9 Reasons Why Every Conference Needs More Introverted Experiences

Two years ago, I attended the Applied Improvisation Network (AIN) world conference in San Francisco. I had a blast: great games, provocative insights, big ideas, and loads of interaction with amazing yes-sayers from around the world. I also had trouble catching my breath. The conference designers that year had packed each day full with amazing workshop after amazing workshop, with little time for integration or even travel from space to space. Most sessions were loud with laughter too. Those of you who also count yourself among the introvert tribe won’t be surprised that all that heady excitement came with an exhaustion price tag. As I’m ramping up to head to this year’s AIN conference in Austin, Texas this November, I’m hoping the session planners will make more space for introverts by including more silence, more breaks, more opportunities for self-reflection and longer transition times.

Here are nine reasons why.

1)    Participants get the chance for greater processing and integration of what they learn. As yoga teacher Patty Townsend asserts: all learning, growth and evolution happens in cycles of work and rest. The mug of learning can only take so much tea before new information spills over the edges. Continuous inhalation only makes us dizzy. Real meaning and real learning comes when we enjoy the tea before adding more. Real integration happens when we allow an exhale as well. And, importantly, this is true for introverts and extroverts alike.

2)    More reflection allows for greater depth. When we skim straight from one full-throttle experience to another, we rarely get the chance to dig in. In order to keep up, we have to stay in motion. With all that action, the muddied waters never settle to clarity. If we stay still for a bit, however, we eventually see further into the bottom of our explorations, finding new, different—and often more creative—insights than we found on the surface.

3)    Multiple learning modes activate different parts of the brain. If teachers only engage students through the written word, for example, they let all sorts of intelligence lie dormant or, worse, atrophy. In contrast, when group leaders offer the opportunity to “study” through movement and music or through silence and contemplation, they open the door for a much wider range of potential neural pathways. We get more versatile in our thinking, more flexible in our creativity. We need more than extroverted experiences for the same reason.

4)    Introverts will feel more welcome. For an introvert, having to “work” a crowd in a loud room can feel like having to scratch a blackboard while getting a vaccination shot. Make that a crowd of mostly exuberant and charming improvisors and the process only gets more intimidating. Building in quiet time or opportunities for introspection tells those introverts “We value you too. We’re glad you’re here as well.” And that welcome builds more courage for fuller participation.

5)    You draw out insightful voices you might otherwise miss out on. Introverts and shy folks (two overlapping, but not identical sets) make as many great connections as do those who speak more freely and forcefully. Without a conscious effort to make space for—or to invite—those voices, however, other conference participants never hear that deeper wisdom. The introverts may scribble journal notes for future consideration or have select conversations over a quiet dinner, but most session-goers never get access to those valuable musings.

Susan Cain, author of Quiet:The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking , articulates why it makes sense to encourage participation from introverts.

 

6)    You lose out on selling opportunities. Many decision-makers in all sorts of organizations are introverts. Like any other professional group selling their services, applied improvisors need to make connections with such decision-makers in order to earn business. Giving those extroversion-tending consultants and trainers greater fluency in the quieter tones introvert-sensitive language will help them earn more business.

7)    You help international folks draw more from their conference experience. If you’ve travelled to a country where you’re new to the language, you know how exhausting that can be. You also know just how much of a difference it makes when the natives speak…slowly. Here’s where periods of silence again can make  a big difference. Whether it’s a more spacious 10 minutes between conference sessions to integrate what just happened or a brief pause at the end of a sentence to catch up with one’s internal translator, little gaps help the internationals take in all that’s going down as well.

8)    Greater spaciousness allows for more open hearts. If you want to spot the beauty of a rare bird or the grace of a wild animal, you can’t go crashing through the woods. The same is true for the tenderness of our more authentic—and more vulnerable—selves. Sometimes the soul shows up through animated play or vibrant music. Other times, it needs wider stretches of patient silence. Connecting with our deepest selves and with the same in others makes for truly memorable learning experiences. When we really know and are known, we grow.

9)    What comes last matters just as much as what comes first. At a well-paced conference, I have as much attention to offer the final session as I did the first. In fact, each experience builds on the previous ones to a triumphant whole. At a more breathless conference, in contrast, I find myself glazing over or checking out during late-afternoon gatherings. My mind stumbles and lurches, zombie-like, to what I’ll have for dinner or to the oddly-soothing drone of my e-mail box—really, to anything other than the new information I’m trying to take in. I always feel badly for those late-session presenters, knowing that everyone needs a break. Thankfully, when I am that presenter, I can draw on a few reliable tools that restore some psychic balance before trying to pass along any additional lesson.

Don’t get me wrong: a rich buffet of delicious offerings can make any conference a delight. When you’ve only got a few hours or a few days with all these great people, you want to squeeze what you can out of each opportunity. That said, there’s a wisdom in finding a balance. Draw on the energy of the extroverts and ask for the depth of the introverts. That’s when the conference becomes most unforgettable. That’s where you get true transformation.

This summer’s Improv Wisdom for a Meaningful Life workshop that I’ll lead in northern California with my dear friend and colleague Lisa Rowland will make ample space for introverts and extroverts alike. Click on the link at the beginning of this paragraph or see the previous post for more information. We’d love to have you join the fun!