What is Making This up as I Go?

Making This up as I Go is a newsletter from Art of Change about finding a middle ground between extreme points of view. About communicating brilliantly, in less than brilliant circumstances. About asking questions and lots of them. And about the wonderful weirdness that is human life on planet Earth.

NONE OF US DO!

Here you’ll read an improvisers thoughts on finding the simple, obvious, meaningful path forward… even when circumstances feel messy.

The goals for this newsletter

  • To inspire, entertain, and stimulate thinking, memories, and creative solutions for every day communication obstacles mostly at work (but still applicable at home and elsewhere!)

  • To share valuable insights, techniques and strategies for more effective interpersonal communication

  • To ask questions, seek understanding and encourage you to look at some things from different perspectives than you might otherwise

  • To create a community where people prioritize curiosity, connection and the exploration of ideas over self-righteous indignation, cancellation and the closing down of communication

Why Subscribe?

Subscribing demonstrates support for this content

If you enjoy this kind of content, or the goals and principles behind this newsletter, you can demonstrate your support by subscribing. The more subscribers there are to this newsletter, the easier it is to justify to my family why I am holed up in my office writing each week. Certainly this isn’t your responsibility to justify… but every little bit of support is appreciated.

Subscribe to relieve your FOMO (fear of missing out)

You won’t have to worry about missing anything. If you want to make sure you know when a new piece is published, you should subscribe. Subscribing means is you‘ll never have to check back. You won’t have to login to Substack, and search for Making This up as I Go to see if there is something new. When you subscribe, every new edition of the newsletter goes directly to your inbox.

Subscribe only if it feels like the right thing to do

You should do what you want to do. I’m not going to twist your arm or tell you what you what’s right for you. What I will tell you what you’ll get with your subscription. Then… follow your heart!

Here’s what’s in it for you

Free and paid subscribers
  • Essays about communication, collaboration, change and current events

  • Episodes of The Changed Podcast

  • News and updates and opportunities related to Aden Nepom and Art of Change Skills for Life.

Paid subscribers also receive
  • 1:1 coffee date with the author - When you opt to support the continued sharing of value that this newsletter offers, you’ll receive a link in your confirmation email to schedule a virtual coffee date with me. You can use this opportunity to receive coaching, share your thoughts and ideas, offer your own insights or we can simply get to know each other just a little bit better.


About the author: Aden Nepom

Art of Change president, Aden Nepom is a TEDx and keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, podcast host, and award-winning performer, who has taught thousands of executives, industry leaders, and individuals the simple yet powerful steps to communicate well.

Her unique combination of immediately actionable communication tools and improv technique give audiences a hands-on, interactive experience that make a lasting difference in organizational culture, relationship, and collaboration.

About Art of Change

Founded by best-selling author Dr. Rick Kirschner, Art of Change teaches individuals and teams to be better communicators with funny, authentic, and engaging workshops, coaching, and fully customized programs. Art of Change trainings are tailored to each client, and provide actionable insights that give professionals the tools they need to be smart, savvy communicators. → Learn More

Our Most Requested Keynote and Workshop Topics

REASON IN AN OUTRAGED WORLD:
How to Have Meaningful Conversations Even When You Disagree

It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when. Disagreements are going to happen. Your workplace is no exception. With an increase in digital communication, more than ever before we are poised to misunderstand each other’s intent, meaning, and perspectives. Understanding how to move through challenging conversations is a necessity in today’s corporate world. By providing your employees with this skill, you protect and strengthen your company culture, build psychological safety that fosters great work, and increase employee engagement and retention.

THE BIG IDEAS PLAYGROUND:
Collaboration & Ideation

Everyone wants groundbreaking, disruptive, innovative ideas to rocket their business into the future. But what we know about amazing ideas, is they often show up as surprises. Instead of demanding that your creative people give you their “best ideas,” which can serve as a recipe for disappointment, learn how to create an environment where amazing ideas show up rapidly and effortlessly. Pulling directly from the instant collaboration successes of improv comedy, THIS SESSION IS FUN! More importantly, the Big Ideas Playground will give you techniques you can immediately take and use to ensure you get the highest return on your brainstorming time, make room for world-changing ideas to show up, and leverage the expertise of your people.

SAY IT LIKE YOU MEAN IT:
Speaking with Competence & Confidence

You can have the best ideas in the world, but if nobody hears them they’re worthless. The good news is that anyone can learn to communicate well by following a simple set of easy to adopt principles. These effortless pointers can help even the shyest, most tongue-tied people to look, sound, and feel competent and confident when pitching ideas, presenting project outcomes, or asking for what you need at work. When people feel empowered to ask for what they need, or recommend a new path, it increases trust between management and staff leading to a happy workforce that trickles into customer interaction, better performance overall, and an increased bottom line.

Interested in bringing the Art of Change to your organization? Book a free discovery call to explore how.

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A community of thinkers

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Thoughts on creating a healthy atmosphere for positive change at work, at home and in the world with posts on communicating skillfully, finding middle ground, playful collaboration and ideation, mindset leading through change.

People

Aden Nepom is a TEDx and keynote speaker, workshop facilitator, podcast host, and award-winning performer, who has taught thousands of executives, industry leaders, and individuals the simple yet powerful steps to communicate well.