"The translation of the storyteller's words into action was amazing. The ability to capture and transform extremely complex subtle thoughts in the manner they do is a true art form and stimulating learning tool... incredible..."

--Jennifer Smolker, Group VP, Hughes Aircraft Co

Inside the Emotional Mode

In this time when emotional intelligence has come to be recognized as essential to success in all human endeavors, communications research has found that stories are the most effective means of getting a message absorbed, remembered and acted upon in the workplace. (Stanford University Graduate School of Business)

Theatre is unsurpassed as a way of presencing what is and what can be. Human beings are storytelling creatures -- no one can resist being drawn into a real story, the more so if it is a story you yourself are involved in -- and theatre is certainly the most fully engaging way of telling a story.

The emotional learning provided by TransFormance Theatre centers largely around the process of bringing the real stories of real people in real organizations to life.

A highly skilled troupe of professional improv actors spontaneously performs a series of real stories and experiences shared by audience members at key meetings in the consulting intervention or meeting design phase. The stories are researched in advance to insure that the target issues are sensitively addressed in a way that highlights the organization's current operating state, the desired operating state, and the challenges that stand in the way.

Authenticity is at the heart of successful emotional learning. In the TransFormance Theatre process, humor is interspersed with truth in an honoring way that touches people's hearts as well as their minds. The laughter of audience recognition often softens to tears, to acknowledging nods, to the visible a-ha!s of a new insight, to outright guffaws, to standing ovations.

The result of communal emotional learning is the rapid creation of shared understanding on the key issues, in a way that connects hard business realities with the human feeling factor.

Through emotional learning techniques, successes are celebrated, and failures are acknowledged so that the deeper learnings can be harvested. Through the sharing and enactment of real stories, the deep values of the organization are connected back to its vision and strategic plan -- in a way that inspires and brings to life what is actually possible when people identify their passion and take a stand for it, together.