Smartleese Creative

Improv Tools for Idea Generation

Smartleese Creative brings together the talents and expertise of Lee Smart and Lindsay Leese who have been collaborating since 1996. Creativity is their business. Their innovative creations entertain, educate and inspire.

Bio
Topics
Training

Both are alumni of The Second City, North America's renowned improvisation and sketch comedy theatre, where they spent years honing their skills in idea generation. From on-the-spot improvisational inspiration to refining and road testing the final product, they have collaboratively created hundreds of live shows and corporate entertainment productions. For television, they are the creators of "The 5thQuadrant" (Comedy & Space Network) and "Cream of Comedy" (The Comedy Network since 1998).You may recognize their faces as actors from television, film and commercials. Both have lengthy credits which can be viewed on the Internet Movie Data Base (IMDB).

As workshop facilitators, Lindsay and Lee draw upon their experience and know-how as entertainers, innovators and educators. They have provided their training, writing, acting and directing services to Second City Communications and event planners across Canada for the past fifteen years. Smartleese Creative Inc. also includes "PitchCraft" presentation skills training, individual presentation coaching, and new business pitch directing. (click on "Communication and Presentation Skills" on the Speaker's Spotlight Learning and Development page to view PitchCraft's "On Your Feet" workshop)

Please see Learning & Development for more information.

1. Improve Idea Lab

Duration: Half Day, Full Day
Target Audiences: Business Teams in Need of Fresh Ideas and Innovative Approaches

“If you want creative workers, give them time to play." John Cleese

Improv Idea Lab opens your team\'s brains and attitudes with fun improvisational methods. The correlation between play and creativity has been proven, and Idea Lab creates the atmosphere and provides the tools to cook up fresh ideas - lots of them.

Smartleese Creative workshop leaders Lee Smart and Lindsay Leese have years of experience training corporate clients in improvisational skills which enhance communication, build strong teams, develop the ability to collaborate, quickly adapt to change, innovate and take creative risks.

This half or full day workshop combines lively interactive improvisational methods with the goal of generating ideas which meet specific and relevant business objectives. Improv Idea Lab is designed to create a culture of innovation and transform the idea generation process.

Fun exercises foster dialogue, collaboration, and a functional sense of play. Participants are encouraged to suspend judgment and tap into their intuition. Spontaneous activities ignite creativity, trigger discoveries, and delight.

Improv Idea Lab provides an effective and enduring method to increase the quality and quantity of ideas. Your team will produce viable ideas, kick-starting practical applications and moving your team in a positive new direction.

Orientation and overview
Warm up - igniting the spirit of \"play\"
Resistance purge - deferring judgment
Getting in sync - cultivating collaboration
Improvisation building blocks
Innovation and creative risk-taking games
Focused idea generation session
Idea exploration and refinement
Practical applications
Debrief

2. "On Your Feet" Presentation Skills Workshop

Duration: Half Day, Full Day
Target Audiences: Executives, Managers, Public Relations, Marketing and Sales Professionals

"On Your Feet" is an engaging and constructive Presentation Skills workshop. Participants improve their 'performance' by experiencing fun, active presentation exercises, improvisational techniques and stagecraft tips designed to maximize a presenter's confidence and style. Individuals receive honest and supportive feedback to identify and build on performance strengths and minimize drawbacks. The "On Your Feet" workshop provides lasting, easy-to-apply skills and a safe, enjoyable opportunity to grow and develop as a communicator.
"On Your Feet" is an engaging and constructive Presentation Skills workshop offered in either 3 or 6 hours formats for up to fourteen people. Participants improve their 'performance' by experiencing fun, active presentation exercises, improvisational techniques and stagecraft tips designed to maximize a presenter's confidence and style. Individuals receive honest and supportive feedback to identify and build on performance strengths and minimize drawbacks.

The "On Your Feet" workshop provides lasting, easy-to-apply skills and a safe, enjoyable opportunity to grow and develop as a communicator.

Topics Include:

Performance preparation
First impressions: making 'friends' with the audience
Silent communication and body language
Develop physical, vocal and emotional expression
Credibility and authenticity
Delivering with intention, energy and enthusiasm
Visual aids - help vs. hindrance
The use of demonstration, interaction and story
Duration and pacing
Assess and adapt to the audience
Manage challenging audience behaviour
Use improvisation techniques to think quickly on your feet when responding to questions
Connecting speaker knowledge to the needs of the audience

3. Train the Trainer Programme - Coaching the Foundations of Presentation Success

Duration: Two Day Minimum
Target Audiences: Managers, Trainers, Human Resource Professionals

This customized training program prepares managers and internal trainers to share presentation performance skills with their team by learning to understand and experience the elements of a winning presentation, recognize presentation pitfalls, provide techniques to achieve a desired outcome, and develop their ability to give constructive feedback. Specific areas in need of training are identified, and training is customized to meet specific needs and goals.
This customized training program prepares managers and internal trainers to share presentation performance skills with their team by learning to:

understand and experience the elements of a winning presentation
recognize presentation pitfalls
provide techniques to achieve a desired outcome
develop their ability to give constructive feedback
Customized "Train the Trainer" programmes are developed and delivered in three stages.

Preparation:
Identify specific areas in need of training. Determine the timeframe and format in which it will be delivered. Create an outline of communication and presentation training customized to specific needs and goals.

Training:
Build presentation skills of trainers. Create a deeper understanding of the qualities and skills of an effective presenter, along with the theory behind the techniques. Prepare trainers to be successful coaches who can provide their teams with fundamental presentation skills.

Follow up:
Test and practice the techniques with volunteers to build coaching skills. Acquire the necessary confidence to model the behaviours they wish their teams to develop.

Key components to PitchCraft Training:

Making a positive impression

The presentation before the presentation, interpersonal skills - initiating and building rapport.
Listening to understand and responding in the moment
The 'right' kind of eye contact
Communicating without words- recognizing positive and negative body language
Communicating with physical and emotional expression
Credibility, confidence, and conviction
Delivering with intention, energy and enthusiasm
Helping the listener understand and retain the message

Know your audience
Connecting your knowledge to your listener's needs
Preparation - rehearsal on your feet and in your mind
Message intent, structure and clarity
Visual aids- help or hindrance?
The importance of demonstration and interaction
The use of story to make your points
Duration and pacing
Converting data into description
Language choice
Troubleshooting

Managing anxiety
Adjusting to the unexpected
Respecting and finding opportunities in resistance
Reading your audience
Managing challenging audience behaviours
Using improvisational techniques to handle questions
Train the Trainer: Sharing Presentation Skills

Developing trust
Understanding presenter styles
Encouraging self-awareness in presenters without creating self-consciousness
Maximizing presenter strengths by identifying and encouraging positive styles
Guiding presenters to solutions with questions, dialogue and example
Offering feedback- the power of praise, the kindness of truth
Being sincere, specific and supportive
Separating observation from judgment by focusing on behaviours; not character, attitude or personality
Acting on your words: being a good role model
Dealing with defensiveness

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