3-Step System & Exercise to Manage Self-Criticism in Improv

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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So your inner critic is energy.

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And you can give that energy to your character or the scene.

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What?

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Right?

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I know.

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But that's a thing that I find is one

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of the most effective tools I have

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for dealing with performance anxiety

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and your inner critic.

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Instead of trying to suppress that feeling of fear,

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you can actually hand it to the character that you're

playing,

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or you can hand it to the scene or to the room.

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In this episode, we are exploring self-criticism

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and building a whole system around it.

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We're looking at why that fear exists in the first place,

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so the science of it.

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And I have a three-step process for managing your inner

critic

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so you can actively use that energy to make your improv

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even better.

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I also have a PDF that you can use

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to help manage that reflection process after a show or a

class

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to help with this.

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You'll learn how to turn that inner voice from a source

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of stress to a source of creativity

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and really authentic good performance.

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Hi, I'm Jen deHaan, and this is your improv brain.

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I am a performer and an improviser with my production studio

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called Stereo Forest.

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And I've taught and coached improv

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with several different theaters.

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This show helps give you practical tools

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to help with your characters and your acting.

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So you'll want to also stick around

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to the end of this episode because I

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will share a specific improv exercise that

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helps practice channeling all of this analytical,

critical

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energy into becoming a radically supportive scene

partner.

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So I have an intense inner critic for as long as I can

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remember.

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That voice is like all or nothing.

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And it loves to make catastrophes.

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It can keep me up at night going in circles

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about how I can improve this or that in this situation.

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And while some of this thinking actually

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can be pretty logical and henceforth useful,

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a lot of it is just like irrational noise I can do

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without.

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For a long time, I thought this voice, this critique,

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was some problem with my brainwiring and something

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to be avoided entirely.

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But I eventually started wondering,

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can I take some of this critical energy that's

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so pervasive in my life and make it useful like an improv?

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So first, that mindset of fear and perfectionism and improv

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is really common.

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A lot of us have it, like the fear of having an audience out

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there or messing up a scene or a YouTube video or a podcast,

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not understanding what's going on in the scene, for

example.

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And a lot of this fear comes from a feeling

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of being judged both by others and by ourselves.

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This is driven by what science calls a maladaptive form

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of perfectionism.

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So now, perfectionism, it's mostly thought of as a problem

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or a defect in our heads or something.

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But it can also be a good thing.

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So striving for excellence, doing really well,

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that's a useful thing for motivating us,

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perhaps, or challenging us, which we might like.

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But the unhealthy form of perfectionism

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is defined by science, by a deep fear of being evaluated

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negatively.

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So that's where we get stressed.

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That's the voice of our inner critic.

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So I'll throw in some resources in the show notes

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or the show description about this difference, the good

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and the bad.

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So where does this critical voice come from then?

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So science feels like it could be your brain trying

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to protect you.

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So our brains are wired to keep us safe from danger.

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And a lot of those perceived dangers

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are social ones, not physical ones.

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So that's why you might feel this adrenaline rush just

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from standing in front of other people

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or like hitting publish on a YouTube video, I guess.

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Your brain is flagging a potential social threat.

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If you face social threats when you're young,

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like bullying, this response might even

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be more pronounced for you because your brain knows

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it's really a thing.

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So the self-critic is actually trying to help in all of this.

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It wants you to be prepared.

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It wants you to be safe.

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It wants you to be good enough in the eyes of others

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so you don't get rejected socially

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by the community around you.

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That's a safety thing.

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So the improv that we're doing, it

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kind of turns all of this social stuff on its head.

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Improv asks us, the performers, to be unprepared.

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There's no script.

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It tells us to be vulnerable and human.

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We want to be relatable and have a sense of self

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in these scenes.

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It wants us to fail on purpose, too, in front of an audience.

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There's rules, and we have structure in form,

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but we still don't know by design how the show will go down.

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And that's why our self-critics get so loud during improv.

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They can be so controlling.

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They're screaming at us.

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They're trying to protect us from this thing that kind of

looks

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to that ancient brain wiring that it is socially

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like a very dangerous situation.

