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What the parent comment said, plus there's a technique from Improv sometimes called "Agree and amplify", and when both conversation partners are good at it ther

by meric 11y ago

What the parent comment said, plus there's a technique from Improv sometimes called "Agree and amplify", and when both conversation partners are good at it there is fun to be had: If someone asks you if you enjoy looking at elephants in tutus and you reply with “no that’s stupid”. It really hinders the conversation and stops whatever momentum you have. If you don’t think it’s a really strong topic, try to accept what the person says and try to improve it. You can improve it by saying, “what about ninja’s in tutus? It would be a lot funnier to see them run around with pink tutus and trying to be stealth, don’t you think? http://www.reddit.com/r/seduction/comments/q19tp/improv_classes_and_seduction/ http://www.reddit.com/r/seduction/comments/q19tp/improv_clas... I don't think it's the best example, but the author isn't James Bond so I don't expect it to be.

mindcrime 11y ago
Can't recommend improv classes highly enough. I only did the intro / 101 course, but it was great, and not just for learning to actually get on stage and "do" improv. A lot of the skills and drills you do in improv can help with general communication in any setting. A drill we did, related to @meric's comment above, was called the "yes and" drill. It goes like this: A says something, and B follows on by going "Yes, $WHAT_A_SAID AND, $WHATEVER_B_HAS_TO_SAY". Example: A. Elephants in pink tutus are awsome. B. Yes, elephants in pink tutus ARE awsome, and what's more, ninjas in pink tutus are also awesome when they are trying to be stealthy. A. Yes, ninjas in pink tutus are awesome when they're trying to be stealthy, AND it's hilarious when they get caught anyway. B. Yes, it's hilarious when ninjas in pink tutus get caught, AND it's very embarrassing when they have to explain where they got the pink tutus... and so on and so on... these exchanges can get REALLY silly (hence the comic effect) but the idea of agreeing and then adding on to what the other person said can be used in many contexts to help keep things flowing. An extension of that drill was to go "Yes, AND" and then do one of three things: 1. Add something new to the scene (see above) 2. Explain how the "thing" makes you feel. "Yes, elephants in pink tutus are awesome, and I get really excited when I see them coming down the street" 3. Actually, I forget what the third thing was. But take an improv class or read a book on improv, or Google it. :-)
- mafribe 11y ago
  I'm not sure this kind of yes-anding makes the speaker appear smart. Isn't the purpose of yes-and to help ego to undercut alter's frame-setting through one-upmanhip? And isn't the purpose of the comic effect to divert the audience's attention away from alter's point, because because for some reason ego don't want that point to be discussed further? To be sure, all of this can be effective in a jocular, conversational social setting, especially when the audience is not yet primed to detecting yes-anding, but I doubt it imparts the impression of intellectual superiority upon the listeners.
  - mindcrime 11y ago
    Yeah, it probably is particularly effective in a more jocular setting... but let me add that I'm not proposing to, in a non improv show setting, literally "yes and" everything somebody says. I'm just saying that the general principle of "agree, then add" is a useful tool in conversation, to avoid conflict, which can derail the conversation. It isn't necessarily so much about "sounding smart" (which, in my mind, is not the real point anyway) but rather about controlling and guiding the conversation in such a way as to accomplish your end (whatever that may be). If you go and take improv training, you have to be prepared to generalize from it and extract the useful principles, before applying them in other settings. Otherwise, you might wind up telling your boss that the reason the site is down is because a stealthy group of ninjas in pink tutus, riding elephants, stole the Postgres database!

by meric 11y ago

mindcrime 11y ago

Can't recommend improv classes highly enough. I only did the intro / 101 course, but it was great, and not just for learning to actually get on stage and "do" improv. A lot of the skills and drills you do in improv can help with general communication in any setting. A drill we did, related to @meric's comment above, was called the "yes and" drill. It goes like this: A says something, and B follows on by going "Yes, $WHAT_A_SAID AND, $WHATEVER_B_HAS_TO_SAY". Example: A. Elephants in pink tutus are awsome. B. Yes, elephants in pink tutus ARE awsome, and what's more, ninjas in pink tutus are also awesome when they are trying to be stealthy. A. Yes, ninjas in pink tutus are awesome when they're trying to be stealthy, AND it's hilarious when they get caught anyway. B. Yes, it's hilarious when ninjas in pink tutus get caught, AND it's very embarrassing when they have to explain where they got the pink tutus... and so on and so on... these exchanges can get REALLY silly (hence the comic effect) but the idea of agreeing and then adding on to what the other person said can be used in many contexts to help keep things flowing. An extension of that drill was to go "Yes, AND" and then do one of three things: 1. Add something new to the scene (see above) 2. Explain how the "thing" makes you feel. "Yes, elephants in pink tutus are awesome, and I get really excited when I see them coming down the street" 3. Actually, I forget what the third thing was. But take an improv class or read a book on improv, or Google it. :-)

mafribe 11y ago
I'm not sure this kind of yes-anding makes the speaker appear smart. Isn't the purpose of yes-and to help ego to undercut alter's frame-setting through one-upmanhip? And isn't the purpose of the comic effect to divert the audience's attention away from alter's point, because because for some reason ego don't want that point to be discussed further? To be sure, all of this can be effective in a jocular, conversational social setting, especially when the audience is not yet primed to detecting yes-anding, but I doubt it imparts the impression of intellectual superiority upon the listeners.
- mindcrime 11y ago
  Yeah, it probably is particularly effective in a more jocular setting... but let me add that I'm not proposing to, in a non improv show setting, literally "yes and" everything somebody says. I'm just saying that the general principle of "agree, then add" is a useful tool in conversation, to avoid conflict, which can derail the conversation. It isn't necessarily so much about "sounding smart" (which, in my mind, is not the real point anyway) but rather about controlling and guiding the conversation in such a way as to accomplish your end (whatever that may be). If you go and take improv training, you have to be prepared to generalize from it and extract the useful principles, before applying them in other settings. Otherwise, you might wind up telling your boss that the reason the site is down is because a stealthy group of ninjas in pink tutus, riding elephants, stole the Postgres database!