Improvly Speaking
by Dayna Gowan
Dayna Gowan is a speaker, improviser, and Facilitator of Fun, and the Founder of Improvly Speaking. Each episode, she brings you golden, beautiful, delicious nuggets of wisdom about public speaking, improv, performance, creativity and anything in between. Learning public speaking and improvisation skills has changed her life and made her a more confident speaker, colleague, and friend. Listeners will be inspired to face their public speaking fears, try new things, flex their creativity muscles, and say “Yes, and…” to challenges and roadblocks in both their personal and professional lives.
Episodes
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Yes, And... You Should Start That Podcast with Kristen Stegall
Click here to view the video version of this episode on Youtube. Every person who has taken an Improv 101 class has learned the rule of Yes, And. Say yes to the idea in front of you, then build on it – even when the idea is a three-and-a-half-year-old who's beating you at Monopoly Jr. before 7…
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Embracing the Yes, And Moments in the Classroom, in Career Pivots, and in Life with Joe Van Haecke
In this episode of Improvly Speaking, Dayna Gowan welcomes back Joe Van Haecke, experienced improviser, performer, and teacher, for a follow-up and check-in conversation. They talk about Joe’s journey of his career pivot, knowing when it was time to let go of a dream, and discovering his purpose…
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What is ImprovCon?: Why You Can’t Miss the First-Ever Improv Convention with Chris "Jazz" Colthurst
What if there was one place where the entire improv community could come together? That's exactly the question Chris "Jazz" Colthurst set out to answer with ImprovCon. In this episode of Improvly Speaking, Dayna Gowan chats with Jazz, the Founder and Executive Producer of ImprovCon, a convention...
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How to Use Humor So People Listen, Connect, & Engage with Dr. Mike Cundall
What if humor wasn’t something “extra” or “nice to have” in your work, life, and improv – but a must-have tool for connection, resilience, and wellbeing? In this episode of Improvly Speaking, Dayna Gowan sits down with Dr. Michael Cundall Jr. (better known as Dr. Mike), Professor of Philosophy,...
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Challenging Racial Biases, Creating Growth Mindsets, & Making the World a Better Place for ALL with Dr. Evelyn Carter
In this episode of Improvly Speaking, Dayna Gowan chats with Dr. Evelyn Carter, a social psychologist, author, and musical improviser. Evelyn has spent the last 15 years as a DEI consultant across a wide range of industries, and today, she’s sharing how we can challenge our own racial biases and...
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Making Time Management Fun with Anna Dearmon Kornick
Do you ever feel like structure and organization is a constant struggle? You try new planners and productivity hacks, but nothing sticks. Maybe the problem isn’t you – maybe those hacks just aren’t built for your personality. Today on Improvly Speaking, Dayna Gowan chats with Anna Dearmon…
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Honoring Your Story: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly with Lamarr Lewis
Storytelling has a funny way of bringing people together and connecting them. That sense of connection is exactly what this episode of Improvly Speaking is all about. Dayna Gowan welcomes mental health therapist, consultant, and master storyteller Lamarr Lewis for a powerful conversation that...
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Helping Good People Take Up Space & Ridding the World of Boring Presentations with Jordan Hirsch
What if the people with the best ideas spoke up more often? In this episode of Improvly Speaking, Dayna Gowan sits down with speaker, coach, and improviser Jordan Hirsch to talk about confidence, saying goodbye to boring presentations, and why improv is such a powerful tool for helping good…
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Releasing All the Judgements and Expectations…A Special 50 Episodes Celebration!
Fifty episodes. Five thousand downloads. And a whole lot of doubt, courage, and creative growth in between. In this special solo episode, Dayna pauses to celebrate a major milestone for Improvly Speaking and to pull back the curtain on what it really took to get here. From spiraling self-doubt…
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Play, Profits, & Psychological Safety: Rediscovering Your Inner Child with Rona Lewis
On this episode of Improvly Speaking, Dayna sits down with the incomparable Rona Lewis — leadership and communication coach, keynote speaker, experiential learning facilitator, and unapologetic play instigator. As the co-founder and CEO of Playful Mind Project and author of Play and Profit, Rona...