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And then if you throw any neurodivergence into the mix,

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maybe this gets even more dangerous.

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Those flares are going up for us who are.

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So once we understand this, that the critic is trying to

help,

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even if it's making things harder,

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then we can start to work with that voice in our heads.

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And really, the first step is just acknowledging it.

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You can also prepare for the failing.

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That's another way.

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So the inner critic is really worried about us failing.

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We can prep for that.

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So I talked a lot about this in a previous episode

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about failure.

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I have a couple of them about failure.

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I have one of those episodes on my website.

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It has seven hacks in it for what you can do in those moments.

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So preparing for failure, though, it takes away a lot

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of that power.

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And you can also remember that these perceived failures

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that we have are an important part of the learning process.

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So I covered this point as well in another episode

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previously.

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And I also have a PDF with exercises

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that you can do to practice these challenging moments

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and scenes and get reps in.

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So I will have a link to all of those resources

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in the show notes and the description.

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OK, so there's also that energy that we get from this inner

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critic.

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And you can actively use that anxious energy, that feeling

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in your gut, that adrenaline.

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It's how you can really feel in the moment.

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So you can give that energy to your character.

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You can let your character be the one who is anxious, or

scared,

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or worried.

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And that will translate as authentic because it is.

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Also, you are very invested because you care so much.

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And all of these things together are very useful for you

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as a performer.

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You can take all of that, all the anxiety,

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and put it in a box and make it part of your character.

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It's part of their problem, not yours.

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And I've found this to be really useful as a tool.

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It pulls away from my brain, it hands it to my character.

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And then I don't feel as anxious.

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So this energy, it's useful for self-analyzing your

performance

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as long as you're careful about this part.

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So I'm talking about reflecting after a show for positive

gains,

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not beating yourself up.

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So self-noting, it can be helpful when it's done

effectively

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and carefully.

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And there are many ways to approach this,

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but I've created a free downloadable guide

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with a simple framework for self-reflection after a show.

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And that document contains questions

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to guide you towards these insights on your work

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while avoiding that really negative self-talk.

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So you can grab that document by subscribing

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to either of my newsletters at

improvupdate.com/newsletter.

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It will be linked in the footer of that newsletter

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if you're already signed up the next one you get,

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or it will be sent to you if you're a new subscriber.

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So when you learn to self-reflect this way,

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it helps you adjust that negative perfectionism

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into the positive type of perfectionism.

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So you're moving away from worrying about being judged

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by others to focusing on competing with yourself,

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with your internal growth and skill acquisition

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at the core of it, making it a positive thing.

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You're working on whatever your personal goal is

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in your performance.

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So how do we put all of this stuff

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into practice holistically?

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So here are three ways that you can approach your next class

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or rehearsal or show.

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So one, set a specific learning goal.

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So before you start, decide on one small thing

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that you want to focus on.

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So today I want to focus on the cadence of my voice

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or focus on making stronger physical choices

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or sustaining a strong character choice

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throughout this very long mono scene.

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This could be something that only you know,

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or you might share it with a trusted coach.

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And this gives you your critical brain part of you,

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a productive job to do.

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It can track your progress on that one thing

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instead of just yelling at you about everything

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that happens during that practice.

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So two, notice your critical thoughts.

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So just practice observing them.

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Don't fight them, don't judge them.

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And you don't even need to track what it's saying.

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You just want to let go of that information.

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What you're noticing, what you're focusing on

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is when they happen.

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Is it during a certain type of scene

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or in a certain location that I practice in

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or within a certain team environment?

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Do you have specific recurring thoughts

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or more of like a physical feeling that you have?

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Sometimes just choosing to notice that these things exist

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is the first step towards dealing with fear and anxiety

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because you might learn some information

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about why this is happening.

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And that could provide some amount of information

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for making future adjustments.

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And three, push your focus outwards.

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If you find yourself critiquing your own thoughts

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or even your scene partner perhaps or your team even,

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maybe in the form of excuses about what they're doing

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to your performance before you circle back

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to your own critique, all of that, whatever it's like,

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that's your critic at work.

