Peter Margaritis, The Accidental Accountant

Humor as a Healer

July 12, 2016June 29, 2016 From the desk of Peter Margaritis

So many workplaces seem devoid of humor. I ask my audiences, “When was the last time your coworkers burst out into laughter and it wasn’t at your expense?” The answer definitely depends on your culture and your colleagues.

All too often, stress is the reason for all that office ennui. People are in survival mode, just trying to get through till quitting time. In fact, when you’re facing a tough deadline or enduring an impossible task, the last thing you probably want to hear is some joker saying, “Hey, did you hear the one about the priest, the rabbi, and Bill Clinton walking into a bar?” You want to rip their tonsils out.

A regular dose of laughter, however, reduces stress, and it’s desirable. In fact, a Forbes article written by Jacquelyn Smith cited a few statistics that validate the importance of humor, “A Robert Half International survey, for instance, found that 91% of executives believe a sense of humor is important for career advancement; while 84% feel that people with a good sense of humor do a better job. Another study by Bell Leadership Institute found that the two most desirable traits in leaders were a strong work ethic and a good sense of humor.”

There is the unknown of being the person to initiate – will your coworkers think it’s funny? Will anyone be offended? Will they join in on the banter? However, as you make the effort to get to know your team members, you’ll soon be able to determine your comedic boundaries. Remember, wit and humor is appreciated, and it’s needed! So, let yourself laugh, doing so will reduce your stress and helps others reduce theirs. Laughter is the proven antidote, and it comes naturally when the company culture is conducive to it – be a part of it!

Learn more about how improv principles can improve your career by tuning into my new podcast series Improv is No Joke, available on iTunes, Stitcher, and my website.

Confronting the Uncomfortable

June 28, 2016June 27, 2016 From the desk of Peter Margaritis

I’ve been constantly reminded of the need to understand our limits. As a diabetic, for example, I have to listen to what my body is telling me all the time. If my blood sugar is calling for me to tweak my schedule, I must listen and adapt. When you are aware of the signals, no matter your specific situation, you will know what to do—and that’s true whether you’re trying to pick up on the messages that your body is sending you or on the messages that an audience is sending you. It is the awareness itself that plays a major role in reducing stress.

Improvisation and awareness has helped me manage stress so that I can take better care of myself – allowing me to better respond and plan my next step. The skills of improv clearly are a strength in times of crisis. As you listen, assess, and adapt to each scenario presented to you, you can more effectively overcome anything. And, as you do it more and more, you become confident that you are indeed able to deal with a situation. As a result, your confidence increases…while your stress decreases.

If you understand that you can control how your body reacts to a medical condition, then you should also be able to understand that you can control feelings of anxiety when confronted with a new and uncomfortable situation. We all have found ourselves facing appearances we might prefer to avoid, whether we’re called into the office or hauled into court or going on a job interview or delivering a speech. Again, you have the power to silence that inner critic’s prognostications of impending failure. Tell yourself, “Yes, this feels difficult for me, and I can do it.”

We must do a lot of things that we don’t want to tackle. Those tasks become much harder if we cop a bad attitude. “I hate talking to people and networking” will defeat any chance of doing well at such activities. There is a huge difference between “I will do the best I can” and “This is going to fail.” If you adopt a better attitude, one that doesn’t broadcast defeat, you might actually find that you are doing pretty well. You can feel good about your accomplishment.

Whether your stress results from a physical condition or something else, so much depends on your ability to perceive things positively. Either you win, or you let the stress win. Your choice.

Learn more about how improv principles can improve your career by taking the Yes, And Challenge. Sign-up at www.petermargaritis.com and share your experience on Twitter and Facebook using #YesAndChallenge.

Be Prepared for ANYTHING with These Two Tips

June 14, 2016 From the desk of Peter Margaritis

I once spoke at the Arizona Society of CPAs accounting conference, arriving about an hour early for my presentation. I’ve made that my practice so that I can get a feel for the room, make sure all the electronics are working, and do one more review of what I will say.

“Can you go on now?” my contact asked me as I walked through the door. “The 8 o’clock speaker isn’t here yet—we think he got lost on the way.” And so within five minutes I was plugged in, miked up, and speaking. I did a few ice breakers to loosen everybody up, and then we dove into the material.

This was a perfect example of you’ll never know what’s going to happen. As such, you need to be able to adapt to almost any situation. You must prepare so that you don’t miss a beat. But, how do you get to that place where you can easily adapt?

Here are two improvisation tips for you to integrate into your tool kit of preparedness:

Silence Your Inner-Critic and Silence Your Fears – We’re all familiar with it, the voice that tells you you’re not good enough, not smart enough, that you shouldn’t be here. The inner critic is always at work, but there is something about public speaking that turns it up. For many, the closer you get to the appointed time when you must speak, the louder and more incessant the critic becomes. What can you do? You have to change the lines and start programming your brain to use “yes, and…” instead of “yes, but…” When you do, you develop confidence. You tell yourself, “I can do this,” and the more times you repeat it, the more you will believe it. Here are a few examples of how to incorporate this line of thinking: “Yes, I know I will make mistakes, and they will not hamper me. Yes, I will not be perfect, and that means I can only get better.”

