Summarizing our December Discussion: Advocacy & Improv
/On December 12, 2020, AllProv hosted a Zoom discussion on advocacy and improv. It was a fantastic gathering to share ideas. We spoke about advocacy from the point of view of the community, such as anti-racism work, as well as self-advocacy, such as in the autism community. Everyone was open to learning and sharing – though our specific areas of interest varied.
In our group discussion, we identified skills that are common to all types of advocacy work. The skills identified include listening, empathy, patience, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, verbal expression, confidence, comfort with ambiguity, and assertiveness.
The next part of our discussion seemed to be the favorite part of most attendees (so more of this will be included next time). We broke into small groups and each group was assigned an advocacy skill. Small groups were tasked with developing a “mini workshop” to teach the skill. Afterwards, we came together as a large group again and shared the exercises chosen to teach our assigned skill.
It was enjoyable to hear about the exercises selected and developed by the small groups. Each group came up with creative and fun ideas. I’ll share a few highlights here (the skill is listed followed by a sample exercise developed by the small group):
Listening: 2-person scene with 5 seconds of silence between each partner’s line of dialogue. This can take the pressure off to respond quickly and allow us to absorb what our partner is communicating.
Assertiveness: character walks. Participants can embody characteristics that they don’t normally display in a non-threatening activity since everyone does this simultaneously and no one is put “on the spot.”
Comfort with Ambiguity: silent scenes. We may not know exactly what our scene partner is doing in terms of object work or pantomime but we can still connect with expression and non-verbal cues.
We then discussed best practices for ensuring classes are accessible, respectful of personal boundaries, and prioritize physical and emotional safety. We spoke about ways in which leaders and organizations should be accountable to their students and audiences for the environment created in their classes and events.
To close our event, we shared helpful resources for using improv to support advocacy. I was energized by this informative and encouraging discussion!
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I’m happy to announce our upcoming self-advocacy and improv event on March 13. Click below for more information!