Most people don’t struggle under pressure because they lack skills. They struggle because pressure makes them forget to use the ones they already have.
Here are three behaviors that can change that in meetings, tough conversations, and in the moments that don’t go according to plan. Not perfectly. Just better.
These are the same things we practice in improv workshops, even when we don’t name them directly. Because when people experience them, something clicks that a list never quite delivers.
1. Decide It’s Going to Go Well
Before any interaction, like a meeting, a pitch, or any conversation, decide that something useful is going to come out of it.
Not perfect. Not flawless. Just useful.
Most people don’t do this. You walk in running quiet predictions:
“This might be awkward.”
“They probably won’t be interested.”
“I might mess this up.”
So you hold back. You wait. You play it safe.
And the conversation moves on without you.
Instead, try this:
“Someone in this room needs something.”
“There’s a conversation worth having.”
“Something here can be moved forward.”
In workshops, I’ll put people into situations where they don’t feel ready, don’t know what’s coming, and don’t have time to prepare.
The ones who do best aren’t the most talented. They’re almost always the ones who decided, before they started, that something would work.
That decision changes how you listen, how you respond, and what you notice.
Other people can feel it.
2. Treat It Like a Game
Most of what we call “work” isn’t inherently boring. It’s just framed that way.
Change the frame and the experience changes with it.
Games work because they give you a goal, a way to track progress, and a reason to engage.
You can apply that to almost anything.
A tedious task?
Make it a speed challenge.
A tough conversation?
Make it a game of curiosity. How much can you actually learn about the other person?
I’ve seen people having Excel speed races, and while it’s not for me, I could tell they were enjoying it.
In workshops, this shift happens fast. Give people a structured “game,” and suddenly they’re engaged, creative, and fully present.
Same people. Same skills. Different frame.
Tom Sawyer got kids to pay him to paint a fence by making it a game. You don’t have to go that far, but you can absolutely change how you approach what’s in front of you.
The work doesn’t change. Your experience of it does.
3. Leave people better than you found them
In any conversation, you have a quiet opportunity:
Leave the other person a little more energized, seen, or capable than you found them.
Most people are waiting to talk. Some are genuinely listening. Very few are actively helping the other person think.
Try this instead:
Listen like you’re going to have to repeat exactly what they said. Then paraphrase it and give it back to them. not to echo, but to show them that you actually heard them.
When people feel understood at that level, something shifts.
They get clearer. More confident. More open.
That’s where better conversations and better outcomes come from.
In Improv, if you make your partner look good, the whole scene works. That rule turns out to apply pretty much everywhere.
This Is Where It Pays Off
None of this requires a personality change. It’s just three choices you can make, over and over:
- Decide something useful will happen
- Treat the moment like a game
- Leave people better than you found them
The moments that used to feel stressful start to feel workable. Even interesting.
And once that happens, you don’t need everything to go perfectly.
You don’t need perfect conditions. You need a way to handle imperfect ones.
That’s not something you’re born with.
It’s something you can practice.
It’s exactly what we train in Improv.
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