Improvly Speaking

What would you do if you received a notebook from your local Buy Nothing Group that you thought was empty, but then later you noticed that it had a list of goals written in it? Would you tear out the pages and start with a fresh, clean notebook? Or would you take the list of goals on as your own? If you said you would tear out the pages and start fresh, you aren't alone. I would totally do th...

Ramona J. Smith is a dynamic international speaker who holds the prestigious title of the 2018 World Champion of Public Speaking. She is based out of Houston, Texas, and she is on a mission to inspire, connect and transform lives globally using the power of words (and she's really great at it too)! In this episode, Ramona shares her journey to winning the World Champion title, and she also ta...

Our first international guest, Neil Curran, joins the podcast all the way from Dublin, Ireland! Neil is a professional improviser and communications and teams expert who has performed in shows and festivals all over the world. His signature show - Neil+1 - brings an audience member up to the stage to perform the improv show with him! (Would you be up for that as an audience member??) When he'...

The previous episode with Ashley Ward talks all about her journey into the musical improv world and why she loves teaching musical improv classes. This solo episode highlights my experience over the past year with musical improv, why I took musical improv in the first place, and how it's helped me with my public speaking skills and stage presence.  In this episode, I share with you three take...

Ashley Ward is an improviser, actor, writer, snack lover, and singer who has performed everywhere from the Kennedy Center to The Sydney Opera House. She can be seen on Dropout TV’s Play It By Ear and in Hello Jack! The Kindness Show on Apple+ as Delivery Delores. She is also a Jeopardy champion (and yes, we talk about that in the interview!). In this episode, Ashley shares her improv journey of ho...

Joe Van Haecke is based in Des Moines, Iowa, and he has been performing and coaching improvisation for over 20 years! He is the Chief of Inspiration for his company Inspire Me Mr V, which provides improv-inspired life coaching to help people start living a "Yes, and…" life in a "Yeah, but" world. (hence the title of this episode) In this episode, Joe shares how he got his start...

One day, my solo episodes won't be considered special solo episodes because I will do them more and will be putting out more solo episodes than just 2-3 times a year. For now though, here is another special solo episode about my experience with alcohol and how I feel like I don't need it much anymore.  Thanks to improv and overcoming my fear of public speaking, I am not nervous anymore t...

Fernando Funes is a poet, writer, improviser, and performer in the Los Angeles/Orange County, CA area. He has performed in hundreds of shows in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, Oakland, and even Brazil! Fernando loves to bring people of all backgrounds together, and lately, he has been producing a ton of local improv shows in the Southern California area. At this point in 2023, he is pro...

Have you listened to a few episodes of this podcast and loved the jingle that plays before each episode? Maybe you have found that you can't help but dance and sway when this jingle kicks off an episode. (You're not alone!) Shantel Sole' is based out of Atlanta, Georgia, and she joins this episode to discuss her journey as a singer, songwriter, and most recently business owner and j...

Special guest BJ Lange shares how he supports military veterans by leading applied improv workshops and helping them learn important resilience skills as they navigate back into civilian life. BJ Lange is an actor (The Prank Panel, General Hospital, The Rookie), retired USAF Reserve medic, two-time testicular cancer survivor, and an alumni of iO West & Upright Citizens Brigade. He's also...

Don Colliver is a speaker, communications consultant, comedian, improviser, and clown. His public speaking workshops have helped transform hundreds of nervous speakers into more joyful and effective communicators. He recently released the bestselling book entitled Wink: Transforming Public Speaking with Clown Presence .   In this episode, Don shares his improv and clown journey and how clown prese...

Erick Escalante is an improviser and creative performer from San Diego, CA.  Erick took acting classes all throughout high school and college, but he tried his first official improv class in June 2021, when he decided to take a Level 1 class at Finest City Improv. Before that, Erick was struggling with depression and addicted to getting high and/or drunk to numb himself from the emotions. He says...

Will Hines is a longtime improv teacher and performer who trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in both New York and Los Angeles. In April 2020, he founded the World's Greatest Improv School (WGIS and can also be pronounced Weegis), which the name of the school was based on his best-selling book on improv called How to Be The Greatest Improviser on Earth .   In this episode, Will sh...

