Emotional Intelligence

“Another area where humans excel is EQ – our ability to be aware of, control, and express our emotions as well as understanding the emotions of others. This ability will remain essential as long as there are humans in the workforce since it influences every interaction we have with one another.” Human Resources Online

There’s a lot of research out there on the many different emotions. I like to boil it down to the four basic emotions. I mean, it’s a place to start, right? I borrowed an exercise I learned from Jimmy Carrane when I’m coaching an improv team. The gist is, we have a choice of our emotional reaction in a scene, and, for the purpose of the exercise, you can choose from fear, anger, sadness, or joy. And, not only are we choosing our emotional response, we’re paying attention to our scene partner to understand which emotion they are feeling. 

Then, we go line by line, making an emotional reaction to the last line said. It may sound something like this:

Player A: I think we should break up. (joy)

Player B: (emotional reaction) Oh, thank God. I can finally travel. (joy)

Player A: (emotional reaction) My apartment will be claen. (joy)

...and so on. Work with me, since that’s a simplified version.

Often times, I’ll let a scene go and then restart it at the top. Like this:

Player A: I think we should break up. (sad)

Player B: (a different emotional reaction) I’ll be all alone. (fear)

Player A: (a different emotional reaction) That will give you space to grow. (joy)

By choosing an emotional reaction, that leads to discovery about each other, the relationship, and ourselves. 

This idea, that we can identify emotions in others while choosing our emotional response, is the heart of emotional intelligence. The need for emotional intelligence is so strong that the education world is now emphasizing SEL (Social and Emotional Learning) and finding ways to integrate SEL into all content areas. 

Using applied improvisation, we can teach emotional intelligence. Working in a safe environment, such as a rehearsal or corporate workshop, we can slow down and take time to choose recognize emotions as well as choosing our own emotional reaction. Do know, it takes practice. Practice with a coach that provides that safe environment and encourages participants. 

And, it takes dedication from those participants. They need to be willing to step outside their comfort zone, take risks, and actively listen to feedback. All things we teach in an applied improvisation workshop.

Emotional intelligence is a necessary skill when dealing with customers, co-workers, staff, friends, and family. We need to learn to slow down to go fast and build those life-long relationships.