One Word Suggestion: Vulnerability

Have you ever been to a stand-up comedy show where the comedian is bombing? Or in a client presentation where things just aren’t going as planned?

When it comes to watching a performer struggle on stage, or someone giving Powerpoint a bad name, I’m pretty sure most people would be glad it’s not them up there.

In fact, a lot of people feel that way even when a comic kills or the client loves the work. They would never want to be on stage, exposed, and all alone.

But here’s the thing about long-form improv. It revolves around what we call the ensemble philosophy.

The idea is that as a group, we decide and commit to having each other’s backs and supporting each other’s ideas, actions and choices no matter what.

So while standups choose to live and die alone, improvisers always have a group of people supporting them, and when you know your team has your back, it becomes so much easier to be vulnerable and open to whatever comes without letting your own fears, agenda or ego get in the way.

In our corporate training work we see this all the time: “I don’t want to look stupid, or for people to see the real me… what if they don’t like what they see? What if I come across as weak?”

But guess what. Vulnerability is the truest demonstration of strength – being vulnerable by choice means you have enough confidence in yourself and your peers to see you through whatever comes at you.

Vulnerability makes you strong, not weak. When we show vulnerability with confidence we share ourselves without hesitation, comfortable whether we are accepted or not, committed to accepting others whether we are accepted or not.

And if being vulnerable does make you feel week, then that just means you’ve lost touch with your own personal power. The solution is to aim for openness.

Being vulnerable means that you don’t put your guard up—that you force yourself to be open to whatever happens on stage, at the office, in life. It is at the root of spontaneity.

If we’re afraid to show the depth of our personality or our emotional core, we deny the scene, our fellow players, our team, the audience, and even our friends and family, the power inherent in our details, our reactions and ourselves.

The trick is to foster an environment where people feel enabled and empowered to not only live their truth, but encourage others to live theirs as well. Only then can you draw from real life, embrace the awkwardness, and be real.