Stanford Adjunct Teaches Better Communication Through Improv
Stanford’s Graduate School of Business recently published an interview with People Rocket founder Richard Cox, whose cutting-edge management design firm employs techniques from improvisational theater to advise corporate leaders. Executives from Google and JPMorgan Chase depend on Cox so they can “get other people to take actions.”
Cox is currently teaching a course at Stanford GSB on “group dynamics and body language” entitled Acting with Power. Cox hopes his course, which promises to impart the “the secret language of power that will help students project authority while remaining true to themselves,” will help future leaders become more “skilled in relationships, in influence, and in communication.”
“Effective business communication is all about acting and reacting in a sort of emotional feedback loop. Every social cue is an offer, and then you get to respond to that offer, and that offer comes back to me.”
Cox, whose improv troupe, Fully Improvised, performs full-length plays in the style of David Mamet, and musicals in the style of Stephen Sondheim, is uniquely qualified to take on the challenge of teaching leaders how to pick up and respond to nonverbal offers. “That’s the nature of improv; we’re constantly making it up, all the time. That’s why it’s a really useful tool, because nobody gets a script to start their day.”
Cox asks students to ponder how a small group at a cocktail party might collectively and non-verbally react to a potential new associate. “That circle is either going to open up and invite that person in, or it’s going to close ranks. It’s not because the group holds a vote. It’s just six or seven people reacting to small verbal cues and nonverbal cues, simultaneously.”
Cox is quick to point out that “humans are hard-wired for that kind of communication. If I just start smiling a little more, you’re likely going to start smiling.” But there’s a distinction between “faking it ‘til you make it” and embodying your power.
“Acting is about finding a truthful place. Everyone can be authentically authoritative, or authentically approachable. My authentic power is different than yours, which is different than everyone else. But it’s truthful.”
Check out a more extensive chat with Cox here.
About the Author
Jonathan Pfeffer
Jonathan Pfeffer joined the Clear Admit and MetroMBA teams in 2015 after spending several years as an arts/culture writer, editor, and radio producer. In addition to his role as contributing writer at MetroMBA and contributing editor at Clear Admit, he is co-founder and lead producer of the Clear Admit MBA Admissions Podcast. He holds a BA in Film/Video, Ethnomusicology, and Media Studies from Oberlin College.
