Improvisation for Breakthrough Results

“Prepare to Be Unprepared”

That’s what Amy Poehler, (SNL, Second City, Parks and Recreation) in her 2011 graduation speech to Harvard College, said she learned to do as improviser.

Our roles provide a delicate balance that requires advanced improvisational skills and this is where our experience and training may fall short.

This approach, based on the structure of improvisation games and exercises, allows you to absorb skills naturally without conscious effort. This play-oriented Improvisation approach – which started as a whole new branch of the American Theatre – is now adapted to the needs of leaders and emerging leaders and the specific issues they face in their businesses.

In it, we build our leadership from the inside out. This session offers experimentation and experiential learning to use in your professional and personal lives to great success. The games are designed to stimulate action, relation, spontaneity and creativity in a group setting. It’s learning by doing through first-hand experience – rather than by lecture with data delivery.

You will do what improvisers do to prepare, practice, and succeed when the stakes are high. We’ll take you through improvisation exercises and activities that help you tap into your intuition and inner knowing.

From the improvisation world and the business world, the imperatives are the same:

  • Listen
  • Work off your partner
  • Let go, and trust
  • Be in the moment
  • Use all of you (not just your mind)
  • Work with unpredictability
  • Play as one – be an ensemble
  • Rely on your personal resources

 “I never built community so quickly in my life.”  Kirk A., a workshop participant

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What My Clients Are Saying

"Martha, the morning session was absolutely transformative. The opportunity to share space, movement and breath with others was so impactful; understanding we have a kindred bond to connect with others, to share, to learn was amazing. You helped bring out the best of our selves. I would love to arrange a time for you to visit my campus as I would love to gift a session to women of my inner circle…will be back in touch with you shortly to explore.”
CEO, Healthcare Research

“Martha’s work and her techniques transcend both the professional and personal. She individualizes programs to lead to execution, leadership and team development. Her focus on essential skills trains from C-Suite to entry-level. All of the above is most critical at this time when cultures have to blend “old guard” and millennials and we all need to evolve, communicate and empower for success.”
MD, Financial Services

“I am in a new C-Level role and there is nothing that you and I have done over the years we’ve worked together that I’ve ever done before. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t rely on the skills you taught me to be successful in this role.”
CFO – Pharma Business

“Thank you so much for your coaching session over a year. It was a great pleasure to work with you. I strongly feel that your sessions are very effective and useful for my future career. In addition, most importantly, it was fun!”
Professional Services Firm Partner, Japanese Leadership Academy

“I just completed my third training with Martha Gelnaw and each session builds on one another. The classes are motivational, fun and highly educational and seem to get better each time! Martha is an experienced professional that has help me both professionally and personally. I am a big fan of the Improvisation session because I believe that every sales call is an improvisation. “Feeling my Feet” and “Being in the Moment” are two skills learned in the training that could be implemented immediately.”
Director, Global Pharma Company

“I just completed my third training with Martha Gelnaw and each session builds on one another. The classes are motivational, fun and highly educational and seem to get better each time! Martha is an experienced professional that has help me both professionally and personally. I am a big fan of the Improvisation session because I believe that every sales call is an improvisation. “Feeling my Feet” and “Being in the Moment” are two skills learned in the training that could be implemented immediately.”
Director, Global Pharma Company

“Working in the male-dominated trading floor environment made it hard for me [a woman] to feel recognized. Martha’s use of role-playing situations made it easier for me to introduce myself, assert my ideas in meetings, and gain credit for my work which allowed me to advance in my career.”
Director, Sales & Trading, Global Investment Bank

“I contracted Martha to work with my senior team who was preparing to present at a high stakes internal conference with an audience of 800 during a critical juncture for our practice. She worked carefully with each person to bring out their best, most engaging style and persuasive message. This was no easy task as these were people who are highly technical and not used to exhibiting a compelling stage presence. The results were very good and each person was happy with the outcome from the meeting.”
Senior Project Manager, Big Four Professional Services Firm

“Martha helped me become confident, relaxed, clear and organized – and to come across as an expert willing to help the audience while presenting trade ideas to greater than a hundred clients who had various levels of expertise.”
Director, Sales and Trading, Investment Bank

“I attended a program that Martha facilitated early in my career … [her] coaching has made me more self-aware of my communication style … I attribute the outstanding results to Martha’s deep experience in advising executives at all levels, acting training and sincere interest in seeing everyone succeed. Martha has really made a difference!”
Finance Director, Pharma firm

“I worked with Martha during a time of much change in my career, including a significant increase in responsibility. I realized that having great drive, a creative and strategic mind, and a successful track record were not going to be enough, and that I needed to SHOW my confidence in my capabilities in order to have credibility in my new role. Martha helped me learn how to portray my full confidence, and to have my presence embody my strength. Her coaching and guidance has had a significant impact on my ability to shine!”
SVP, Director, Financial Services

“I worked with Martha during a time of much change in my career, including a significant increase in responsibility. I realized that having great drive, a creative and strategic mind, and a successful track record were not going to be enough, and that I needed to SHOW my confidence in my capabilities in order to have credibility in my new role. Martha helped me learn how to portray my full confidence, and to have my presence embody my strength. Her coaching and guidance has had a significant impact on my ability to shine!”
SVP, Director, Financial Services