{"id":4469,"date":"2013-07-18T09:23:18","date_gmt":"2013-07-18T13:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?p=4469"},"modified":"2017-04-20T00:24:26","modified_gmt":"2017-04-20T04:24:26","slug":"improv-and-content-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/improv-and-content-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"Improv and Content Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The following guest post was written by Amanda Costello, Lead Content Strategist at the University of Minnesota, College of Education and Human Development.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Tina<\/a>
Add Tina Fey’s “Bossypants” to your content strategy bookshelf.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Collaboration and listening are at the heart of both improv comedy and content strategy.<\/p>\n

You might have seen improv on stage or on \u201cWhose Line Is It Anyway?\u201d In improv, while it doesn\u2019t hurt to have a mind stuffed with trivia or an ear for a good pun, you must listen to your fellow actors; they\u2019re literally all that\u2019s on stage with you! Listening \u2014 and the collaboration that results from it \u2014 creates cohesion so the audience will believe in the scene and come along for the ride.<\/p>\n

Likewise, content strategy, especially in higher education, is never a completely solo endeavor. While you may not be part of a strategy team, you depend on others for the content itself, for insight into audiences and communities, for institutional knowledge and history, as well as for that sudden snappy idea that shakes you out of a rut and propels the project forward.<\/p>\n

You and the people you work with in higher ed are all bringing your skills and know-how to the table for an audience: your users.<\/p>\n

In academia, an industry famous for egos and snarly politics, listening and collaboration build the trust and goodwill for everyone involved to do their best work and make a difference.<\/p>\n

I practiced improv for about a year after college and found tremendous value in it personally and (later) professionally, working at the University of Minnesota. Time and again in the office I have relied on the basics of improv, and I list it on my resume in the skills section. Here\u2019s a quick lowdown of those basics and how they can make your work rock a bit harder.<\/p>\n

Exciting note: The following rules are from Tina Fey\u2019s book \u201cBossypants<\/a>,\u201d which is a memoir but also an excellent business book. Plus, Fey offers succinct and clear overviews of all of the standard rules of improv. As you will see, I quote from the book below. Because Tina Fey is that awesome.<\/p>\n

1. Say Yes (The Rule of Agreement)<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe Rule of Agreement,\u201d Fey says, \u201creminds you to \u2018respect what your partner has created\u2019 and to at least start from an open-minded place. Start with a YES and see where that takes you.\u201d If someone in an improv scene says they have a shovel in their hands, it\u2019s a shovel. You can\u2019t change it to a fish just because you think it might work better or is more interesting to you. If a faculty member tells me they\u2019ve done work research with pre-teens, I can\u2019t start speculating on what the research might look like with older teens; it\u2019s already been done!<\/p>\n

In higher ed, most of my work is project-based, like getting a new site together to connect faculty research to the community or reworking existing sites so they serve users better. I work at the college level, and my projects almost always involve a subject matter expert (research faculty!) whose ideas about the web and how their content relates to it could be rock solid or never explored.<\/p>\n

If you start a new web content project with faculty, you may feel that you\u2019re beginning with a clean slate, but that\u2019s not the case. The faculty member involved is usually bringing research to the table \u2014 research that is new or updated or older but still sound and relevant. Research never just \u201chappens,\u201d and research in higher ed is a lot more complex and often more fraught with peril than you\u2019d realize from the get-go.<\/p>\n

This is where the Rule of Agreement shows up: right at the beginning. Recognize what\u2019s already been created and say \u201cyes\u201d to it. As for stuff that comes after that (like \u201cWe need to be on Facebook, but we don\u2019t have a name for the project!\u201d), well …<\/p>\n

2. Say \u201cYes, and …\u201d<\/h2>\n

The Rule of Agreement actually has two parts, not just to say \u201cyes\u201d but also to say \u201cYes, and …\u201d Here\u2019s Tina Fey\u2019s take on the phrase: \u201cTo me \u2018yes, and\u2019 means don\u2019t be afraid to contribute. It\u2019s your responsibility to contribute. Always make sure you\u2019re adding something to the discussion. Your input is worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n

In improv, you need to add things to a scene, both to give it depth and to give other actors things to build on. Fey\u2019s example in the book involves someone shouting, \u201cI have a gun!\u201d and her responding, \u201cThe gun I gave you for Christmas!\u201d Now things are interesting since a Christmas gun (and a Christmas gun-giving relationship) is part of the picture.<\/p>\n

Because we work with the web, content professionals are often simplified as \u201cthe web person\u201d who will \u201cput things up.\u201d Wrongo. We\u2019ve got a huge set of valuable skills that are critical for project success, and that\u2019s what we add to the \u201cscene.\u201d<\/p>\n

While your knowledge and expertise are likely quite different from that of subject matter experts (in this case, faculty or administrators), they\u2019re still necessary for the project to go forward \u2014 otherwise you wouldn\u2019t be in the room. (This is also a great case for why you need to be in the room from the start.)<\/p>\n