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Becoming a Boulder Hero & Creating Space for Connection with Jessilee Windhaus
What happens when an only child with boundless creativity decides to transform her hometown’s comedy scene? Jessilee Windhaus, founder of Haus of Comedy in Sacramento, shares how her love of improv evolved into multiple improv businesses with Haus of Comedy being a brick and mortar theater that...
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Speak Easy and Run Towards the Scary Things with Brian Lafontaine
When you’ve spent years performing on stage, doing standup, and speaking in front of crowds, you learn one thing very quickly: nothing ever goes exactly as planned. In this episode of Improvly Speaking, Dayna chats with actor, voiceover artist, and public speaking coach Brian Lafontaine about his...
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Being Comfortable with the Uncomfortable with Jacque Arend
If there’s one thing that improvisation teaches us, it’s that life rarely follows a script. For Jacque Arend, Managing Director of Camp Improv Utopia and Executive Director of Savi Fest, that truth has been especially clear over the past few years. She’s navigated running multiple improv camps,...
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Uncertainty is My Friend: A Postpartum Life Update and the Mantra that Keeps Me Grounded
After a podcasting hiatus, Dayna Gowan is back behind the mic – and she’s got a lot to share. In this solo episode, Dayna opens up about the wild ride that has been new motherhood, from unexpected detours in her birth plan to sleepless nights, big trips and moves, and the messy, beautiful process...
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Punchlines & Progress: Jessica Halem's Journey of Comedy, Advocacy, & Connection
On this episode of Improvly Speaking, Dayna Gowan sits down with the incredible Jessica Halem, a powerhouse public speaker, communication strategist, LGBTQ+ health equity advocate, and a former stand-up comic trained at Second City. Jessica has worn many hats (and delivered many punchlines).…
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Improvly Parenting: A Comedy Show in Real Life with Matthew Krekeler, Host of Girl Dad Nation Podcast
Parenting can be just like improv (aka Improvly Parenting) – you never know what’s coming next, and you just have to roll with it. That’s exactly the kind of real talk you get on the Improvly Speaking today with my guest, Matthew Krekeler – a proud “girl dad,” podcast host, and media pro from...
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Yes, And Healing: Using Improv in Therapy with Salma Soliman
What happens when you combine the compassion of a therapist with the quick-thinking creativity of an improviser? You get someone like Salma Soliman – a licensed therapist and the founder of Brave Youth Therapy in California, and today’s guest on Improvly Speaking. I got the privilege of chatting...
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Brewing Up Improv, Business, and Big Dreams with Tony DeRosa
Today on Improvly Speaking, we hear from Tony DeRosa, owner and co-founder of hear.say brewing + theater, a new improv theater and brewery in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Tony blends his love of improv with beer, business, and community building, and is sharing it all on today’s episode. Tony's story is…
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How to Strengthen, Support, and Fall in Love with Your Voice with Susan Murphy
What do you think of your voice? If your answer is anything uncertain or negative, you’re definitely not alone. But as this week’s guest on Improvly Speaking proves, your voice isn’t something to cringe about — it’s something you can strengthen, support, and maybe even start to love. Today, we…
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Exploring Ecstatic Dance, Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy, and Mindfulness with Dr. Bob Swoap
Have you ever felt completely lost in the rhythm of music, moving without thinking, and experiencing pure joy? That’s the essence of ecstatic dance – a practice that blends movement, community, and self-expression. In this episode of Improvly Speaking, we hear from Dr. Bob Swoap, Professor of...
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The Value of a Bold Choice: Jesse Greenfield on Starting the Kaleidoscope Training Center
Jesse Greenfield first appeared on the show nearly a year ago, and so much has changed since then! In this episode of Improvly Speaking, we catch up on their incredible journey, including the launch of their own business, Kaleidoscope Training Center, and our experience facilitating a 2-day...
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The Power of Playback Theatre to Bring People Together with Ferran Luengo
Ferran Luengo is a Spanish actor, improviser and applied theatre facilitator based in London. He has his postgraduate on theatre in education and Applied theatre master degree. Ferran is passionate about playback theatre, a community oriented improv art form that he has been practicing since…
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All Improv, All In with Brian James O'Connell
Brian James O'Connell (or BOC as most people call him), is a working actor, writer, director, filmmaker and teacher based in Los Angeles. As a regular performer, coach and teacher, Brian derives most of his approach to improv from The Deconstruction, which we certainly discuss in this episode. He...
