To be successful in digital marketing, hard skills (for example, knowledge of SEO techniques and how campaigns work on Google and Meta Ads) are essential, but also soft skills, non-technical qualities that are able to make a real difference. Almost two years ago, I started a theatrical mprovisation course and improved many aspects of myself, both as a person and as a marketing professional.
It all started with an advertisement on Facebook and a free trial at one of the best theatrical improvisation schools in Turin, Reboot Teatro. Before that, the peak of my acting career had been playing the tree during the fifth-grade Christmas play. Suddenly I found myself on stage acting without a script, together with a group of people I had never seen before, in a situation where the most important thing was to get in the game without fear. The magic of the place and the people did the rest and an incredible story could be born from a random word.
heatrical improvisation has made me get to know myself better and to express a potential that in many cases stay hidden, often suffocated by external causes or the fear of making mistakes. I have grown a lot as a person and have rediscovered and strengthened some qualities that just needed to be unlocked. Since we’re on a blog about digital marketing, in this article I’ll describe some that are important in this area, but improvisation is so much more than that!
Creativity and lateral thinking
In marketing, creativity is a key requirement to stand out in an increasingly competitive landscape and to impress audiences with a memorable message. Creating engaging content, structuring innovative strategies, and standing out from the competition requires an open and flexible mind.
Theatrical improvisation pushed my mind to think more elastically, helping me to develop lateral thinking. I have improved the ability to create unexpected connections, to think of a word or a situation in many different contexts and to choose the least obvious interpretation.
On stage, each scene requires you to find original solutions in real time, without predefined scripts. This ability to think outside the box translates directly into marketing, where you have to design new campaigns, write persuasive content, and tackle challenges in new and creative ways.
Adaptability and problem solving
Working in digital marketing, I have often been faced with sudden problems: a Google update that upsets the ranking, a company that changes strategic objectives at the last minute, an advertising campaign that does not perform as expected.
Improvisation taught me not to get stuck in the face of the unexpected, but to adapt quickly and find effective solutions. I also learned that there are no mistakes, but difficulties can be turned into opportunities without panicking.
During improvisation sessions, you often find yourself in situations where you have to react immediately to an unexpected, sometimes unsettling stimulus. This has improved my problem-solving skills, helping me to solve complex situations quickly and with a cool head. In addition, managing stress in unexpected situations is essential both on stage and in the digital world: the more lucid you stay, the better decisions you will make.
Active listening and empathy
Understanding users’ search intent is at the heart of SEO: you need to anticipate what they want to know, how they’re looking for it, and what language they use. This helps to create content that performs better on search engines, but also is more useful for the audience.
Theatrical improvisation trains this sensitivity, teaching you to pay attention to the verbal and non-verbal signals of the other actors to build a cohesive scene. For the success of an improvisation, active listening and the ability to dialogue directly with the actors on stage and indirectly with the audience are necessary.
Truly listening is a skill that is too often underestimated, but crucial in marketing: it allows you to understand the audience, respond to their needs and interests, build content that speaks directly to their needs. Thanks to improvisation, I refined my ability to intercept the needs of the target and translate them into effective and targeted strategies.
Effective communication and storytelling
A good marketing strategy is not just data and analysis: it is also (and above all) narration. Storytelling is the most powerful way to engage the audience, and theatrical improvisation has given me valuable tools to hone this skill.
Creating a story in the moment, with a clear beginning, development, and conclusion, is an incredible workout for structuring advertising campaigns, blog articles, and social content that grab attention and leave an impact. The improviser is not only an actor, but also a director who must be able to build engaging stories and believable characters.
In marketing, telling an effective story means creating an emotional connection with the audience. Improvisation has taught me to be more direct, authentic, and persuasive in my communication, transforming abstract ideas into clear and memorable messages.
Teamwork and collaboration
In digital marketing, I’m regularly collaborating with professionals from other departments, such as IT, sales and customer care. Theatrical improvisation has improved my ability to interact and coordinate with different colleagues, teaching me to effectively work in a team.
On stage, the interaction between actors is essential for the success of a scene: you have to know how to listen, support and build the narrative together. You have to be able to launch proposals, but also to accept those of others, to trust them and get involved, often without knowing what idea they are pursuing. This dynamic is perfectly reflected in the work context, where it is essential to know how to collaborate to achieve common goals.
In addition, improvisation helped me develop a new sense of leadership: leading a scene means giving the right space to others, valuing other people’s ideas and knowing how to make decisions when necessary, just like in a complex marketing project.
Quick thinking and clarity of expression
In digital marketing, the speed of coming up with ideas and the ability to present them clearly are crucial. Trends change quickly, customer needs evolve and you need to be able to respond immediately with effective strategies and solutions.
Theatrical improvisation is a perfect training to develop this mental speed: during a scene, each actor must react quickly to input from peers and the audience, building a coherent narrative in real time.
This ability to adapt immediately has helped me develop faster and more precise thinking in my work, improving my responsiveness in strategic decisions and content creation. In addition, improvisation has taught me to communicate more clearly and incisively, ensuring that my message comes across with no ambiguity.
Persuasion and emotional intelligence
Whether it’s affiliate marketing, advertising, or selling products, marketing revolves around the ability to persuade your audience.
Theatrical improvisation helps to develop a strong sense of emotional intelligence, allowing you to better understand people’s reactions and adapt the message to make it more effective. An improviser must make an imaginary situation real and credible, on a stage where even objects are created by imagination.
By applying these skills, I can create more persuasive content that speaks to the audience’s emotions and increases the conversion rate. Understanding emotional dynamics is essential for building effective advertising campaigns, improving copywriting, and optimizing engagement strategies.
Theatrical improvisation, between fun and personal growth
Would I recommend a friend to do theatrical improvisation? Absolutely yes! First of all, it is a very fun activity that lets your mind fly free. When every Monday evening I go on stage at Reboot Teatro for the weekly lesson, I enter a magical world where negative thoughts and stress are erased to leave room for imagination and play. During the recitals and the shows, I open up to the world, I release my creative potential and experience hundreds of different lives and unexpected situations each time, that I learn about in the moment.
In addition, improvisation helps us to get to know ourselves better: on stage we explore fictitious characters, but we look deep inside our ego. As we have seen from this article, this also pushes you to develop soft skills that are useful both in your personal life and in any work context. Blackout.