3. Make Statements<\/h2>\n

\u201cWhatever the problem, be part of the solution,\u201d says Fey on this third rule. \u201cDon\u2019t just sit around raising questions and pointing out obstacles. We\u2019ve all worked with that person. That person is a drag.\u201d<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve ever dealt with a pre-schooler, you know how exhausting it can be to answer non-stop questions. The same is true in improv; when someone responds with only questions, that puts the burden of the scene on the other actors, and everything drags to a halt. Instead of responding to \u201cWe\u2019re going to the beach!\u201d with \u201cWhen? Why?,\u201d jumping in with a statement moves things forward: \u201cExcellent! My pet raccoon Julius loves the seaside.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any new project necessarily raises a lot of questions \u2014 Who is this for and not for? What\u2019s the project\u2019s name? Are there other projects like this?<\/em> \u2014 but at a certain point you need to act. You need to make statements instead of just asking questions.<\/p>\n

Faculty members working with the web will often balk at putting things online too quickly, asking for revisions, checks and maybe an extra committee review for good measure. Everyone\u2019s had a project that gets mired in a cycle of endless debate and questions, and it stinks to watch well-intentioned work die a slow death through never-scheduled meetings.<\/p>\n

What faculty members need is reassurance. Although something is getting published, publishing content online is different than publishing a book or journal article. Sometimes a simple reassurance that online content can be changed is enough comfort. Breaking away from the permanency of print to the (comparative) malleability of the web can be very freeing \u2014 but you\u2019ve got to pull the trigger.<\/p>\n

So \u2026 what next?<\/h2>\n

A good improv actor advocates for the audience through listening and collaboration with colleagues, and a good content strategist is an advocate for the user in the same way. The content we deal with touches people\u2019s lives: their research, their education, their pasts and their futures. Even in new institutions, we have centuries of tradition and expectations towering around education; to do good work, we must be nimble and keep our ears open.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re interested in improv, there are a lot of awesome improv resources online \u2014 Improv Encyclopedia<\/a>, for example, has games, a glossary and references \u2014 but the best way to get comfortable is by doing it! Improv troupes around the world have branched out into offering classes and training. Intro improv classes are meant for all kinds of folks, and many have only a small performance component (if they have one at all), so no worries about stage fright. Google \u201cimprov comedy\u201d and the name of the city or town that\u2019s nearest to you to find troupes.<\/p>\n

Photo Credit:<\/em><\/strong> Amanda Costello.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n

About Amanda Costello<\/strong><\/p>\n

Amanda Costello is the lead content strategist in the University of Minnesota\u2019s College of Education and Human Development (CEHD)<\/a>. She has worked for the University in various departments since 2002, and joined CEHD in 2007. She is also the director of MinneWebCon<\/a>, a grassroots knowledge-sharing web conference in Minnesota. A former English teacher in Japan, she values clear communication and having a plan (plus a couple of back-ups). Amanda is an award-winning speaker (catch her at Confab Higher Ed 2013 in November) and enjoys filling out forms because it feels like taking a test where she knows all the answers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The following guest post was written by Amanda Costello, Lead Content Strategist at the University of Minnesota, College of Education and Human Development. Collaboration and listening are at the heart of both improv comedy and content strategy. You might have seen improv on stage or on \u201cWhose Line Is It Anyway?\u201d In improv, while it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[50,73,21,118,56,34],"yoast_head":"\nImprov and Content Strategy | Meet Content<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Collaboration and listening are at the heart of content strategy. Amanda Costello explains how improv comedy principles help you succeed.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/improv-and-content-strategy\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Guest author\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/improv-and-content-strategy\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/improv-and-content-strategy\/\",\"name\":\"Improv and Content Strategy | Meet Content\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-07-18T13:23:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-04-20T04:24:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/599126ca81006bf7ecb08a10c82e9383\"},\"description\":\"Collaboration and listening are at the heart of content strategy. Amanda Costello explains how improv comedy principles help you succeed.\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/improv-and-content-strategy\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/\",\"name\":\"Meet Content\",\"description\":\"Empowering higher education to create and sustain web content that works\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/599126ca81006bf7ecb08a10c82e9383\",\"name\":\"Guest author\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/beef787863f6b2daed0625b00b9aede6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/beef787863f6b2daed0625b00b9aede6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Guest author\"},\"description\":\"This guest blog post was written by a member of the Meet Content community.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.meecontent.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/author\/guest\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Improv and Content Strategy | Meet Content","description":"Collaboration and listening are at the heart of content strategy. Amanda Costello explains how improv comedy principles help you succeed.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/improv-and-content-strategy\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Guest author","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/improv-and-content-strategy\/","url":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/improv-and-content-strategy\/","name":"Improv and Content Strategy | Meet Content","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-07-18T13:23:18+00:00","dateModified":"2017-04-20T04:24:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/599126ca81006bf7ecb08a10c82e9383"},"description":"Collaboration and listening are at the heart of content strategy. Amanda Costello explains how improv comedy principles help you succeed.","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/improv-and-content-strategy\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/","name":"Meet Content","description":"Empowering higher education to create and sustain web content that works","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/599126ca81006bf7ecb08a10c82e9383","name":"Guest author","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/beef787863f6b2daed0625b00b9aede6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/beef787863f6b2daed0625b00b9aede6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Guest author"},"description":"This guest blog post was written by a member of the Meet Content community.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.meecontent.com"],"url":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/blog\/author\/guest\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4469"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4469\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/meetcontent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}