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So how do you fight that?

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Well, you can do that by being relentlessly curious

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about your partner.

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Focus outward in the scene.

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What is your scene partner saying?

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Listen more intently.

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What is your scene partner doing?

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Be curious about that.

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How can you support those things fully and completely

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as your character?

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And then that critical analytical energy, it goes outward.

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And this is a really useful positive thing.

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Using it to listen and support your scene partner's choices

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and build the performance together

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instead of just focusing on yourself,

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which is what's happening

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if you're listening to that inner critic.

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So that brings us to the exercise that you can use

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to train this exact skill.

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So this exercise is a variation

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of the very common radical yes and exercises.

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They go by many different names.

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So this version is one that I'm calling

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accept this story you,

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although I've done this exact variation several times

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under several different names by different coaches.

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And I can't remember what they are.

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So I'm calling it accept the story you.

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So there are many approaches to this idea

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of like super accepting what your scene partner offers.

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But this one is designed to help you notice

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the little ways that you might be missing

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little opportunities to support your scene partner.

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Maybe you find you're even blocking them a little

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without realizing it previously,

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or maybe you take over the narrative of the scene

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or an entire set maybe.

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That blocking, which it is,

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could be your inner critic protecting you

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from your scene partner's bad idea.

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Your inner critic saying it's a bad idea

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and you're protecting the scene from that.

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Maybe it's the reverse.

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Maybe you're blocking your own ideas internally

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before they come out into the scene.

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But this exercise can help you identify these tendencies,

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whatever they are.

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And that identification leads to growth in your practice.

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So in this exercise,

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you are going to accept everything your partner says

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with vigor and rigor.

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So you have two players up.

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They're going to tell a story together.

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You can do it one sentence at a time,

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or if you're a little bit more experienced,

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you might want to do one collected idea at a time.

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So that might be a few sentences.

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The key is you have to thoroughly and absolutely agree

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with everything that your partner adds,

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and then add to and gradually heighten it

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in an interesting way.

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So this story, it can have peaks,

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it can have valleys, it can have tangents if you want,

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but you cannot block anything.

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You have to connect the ideas and make it all make sense.

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The whole story has to work, has to be cohesive.

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The goal is to be so curious, so interested,

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and so in agreement with your scene partner

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that you make them look great.

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And you're doing that for each other.

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And remember, every improviser,

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or at least most of them have felt

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or currently do feel this way.

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Their inner critic is on their shoulder.

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So many of our brains are like the comments section

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or like reviews on the internet.

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People are way more likely to go out of their way

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to leave a negative review than a positive one.

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They found that out or something, I don't know,

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or maybe I'm wrong, comment if I am.

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Anyways, it sure feels like our brain

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are those negative reviewers, you know?

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So you are not alone in this is what I'm trying to say.

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I'm very much with you and many other improvisers are too.

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So let's take all of those inner critics

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and put them to work now for us in a good way.

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Understand where it comes from

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and then give it a productive job to do.

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Channel that energy outward into your character's brain

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or by being really curious in your scene partner.

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You acknowledge that inner critic.

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You set it specific goals for it to track

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and you use that energy to fuel your characters

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and train yourself to focus that analytical power

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on supporting your scene partner

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instead of critiquing yourself.

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So I'll be discussing how all of this stuff

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specifically applies to neurodivergent performer brains

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in my improv update newsletter,

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which again you can sign up for

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on my website improvupdate.com.

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Select the option for this one,

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select it for performing and your brain.

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That's where the neurodivergent stuff goes.

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So if you sign up for both of the newsletter versions,

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you'll get newsletters with improv resources

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every single week.

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So thanks for tuning in.

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I'll be back next Monday for the next episode.

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Bye for now.

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You have been listening to Your Improv Brain,

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a StereoForest production.

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The show is created and is written, edited,

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and produced by Jen of StereoForest.com.

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You can find show information, show notes, transcripts,

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and contact information at the show's page

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at stereoforest.com/improvbrain.

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Thanks for listening.

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(birds chirping)

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