Being Ready for the Unexpected – Can you really do that though? The unexpected means you can’t prepare for it. However, you can put yourself in a position to more successfully deal with what comes your way. Preparing for what you do know or what you can control will help give you the confidence to adapt and wing-it if necessary. Set aside extra time to get to your meeting or event; prepare your presentation a few more times in different settings; write out possible ideas or anecdotes before meetings new people. Doing your best to prepare first, will actually allow you to be better at spontaneity.

Improv is really changing your mind-set to stay calm and stress-free with the confidence of preparation supporting your ability to adapt. As you practice these skills you’ll no doubt become even more comfortable – and possibly even crave! – the unknown.

Start changing your mind-set today by taking the Yes, And Challenge. Sign-up at www.petermargaritis.com and share your experience on Twitter and Facebook using #YesAndChallenge.

Negotiating with Improv

May 23, 2016March 1, 2016 From the desk of Peter Margaritis

Negotiation skills are critical to be successful in life. Whether your negotiating with a toddler, or an important prospect for your firm, knowing how to reach a win-win scenario takes skill. Conducting a successful negotiation requires six major skills—and those skills are really based on the principles of improvisation.

Take your ego off the table.

To succeed in negotiations, we need to take the egos off the table and drop our agendas long enough to truly listen—and with respect for all involved. Don’t come in assuming you have the right answer. Negotiation is an activity between you and another person – not you and yourself.

Respect the other party.

This goes right along with the previous principle of taking your ego off the table. Take the time to learn about who you’re negotiating with. What is important to them? What are they trying to accomplish in negotiating with you? Doing this will help you come to the negotiation prepared to comprise, and feel good about it.

Be in the moment (focus).

As I have stressed in other posts, it is important to be committed to the moment you are in. As an actor, if I’m asked to be a tree – well, I’d better commit to being a pretty great tree. The same goes for your negotiation. Come prepared, come willing to listen to the other party and be prepared for the unexpected. You can only do these things if you are focused and committed to the moment.

Listen to the other party’s needs and wants.

In a previous post, I wrote about the importance of listening to understand, not to respond. Of all the situations where that is important – this would be one of them. And remember, this is not just listening with your ears, but with your eyes. Especially important in negotiations is the ability to read emotions and feelings of those involved. Listening, watching, and understanding what the other party needs and wants will help you respond effectively.

Adapt to the situation.

You’ve done your research on all the different possible arguments against your position, you’ve studied out and tried to understand the party you’re negotiating with and you are committed to the moment, you should automatically be a shoe-in to “win” – or get what you want from the negotiation, right? Well, maybe – but you still don’t know what exactly the other party wants, which is why listening is so important so that you can then ADAPT to any unforeseeable changes. It’s just a fact of life, things are unpredictable. So as paradoxical as it sounds, try to prepare yourself for the unexpected – be focused on the moment and go with it as it comes, being confident that you’ve put in the effort to be prepared as much as possible.

Yes, and…

When you do your homework and are able to identify the possible “yes, but…” statements that will most likely be made, you can create strategies to provide “yes, ands…” for each of those concerns. By recognizing a potential objective, you can create a solution that diffuses the issue.

Learn more about how you can leverage improv to improve your career and future negotiations – visit www.improvisnojoke.com today and download a free chapter of my book, Improv is No Joke.

A Secret to Business Success

May 9, 2016March 1, 2016 From the desk of Peter Margaritis

In the world of improv, people talk a lot about commitment. You need to be fully committed to your character. If you’re going to be the tree, be the best tree that you can be. If you’re going to be a crazy game show host, be the craziest. Be fully committed to that character.

That’s a lesson for businesses, too. If you don’t have the passion for what you’re selling, then you’re not going to sell it. Suppose you’re trying to sell those clickers that speakers use in their presentations. “Hey, would you like to buy this clicker? It helps in presentations, and it has a couple of useful buttons. What do you say?” You’re bound to not get a positive response. You haven’t shown passion or energy. You haven’t communicated that this is the world’s best clicker, that everyone should have one, and what your clicker has meant to you personally.

It’s hard to fake enthusiasm and enthusiasm is what sells. The customer is looking for passion behind the words. In my nontechnical presentations, people can see my passion. Unfortunately, most technical topics and presentations are delivered in a dry, monotone manner. So how do you infuse enthusiasm no matter what you’re talking about? Seek to understand your audience and what matters to them.

When somebody contacts me about the possibility of doing a presentation, I ask a lot of questions:

“What are the issues you are facing?
What kinds of presentations have you been offering, on what topics?”
“What is your expectation after the two hours that I present? What behaviors are you trying to change? Which issues should I address, and what do you wish me to stay away from?”

In essence, I try to customize what I’m supposed to present that way it’s not canned and it’s personalized for the intended audience. Providing a canned approach is not going to be beneficial for either party – it’s certainly not going to enthuse them.

This approach is not only applicable to larger presentations, it is just as important for your smaller one-on-one interactions with clients and prospects. You need to understand your audience. What are their needs and wants, and what behaviors are they trying to change, modify, or enhance?

Be committed to each client and prospect you have the responsibility to meet with – doing so will force you to ask better questions, dig deeper into what they really need and allow you to be the best tree/crazy gameshow host/financial advisor you can be.

Learn more about how you can leverage improv to improve your career – visit www.improvisnojoke.com today and download a free chapter of my book, Improv is No Joke. Need a keynote? Contact me today and let’s talk about what you need.