Improv Lessons for Membership Pros: Listen, Jump In and Build on the Idea

Send us Fan Mail Membership work is relationship work, and relationships are built in real time. Sara Bustard, MBA, CAE, Deputy Director of the Phoenixville Regional Chamber of Commerce, joins me to talk about a membership career that runs from explosives engineers to osteopathic physicians to chambers of commerce. She's also a student of improv. It started after a car accident and a concussion, when a Facebook ad said "Try improv" and she signed up for a level one class. Three years later she's through level four, on several teams, and performing at festivals. We get into what improv taught her about staff meetings and board rooms: the active listening that keeps people from repeating what was just said, and the habit of saying "hear me out, I don't have this hashed out yet" instead of polishing an idea in private. I asked her whether the membership director role gets the respect it's due, whether you have to be funny to do improv, and whether "yes, and" just turns into one-upping. She also ran an improv for business workshop for her chamber's members this year that had a wait list. In this episode: How Sara got into associations, and why membership has been the constant through chambers, dental, osteopathic and explosives groups The concussion and the Facebook ad that got her into her first improv class Levels, teams and a residency at the Harrisburg Improv Theater Lesson one: active listening, and why people repeat what was just said in meetings Lesson two: "hear me out," and sharing an idea before it's fully formed "Yes, and" explained, and why it isn't one-upping The improv for business workshop that filled up with a wait list, and the two more her members asked for next year What membership pros should ask prospects and members instead of running the pitch About Sara: Sara Bustard, MBA, CAE, is Deputy Director of the Phoenixville Regional Chamber of Commerce and a longtime membership professional who has worked with chambers, state and international associations, and medical and scientific societies. Connect with Sara: [email protected] and https://www.phoenixvillechamber.org Association Transformation is hosted by Elisa Pratt, CEO and Chief Strategist of Brewer Pratt Solutions. Find every episode at https://associationtransformation.org. Until next time, put your members and your mission first!