key/cliche phrase from improv

book Yes, And: How Improvisation Reverses "No, But" Thinking and Improves Creativity and Collaboration--Lessons from The Second City - Kelly Leonard, Tom Yorton

Partial Excerpts (antilibrary)

8 Listening Is a Muscle

He was astounded and confounded by their ability to perform off the top of their heads. He began to ask questions about improvisation. He writes in Father Joe: The advice I’d gotten from every source, if I wanted to arrive at a similar apotheosis, was listen. Listen at every level—to the words, the emotions, the intent of the other or others. Be completely open to them, bring nothing preconceived or prepared to the moment

Improv is not just a means to entertain, it’s also a process that is an end in itself, a way of knowing, of grasping the nature of another, the reality of the other’s existence, an aspect of the truth of the matter under discussion which you thought you knew but didn’t until this moment.

humans only listen at a 25 percent comprehension rate

We have a listening problem—in our world, in our country, at our places of business, in our homes. Why? Because we don’t practice. Because we aren’t taught

what business and improv have in common: We both have audiences to reach and win over, we both have to create and work on teams, and we both feel the pressure to perform, or be replaced by more talented and differently gifted performers. We also point out the important differences between our worlds. We find strength in ensembles over individuals, we’re comfortable—or at least competent—in the absence of a script or plan, and we listen

before you can affirm and build on ideas, you must hear them in the first place. You must listen

Active listening is the “Yes.” To excel at improvisational listening, you still need to provide the “And.” In improv, you understand that every word your scene partners utter is a gift, a lifeline, because it offers the rest of the ensemble something to build on

self-consciousness smothers our ability to communicate effectively. But an individual who is steeped in the practice of listening can keep the demons of self-doubt at bay when this happens. It allows them to focus on the ideas and other people in the room, not on themselves