What to Expect From a Pre-Event Consultation

Every freestyle+ engagement starts with a conversation, whether the end result is an improv-based workshop, an interactive keynote, or a live performance for your team. Before we propose anything, we talk with the people who will be in the room and find out what they need. This post covers what that first conversation includes, what happens after it, and the misunderstanding we run into most.

How the consultation works

Length and who is on the call

The first call is free. Some companies call it a discovery call. It can run as short as 15 minutes, which is enough to tell whether we are the right fit. If your team is already sold, it can stretch to 45. You will talk with a freestyle+ team member who has deep experience in learning and development, with our CEO Anthony Veneziale, or with both. Anthony co-founded Freestyle Love Supreme, the Special Tony Award-winning Broadway show, with Thomas Kail and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

What we ask about

We meet with the stakeholders on your team to map out:

• Your desired outcomes

• Your current company culture

• Challenges you foresee in the future

• Challenges you are dealing with right now

• Challenges your team or company has already been through and seen through successfully

We want the good, the bad, and the ugly, as much as you are willing to share. That last item matters more than people expect. A team that has already worked through something hard has experience we can build on.

What we recommend

Once we understand your situation, we work out what fits. The answer varies.

A workshop

Sometimes the right fit is a workshop built around a leadership topic or around working well in uncertain times. The tools and techniques come from applied improv. One source we draw on is the research of Dr. Charles Limb, a neuroscientist at UCSF, who has used fMRI to study what happens in the brain during improvisation, including jazz piano and rap. That research looked at professional musicians, not workshop participants, so we cite it as background, not as proof of a particular result. You can read what teams said afterward on our workshop reviews page.

An UnKeynote

A keynote from freestyle+ is interactive, so we call it an UnKeynote. It blends workshop and performance. Performers from Freestyle Love Supreme demonstrate quick thinking and supportive skills in real time. They take topics and words from the audience that support your outcomes and turn them into a musically charged, improvised, theatrical rap. Our facilitators also run exercises and games that the audience plays themselves.

The combination

The most thorough option puts everything together. We launch with a performance that energizes your team and builds public buy-in across the company. Workshops and UnKeynotes follow over the next several days, so the energy from the opening turns into practice. Event planners can read what others said on our performance reviews page.

A real example: a pharmaceutical company facing a pivot

A pharmaceutical company came to us with a narrow request. Their contact wanted a performance to go with their awards show.

Then we talked about their year. The revenue from one of their products was going to be eliminated in the coming year, and the whole company had to make a large pivot. That meant people across the organization had to work together and cross-collaborate.

As the contact learned what improvisation skills and the BOLD Mindset could do, the project opened up. BOLD stands for Bravery, Optimism, Listening, and Discovery. Resilient Action is what those four look like working together under pressure. Collaboration, creativity, and clearer communication bore directly on the problem the company faced.

Together we identified specific cross-collaboration opportunities. We opened with a performance to break the ice, then chose exercises for the group to work through together. The event was a weekend of team building, and we also joined the company at its awards show.

Once the contact saw that we were more than entertainment, the company folded us into its existing program of workshops. The UnKeynote presented the neuroscience research and real-world use cases, so our work fit the company's own process instead of sitting beside it.

The original request was a performance. What the company needed was bigger, and we only found that out because we asked about their year before we talked about the show.

What clients get wrong

Many clients think they are ordering from a menu. They have seen improv before, maybe on Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and they assume they are booking a show like that one.

Working with freestyle+ is collaborative from the first call. Improv works because partners build together, and we work the same way with you. We co-create solutions by pulling from what we call the wisdom in the room: the people and teammates you already have, who hold more of the answer than most organizations realize.

There is also no fourth wall to protect. Your team does not watch from a distance. The audience supplies the material, plays the games, and becomes part of what happens on stage.

What happens between the call and event day

After the consultation, the process runs in this order:

• Proposal: We send a proposal that marks off the large pieces of the performance, workshop, or keynote.

• Details: Once everyone is on the same page, we break down the specifics. The show and many of its components are improvised, so we work with you to identify the guardrails and the sources of inspiration the performance will draw from.

• Exercises: For workshops, we propose the exercises and games that would help your team practice the skills needed to meet your outcomes.

• Point person: We identify a contact on your side, or at your event-producing company, so the audiovisual components are handled.

• Your language: We ask for background, internal language, inside jokes, and culture points. When we perform, we reflect your own common language back to you.

That last item is why we ask for the inside jokes. A performer who can work your team's own phrases into a rap shows the room that we listened.

What it costs

Pricing depends on the format, the group size, and whether the event is in person or virtual. We scope every engagement to the budget you have, and you get a real number on the first call, which is free.

Book a consultation

Start with a free 15-minute call. Tell us what you want your team to walk away with, and we will tell you whether we are the right fit.