{"id":133525,"date":"2025-09-18T15:25:52","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T23:25:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/09\/18\/improv-for-lawyers-how-taking-improv-classes-can-make-you-a-better-attorney\/"},"modified":"2025-09-18T15:25:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T23:25:52","slug":"improv-for-lawyers-how-taking-improv-classes-can-make-you-a-better-attorney","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/09\/18\/improv-for-lawyers-how-taking-improv-classes-can-make-you-a-better-attorney\/","title":{"rendered":"Improv For Lawyers: How Taking Improv Classes Can Make You A Better Attorney"},"content":{"rendered":"

In 2013, I took two improv classes back-to-back.\u00a0 For 16 weeks, I learned the basics of improv and participated in two shows for family and friends.<\/p>\n

Anyone who knew me then wondered what I was doing.\u00a0 I was about as shy and introverted as they come.\u00a0 Trying to be funny to a theater of strangers was not on anyone\u2019s bingo card for me.<\/p>\n

But I was a lawyer, a civil defense trial lawyer, in fact, and I had to overcome my stage fright and fear of public speaking or be relegated to a backstop role.<\/p>\n

I tried Toastmasters.\u00a0 That was going well, but it felt like splashing in the kiddie pool.\u00a0 Improv seemed like jumping into a shark tank.\u00a0 I told myself I could always drop out.\u00a0 Just try it.\u00a0 And I did.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The instructor was very supportive.\u00a0 The other students were the same. It was a safe space, an environment where we could be our authentic selves and tap into the humor and quirkiness of our experiences.<\/p>\n

Each course was eight weeks long \u2014 a class held for seven consecutive Tuesdays, followed by a show we put on in the eighth week.\u00a0 I did two rounds of this. Because of scheduling conflicts, I couldn\u2019t stick with additional courses. (Years later, I encouraged a workmate to take improv, and she took all classes and joined their improv group.\u00a0 She\u2019s a practicing lawyer by day and performs with an improv group at night.)<\/p>\n

However, those two courses and what I learned from them have stuck with me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, breathe<\/strong>.\u00a0 We underestimate the power of breathing to relax us and to project our voices. We started each class with breathing and voice exercises to control our breath and projection.<\/p>\n

Yes, and<\/strong>.\u00a0 In improv, you\u2019re taught to take whatever the others on the stage give you.\u00a0 And someone says you\u2019re eating an octopus, you don\u2019t say, \u201cNo, I\u2019m eating fries.\u201d\u00a0 You run with eating an octopus.\u00a0 Often, in our cases, unexpected things happen.\u00a0 We can\u2019t change the circumstances.\u00a0 We must \u201cyes, and\u201d it.<\/p>\n

Work with what you have<\/strong>.\u00a0 You only have so much control in an improv sketch.\u00a0 You know the basic premise, but you have no idea what anyone else on the stage may say.\u00a0 You work with what you get and don\u2019t spend a second wishing what was said or done was different.\u00a0 It is what it is, and you must work with it.<\/p>\n

Thinking on your feet<\/strong>. Improv taught me, first and foremost, to be in the moment, sense the other improv players and the audience, and to be nimble on my feet (and with my body language and words).\u00a0 Learning how to react in real time is a skill we can all learn and benefit from.<\/p>\n

Turning lemons into lemonade<\/strong>.\u00a0 Something you said may not land with the audience.\u00a0 You take things in a different direction.\u00a0 You and your troupe take a different approach.\u00a0 You can\u2019t simply bow and say goodnight.\u00a0 The skit isn\u2019t over. You make the best of a bad situation, much like we sometimes need to do with our cases.<\/p>\n

Getting out of your comfort zone<\/strong>.\u00a0 Doing something like improv takes us out of our comfort zones and shows us we can do a lot more than we think we can.<\/p>\n

Overcoming impostor syndrome<\/strong>.\u00a0Do you want to overcome imposter syndrome?\u00a0 Do improv.\u00a0 People who have the mettle and nerve to do improv are not impostors.<\/p>\n

Most major cities offer improv classes.\u00a0 They\u2019re offered at night or on weekends, and they\u2019re safe places to be yourself.\u00a0 If you can make it work, seriously consider taking a class or two.\u00a0 Who knows.\u00a0 You, like my friend, may join the troupe. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Frank Ramos is a partner at Goldberg Segalla in Miami, where he practices commercial litigation, products, and catastrophic personal injury.\u00a0You can follow him on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>, where he has about 80,000 followers<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The post Improv For Lawyers: How Taking Improv Classes Can Make You A Better Attorney<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2013, I took two improv classes back-to-back.\u00a0 For 16 weeks, I learned the basics of improv and participated in two shows for family and friends.<\/p>\n

