An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Know what you don’t know. You are speaking to people for a reason — to share something you know that maybe they don’t. But it is just as powerful to stay open to the negative space of your knowledge, the gaps that are filled in by curiosity, and by what you can learn in and after your talk. Be authoritative, not authoritarian. I love when I am teaching improv and people have an experience I didn’t expect or haven’t seen before. I can learn from that and carry it into my next class.
At some point in our lives, many of us will have to give a talk to a large group of people. What does it take to be a highly effective public speaker? How can you improve your public speaking skills? How can you overcome a fear of speaking in public? What does it take to give a very interesting and engaging public talk? In this interview series called “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker” we are talking to successful and effective public speakers to share insights and stories from their experience. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Natalie Sullivan.
Natalie Sullivan has taught, coached, and performed improvisational theatre for over 20 years. She trained in Chicago at The Second City, iO Chicago, and ComedySportz theatres, and performed and wrote sketch comedy as a Second City Touring Company cast member. In 2014, she relocated to Las Vegas, where she co-founded the Vegas Theatre Hub, developing their improv program curriculum and producing several shows. Over the pandemic, Natalie and her partner, Ryan Neufeld, began online improv training “for being a human” through their company Vegas Improv Power. Since they reopened their in-person classes, VIP coaches individuals and organizations in the art of Functional Improv™, which focuses on the communication aspect of improvisational theatre as a means to practice human connection in the real world. She lives in Las Vegas with Ryan and her two daughters, Lily and Jo.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?
I was born in Denver, CO, but we moved to Florida when I was 8 years old, and just kept moving from there. Since we uprooted so often throughout my childhood (Colorado to Florida to The USVI to Mississippi to Alabama and back to Florida, a total of 9 schools), I don’t consider any place my hometown except for my eventual adult home of Chicago. With all the moving and changing of schools, I feel I developed a talent for connecting to new people quickly. I learned how to present myself as individual while also being able to chameleon myself into a setting appropriately. And that was a challenge, going from the culture of the Virgin Islands to a small town in Mississippi. I learned to feel comfortable with change.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I was cast in my first school play in kindergarten, mostly as a result of my being able to read and memorize well for my age. I knew from that first production (The Elves and the Shoemaker) that I loved acting onstage. I continued to pursue theatre through college, when, at the University of Florida, I took Improvisation of Social and Political Issues as a theatre elective. Wait, I can act without a script?? It was amazing. I knew immediately that this was what I want to do forever in some form. After graduation I moved to Chicago and began taking classes and auditioning all over town. After about two and half years of classes and shows, I finally landed my first professional improv job with the mainstage ensemble of ComedySportz Chicago.
Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
I have taught all levels of performers and non-performers to use improv, either onstage or in everyday work and life. I am fascinated by why people take classes and how it affects them, and I am still constantly surprised. One of my students at my former theatre was a professional clown with the Cirque du Soleil. She always brought a unique perspective to class due to her life and performance experience. After 3 levels of improv class (24 weeks total), each class gave a show in our 50-seat-max space. At the 10-minute call for this student’s class performance, she crept to the crack in the stage flat and looked out — she knew well that if you could see them, they could see you, so she carefully stayed in the shadow. She gasped, retreated back to the green room, and nervously said, “There are so many people. I hope I can do this.” She was dead serious. I stepped out to look, and there were about 12 people scattered through the house. I marveled at how a professionally trained performer who played before literally a thousand people per night could be nervous about a dozen. I realized that a) she probably couldn’t see faces in a dark see of Cirque goers, and b) doing something new and challenging can always be scary, even to the most seasoned professional. Never assume someone’s inner experience.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I have had many inspiring and insanely talented improv coaches and teachers, it is hard to single out just one. However, one coach I had early in my performance years stands out for what he imparted me as an improviser. His name was Evan, and he was my first Harold team coach at iO Chicago. The Harold teams were house teams made up of students graduated from their training program, and we played shows 2–4 times per month on their mainstage, which had been graced by people like Chris Farley and Amy Poehler, so it could feel intimidating to us new kids. Evan taught us that if we followed this guideline, our shows would be successful: be simple, honest, focused, and supportive. If you could say your scene work was all four of those things, you could be proud of your work. And the side effect would also be great comedy and fun. I have long carried those four words with me into my shows, classes, and workshops, and they mean everything to me to this day.
You have been blessed with great success in a career path that can be challenging and intimidating. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of failure?
Improv, or any performance career, is a challenge, mostly because so much of it is not your decision. You put yourself dangerously out on a limb to be either elevated or knocked to the ground sometimes daily. In the arts, you can feel like everything is out of your hands and rejection is around every corner. This is why I am so grateful for improv, where failure is embraced and practiced in a safe space. We say in class that “mistakes are gifts” which means that when you do or say something unexpected you are now on a path you did not plan, and therefore you can discover new worlds. In that way, what is meant to be finds you, and you can learn to let go of control and trust the unknown. That practice helps when life throws curveballs.
