Out today in The Fulcrum, former elected official Joey Novick and I write that every political candidate and public figure needs improv training. Why? Here’s an excerpt from our article:

“The term ‘improv’ can bring up many different associations, so it’s important to clarify exactly what we mean here. In the political world, we see two extremes that continue to make for poor campaigning and governing: being overly scripted and robotic, or being completely unscripted and winging it. An adaptive, improvisational mindset walks a line between both approaches.

In a telling analysis of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, Jonathan Allen and Amie Parnes note how ‘the candidate who eschewed unscripted interactions with voters gave speeches that failed to connect her to a cause larger than herself.’ In a post-campaign reflection on the Graham Norton show, Clinton shared as much herself, saying how in a presidential campaign redo she would not have withheld her genuine stories or capacities to observe, connect and establish greater presence with voters.

Yes, there were many more factors involved in that election, but at least one basic lesson shouldn’t be missed: Every candidate and public figure needs to work on practicing adaptiveness and mindfulness, in a ‘state of active, open attention to the present,’ sensing or responding to what’s actually happening in the moment with constituents. . . .

On the other hand, a completely opposite approach to campaigning and governance is also rife throughout our political environment. Whatever one thinks of former President Donald Trump, it’s widely agreed that his main mode is completely off-the-cuff (to the point of often making stuff up). And it’s not just Trump — plenty of other public figures have engaged in this style.

While it might seem that winging it is ‘improvisational,’ this approach is actually disconnected from the broader environment and humanity, channeling self-focused and often pre-ordained conclusions. That kind of improvising does not do well because it’s closed to what’s outside oneself, rather than responding to ‘offers’ all around — like the contribution the woman Joey met made to his overall learning and political run. Unmoored spontaneity lacks an outward focus that approaches people and issues with an ability to learn something new, pivot from mistakes, or deal with the developing nuances of different situations.”