightly detached from that scene. And you could see that detachment in the way that they hold
themselves and the way that they're using their voice and their tone. Maybe they weren't sure about the
scene, but they certainly didn't seem sure about themselves in it. Now the audience, your listener, can
pick up on that uncertainty. They don't know what's going on in the mind of the person delivering that
thing, but they do.
::you know that you don't sound very confident or sure about the thing that's coming out of your mouth and this
can absolutely therefore apply to the episodes that we make a lot of people they do really hold back because
they aren't sure that their point that they're making is good enough so they really explain it maybe too
much they qualify it like this might not apply to everyone but blah like they're softening it i think i think
that
::What I'm trying to say is blah. Right? They find this sort of escape hatch. So they can kind of go into the
escape hatch if the thing doesn't really land. And that sort of hesitation can really take over an episode.
So really committing fully to something that's simple is going to win out over some sort of complex idea
that you're just not quite too sure about. I've been in improv scenes where this sort of detachment,
::from the idea was in the beginning of the scene, but that can still be completely turned around by just
committing hard to whatever it is that's happening. Like, oh, we're doing a scene about dancing rabbits. I
hate this idea, but I'm going to be the best damn dancing rabbit this audience has ever seen. And then you're
going to love that scene about dancing rabbits and probably the audience is too.
::So say what you want like you mean it. Even if you're wrong, the internet is going to let you know for sure. But
you're going to find out faster about that thing and at least have some kind of audience than if you mumbled
through something that you just really weren't on board with. So decide and then commit. And then the
confidence is going to happen anyways. I'm Jen DeHaan. This is the Credibility Minute.
::you can find more episodes and get in touch with me at stereoforest.com/minute.