Anyone who knew me then wondered what I was doing.\u00a0 I was about as shy and introverted as they come.\u00a0 Trying to be funny to a theater of strangers was not on anyone\u2019s bingo card for me.<\/p>\n

But I was a lawyer, a civil defense trial lawyer, in fact, and I had to overcome my stage fright and fear of public speaking or be relegated to a backstop role.<\/p>\n

I tried Toastmasters.\u00a0 That was going well, but it felt like splashing in the kiddie pool.\u00a0 Improv seemed like jumping into a shark tank.\u00a0 I told myself I could always drop out.\u00a0 Just try it.\u00a0 And I did.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The instructor was very supportive.\u00a0 The other students were the same. It was a safe space, an environment where we could be our authentic selves and tap into the humor and quirkiness of our experiences.<\/p>\n

Each course was eight weeks long \u2014 a class held for seven consecutive Tuesdays, followed by a show we put on in the eighth week.\u00a0 I did two rounds of this. Because of scheduling conflicts, I couldn\u2019t stick with additional courses. (Years later, I encouraged a workmate to take improv, and she took all classes and joined their improv group.\u00a0 She\u2019s a practicing lawyer by day and performs with an improv group at night.)<\/p>\n

However, those two courses and what I learned from them have stuck with me.\u00a0<\/p>\n

First, breathe<\/strong>.\u00a0 We underestimate the power of breathing to relax us and to project our voices. We started each class with breathing and voice exercises to control our breath and projection.<\/p>\n

Yes, and<\/strong>.\u00a0 In improv, you\u2019re taught to take whatever the others on the stage give you.\u00a0 And someone says you\u2019re eating an octopus, you don\u2019t say, \u201cNo, I\u2019m eating fries.\u201d\u00a0 You run with eating an octopus.\u00a0 Often, in our cases, unexpected things happen.\u00a0 We can\u2019t change the circumstances.\u00a0 We must \u201cyes, and\u201d it.<\/p>\n

Work with what you have<\/strong>.\u00a0 You only have so much control in an improv sketch.\u00a0 You know the basic premise, but you have no idea what anyone else on the stage may say.\u00a0 You work with what you get and don\u2019t spend a second wishing what was said or done was different.\u00a0 It is what it is, and you must work with it.<\/p>\n

Thinking on your feet<\/strong>. Improv taught me, first and foremost, to be in the moment, sense the other improv players and the audience, and to be nimble on my feet (and with my body language and words).\u00a0 Learning how to react in real time is a skill we can all learn and benefit from.<\/p>\n

Turning lemons into lemonade<\/strong>.\u00a0 Something you said may not land with the audience.\u00a0 You take things in a different direction.\u00a0 You and your troupe take a different approach.\u00a0 You can\u2019t simply bow and say goodnight.\u00a0 The skit isn\u2019t over. You make the best of a bad situation, much like we sometimes need to do with our cases.<\/p>\n

Getting out of your comfort zone<\/strong>.\u00a0 Doing something like improv takes us out of our comfort zones and shows us we can do a lot more than we think we can.<\/p>\n

Overcoming impostor syndrome<\/strong>.\u00a0Do you want to overcome imposter syndrome?\u00a0 Do improv.\u00a0 People who have the mettle and nerve to do improv are not impostors.<\/p>\n

Most major cities offer improv classes.\u00a0 They\u2019re offered at night or on weekends, and they\u2019re safe places to be yourself.\u00a0 If you can make it work, seriously consider taking a class or two.\u00a0 Who knows.\u00a0 You, like my friend, may join the troupe. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Frank Ramos is a partner at Goldberg Segalla in Miami, where he practices commercial litigation, products, and catastrophic personal injury.\u00a0You can follow him on\u00a0LinkedIn<\/a>, where he has about 80,000 followers<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The post Improv For Lawyers: How Taking Improv Classes Can Make You A Better Attorney<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 2013, I took two improv classes back-to-back.\u00a0 For 16 weeks, I learned the basics of improv and participated in two shows for family and friends. Anyone who knew me then wondered what I was doing.\u00a0 I was about as shy and introverted as they come.\u00a0 Trying to be funny to a theater of strangers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":133526,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133525","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/RamosFrank_Web-DMgoV3.webp?fit=880%2C587&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133525","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133525"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133525\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/133526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133525"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133525"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133525"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}