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When you perform an improv, you give your scene partner gifts. And these gifts essentially are things that

make the scene that you're building together better. Like you're naming a character, or you're

describing your relationship, like your two jealous siblings, or you're adding a detail that sets the

space where you are, like a casino bar. And if you're making podcast episodes or videos, what you make

functions in a very similar way within the community that you're in.

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you're a part of. You're adding to it in a way that makes it better, but in a way that lets you function within

the community in a really unique way. So in those improv scenes, we give and we take, in the good scenes at

least. So I might give a gift of the location where we're at, that casino bar, but I might also receive a gift,

which is some really important information about my character. Say I work in that casino and I actually

really love my job, unlike the rest of the

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the staff. So my scene partner added that as a gift to me and I didn't have to think about that. I didn't have to

work. My scene partner had to work. They had to think of it. But say if the scene is really lopsided like one

player takes up all the space in the scene or a player doesn't put anything in at all that scene is not going to

be great. Like if you try to control or force that gift exchange the energy is

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just way off. And the audience, your listener, can certainly sense that kind of energy. So that give and

that take is healthy in any transactional relationship, work or play or whatever else. And often when we

give these things without setting expectations around them, those relationships form naturally and in a

really healthy way. And you end up receiving gifts back. You provide this value to the community and that

community trust.

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you and maybe forms a relationship that benefits your business as well. So if you're worried about sharing

information or value without knowing if you will ever see a return for that effort, the thing that works for

me is don't try too hard to control that. And at least notice the balance between the gifts and the asks.

Because if you're all doing teasers and not full on value, but you're asking for people's email addresses

or something like that,

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All you did was promote in a community, then the balance might be off. So think about what you would want to

see in these situations. And sometimes it's best to lead with that. I'm Jen DeHaan, and this is a

Credibility Minute. Find more episodes or get in touch with me at stereoforest.com slash minute.