What drives you to get up everyday and give your talks? What is the main empowering message that you aim to share with the world?
I am driven to share connection. I think people like to go about their plans with blinders on when there are opportunities to observe and connect everywhere. My two main messages as an improv coach are “be a human” and “know this about you.” The first is simply to be you rather than constantly rehearsing lines you think you are supposed to say. And the second, is to constantly observe your behavior in small, spontaneous interactions. Improv exercises create a lab in which you can know how to react when certain rules are applied. Do you reflexively say no? Do you look to help others? What can you learn about you every day?
You have such impressive work. What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? Where do you see yourself heading from here?
I am proud to have facilitated several sessions of Improv for Caregivers through The Second City in partnership with the Cleveland Clinic. In these sessions, I worked with family caregivers of those with brain diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinsons, and the like. We used improv exercises to help the caregivers better connect with their family members, with each other, and to practice self-care. It is the most rewarding work I have done as coach, to be a part of the most difficult facet of someone’s life and offer unique support. It reinforces to me that improv is a life skill, and that the work Ryan and I do with Vegas Improv Power is so much bigger than a stage.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
A phrase I have developed and used over the years is, “There is no right or wrong, only weak or strong.” It is a way for me to tell my students and colleagues that we don’t simply make black and white, good or bad choices on stage or in life. Instead, each choice is simply a weak or strong way to support your bigger objective.
Ok, thank you for all that. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker?” Please share a story or example for each.
- Know what you know.
Be prepared. Have an inside book knowledge, as well as a malleable working knowledge of whatever you are presenting or discussing. Knowing what you know builds a strong base of confidence to put yourself out there in front of other people. As a scripted actor, I knew that having my lines memorized gave me the freedom to embrace the character; as an improviser, my practiced skills helped me feel ready to play. In front of a crowd, you must feel the steady assurance: “I know what I am talking about.”
2. Know what you don’t know.
You are speaking to people for a reason — to share something you know that maybe they don’t. But it is just as powerful to stay open to the negative space of your knowledge, the gaps that are filled in by curiosity, and by what you can learn in and after your talk. Be authoritative, not authoritarian. I love when I am teaching improv and people have an experience I didn’t expect or haven’t seen before. I can learn from that and carry it into my next class.
3. Care about what are saying.
Facts without feelings have a place, but public speaking and presentation isn’t that place. Engaging with an audience, class, or group is best done when you care passionately about what you present. Memory and learning are triggered by emotion. I have had many people over the years choose to take a class or workshop because they observed my passion for improv. Draw people in with your feeling, and they stay for the facts.
4. Comfort in discomfort.
People assume that good public speakers are comfortable onstage or in front of a crowd. That may be true — but great public speakers thrive in a healthy level of discomfort. Motivational “nerves” truly energize a great presenter. You must feel a little bit anxious to be driven to focus. I can feel tired, worried, or even under-prepared, but the adrenaline surge I feel in front of a crowd of people is always what pushes me out of a lukewarm frying pan and into the fire.
5. Connection.
When I coach scenic improv, a question I ask is, “Why are we seeing this? Why is this moment of these character’s lives important enough to be playing out in front of people?” If you aren’t speaking or presenting to connect to other humans, then…why? We share knowledge, information, and advice to connect, to share our common human experience.
As you know, many people are terrified of speaking in public. Can you give some of your advice about how to overcome this fear?
Speaking is not simply a spotlight on you as a presenter, it is a collaborative exchange. I personally have always liked attention, so being onstage is not a fear for me. However, my experience as a presenter was deeply enriched when, as an improviser, I started to see public speaking as an exchange. If you are afraid to speak, try seeing your audience as the other half of a conversation, and that pressure may feel a bit less.
You are a person of huge influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?
I believe strongly in the power of “yes, and.” I think if more people, more often said, “yes, and” there would be a huge shift. Yes, and isn’t blind agreement. I am not suggesting you simply say yes to everything. That would be reckless and not in people’s best interest for sure. Yes, and means yes, I acknowledge your feelings and where you are coming from, and I want to add to it. NOT a counterpoint, not a “fix.” A true “and.” Yes, you are feeling angry about the issue we are on opposite sides of — and, I feel angry too for the opposite reasons. Let’s notice our feelings are the same, and then acknowledge the facts and see what is possible. So many of us are living in reflexive no, for defense or revenge, or whatever reasons. There is a better way on the other side of yes, and.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
Brene Brown. Her work on presence, shame, mindfulness, and her ability to communicate the science is amazing. My company, Vegas Improv Power hosted a four week Improv Book Club featuring her book The Gifts of Imperfection, which embodies improv so well. We embrace mistakes as a path to change.
Are you on social media? How can our readers follow you online?
I am on IG as @natalinasp and my company as @vegasimprovpower
This was so informative, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
Natalie Sullivan Of Vegas Improv Power On 5 Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Public Speaker was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