SPECIAL SOLO BIRTHDAY EPISODE -- I turned 35 in May 2023 (yay!), and I wanted to do a solo episode to highlight this special birthday milestone. Not only is it a mid-thirties milestone, but also this is the age that I always thought I would magically just become confident and love myself. I don't know why I had in my head that I should be confident and feel fully comfortable with myself by ag...

Have you ever sat through a presentation, conference session, or workplace training and thought, "Well, that's an hour of my life I won't get back!," after it's over? Chances are that the presenter or speaker didn't make the content applicable to you, didn't make it engaging to keep your attention, gave too much information that it was overwhelming, or didn'...

Jesse Greenfield is a health communicator, storyteller, and improviser from San Diego, California. Jesse started doing improv in college at Tufts University, and with eight years of experience as an improviser, Jesse now leads applied improv workshops for adults, youth, and the LGBTQIA+ community.  In March 2023, Jesse and I co-presented together at the Art & Science of Health Promotion Confer...

In June 2022, Karolyn Martin earned the job of Miss North Carolina, and she is currently serving as Miss North Carolina for the 2022-2023 year. In this episode, Karolyn shares her journey to becoming Miss North Carolina — why she decided to compete and how she focused, trained and prepared for the competitions during her college years.   Karolyn opens up about her experience at the Miss America Co...

Pam Victor is  the Head of Happiness (aka founder and president) of Happier Valley Comedy, the first improv theater in Western Massachusetts. Pam is the co-author of Improvisation at the Speed of Life: The TJ & Dave Book along with TJ Jagodowski and David Pasquesi. Pam is also a TEDx Speaker, and she creates and facilitates applied improv workshops and currently a new series of workshops about...

Susan Bartley is the owner of Heaux Apparel, a company that specializes in pole dance and aerial sports apparel, products and accessories. Their goal is to help women of all shapes & sizes, who have fallen in love with pole & aerial fitness, look their best and feel confident while they're in the air on the pole, lyra, or silks, and while they're on the ground living their best l...

Dr. Michael Smith is an attending physician of internal medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.  In 2014, Mike began taking Level 1 improv classes. Realizing early on that the skills learned through improv could help him as a hospitalist, Mike began implementing them at work. The result was more enjoyable work, better interactions with patients, and more effective teaching. In 2018,...

Sonny Mayo is a super rad musician, breathwork facilitator, and overall human being. Sonny has been sober for 21 years, and he now facilitates Rock to Recovery® sessions and breathwork sessions to help people heal through creativity and breathing.  Rock to Recovery® is a non-profit organization that harnesses the healing power of music by bringing musical instruments and equipment in to treatment...

Dr. Raquel Garzon is the President and Founder of Revitalize Project and author of the book, The Business of You: Leveraging Business Principles to Thrive in Life .  She is a keynote speaker and thought leader in the employee engagement, performance, resilience, and work culture space. Her goal is to empower people to live vibrant and meaningful lives, and she works with companies and organization...

What do Zumba® and improvisation have in common? They're both very difficult when you try them for the first time(s), they're both creative outlets, and they're both tons of fun!  Susan Wagner is an AFAA Group Fitness Instructor, and she teaches both in-person and virtual Zumba® classes and other fitness classes. The dance/gym floor is Susan's stage, and her stage presence and...

In Fall 2022, I went to two weekend improv camps for adults (not adult improv camps because that's something different). I learned a lot about improv and myself at these camps. In this episode, I tell you all about my camp experiences. I share how the first camp allowed me to feel more freedom and permission in improv and in life, and the second camp forced me to take a leap of faith. Literal...

Nick Armstrong is an actor, improviser, director and writer, and he is the co-owner and Artistic Director of Rise Comedy in Denver, Colorado. He is also the Founder and Executive Director of Improv Utopia, which is a non-profit improv camp for adults held annually that gives back to the improv community and other arts related charities. On this episode, Nick shares his improv and comedy journey an...