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Putting Yourself Out There and Making Discoveries On Stage with Amanda Bonar
Amanda Bonar is an improv and sketch comedian based in Los Angeles. You can find her performing in the Sober Show and Do the Dumb shows at UCB, as well as other shows at the Clubhouse in LA. Amanda shares her improv journey and how she fell in love with improv around age 10 when her parents took...
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Improv Is For All Ages, Including Older Adults with Paula Dirkes
Paula Dirkes is an improvisational theater fan, actor, and facilitator based in metro Detroit, Michigan. She has spent over 20 years in the improv theater community as a performer and improv games leader. She is the owner and Chief Play Officer of Vintage Improvisation Detroit, which brings her...
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Access the Issue and Push It Out of the Tissue with Susan Bartley
I promise the episode title will make more sense once you listen to the episode. :) It's amazing all that can happen in a year! My bestie Susan Bartley joins the podcast again for a part 2 episode to give some updates about all that happened in her business in 2023. In the first episode, which…
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Improv-ing Your Video Presence and Performance with Chris Bogue
Chris Bogue is based in Chicago, and he coaches people to get on camera and create mercifully short video content for business. He is also a long-time improviser, sketch comedy writer, improv trainer and host of the podcast Chris Sells His Soul. In this episode, Chris shares about his improv and...
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From Trails to Tales: Embracing Nature, Health, and the Improv Life with Dr. Jay Maddock
Jay Maddock, PhD, is based in College Station, Texas, where he is a Regents Professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the School of Public Health at Texas A&M University. He is also the Director of the Center for Health & Nature and serves on the Brazos County Board…
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The Mysterious Notebook of Goals and Creativity with Dr. Jana Hirsch
What would you do if you received a notebook from your local Buy Nothing Group that you thought was empty, but then later you noticed that it had a list of goals written in it? Would you tear out the pages and start with a fresh, clean notebook? Or would you take the list of goals on as your own?...
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Become a World Champion Speaker with Ramona J. Smith
Ramona J. Smith is a dynamic international speaker who holds the prestigious title of the 2018 World Champion of Public Speaking. She is based out of Houston, Texas, and she is on a mission to inspire, connect and transform lives globally using the power of words (and she's really great at it…
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Bringing Your Authentic Self to the Stage with Neil Curran
Our first international guest, Neil Curran, joins the podcast all the way from Dublin, Ireland! Neil is a professional improviser and communications and teams expert who has performed in shows and festivals all over the world. His signature show - Neil+1 - brings an audience member up to the…
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Takeaways From Musical Improv That Can Boost Your Public Speaking Skills
The previous episode with Ashley Ward talks all about her journey into the musical improv world and why she loves teaching musical improv classes. This solo episode highlights my experience over the past year with musical improv, why I took musical improv in the first place, and how it's helped…
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Improvly Singing and Trying Hard Things with Ashley Ward
Ashley Ward is an improviser, actor, writer, snack lover, and singer who has performed everywhere from the Kennedy Center to The Sydney Opera House. She can be seen on Dropout TV’s Play It By Ear and in Hello Jack! The Kindness Show on Apple+ as Delivery Delores. She is also a Jeopardy champion...
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Living a "Yes, And..." Life in a "Yeah, But" World with Joe Van Haecke
Joe Van Haecke is based in Des Moines, Iowa, and he has been performing and coaching improvisation for over 20 years! He is the Chief of Inspiration for his company Inspire Me Mr V, which provides improv-inspired life coaching to help people start living a "Yes, and…" life in a "Yeah, but" world....
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Letting Go of My Need for Alcohol, Thanks to Improv and Conquering My Fear of Public Speaking
One day, my solo episodes won't be considered special solo episodes because I will do them more and will be putting out more solo episodes than just 2-3 times a year. For now though, here is another special solo episode about my experience with alcohol and how I feel like I don't need it much...
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Consistency in Comedy and Creativity with Fernando Funes
Fernando Funes is a poet, writer, improviser, and performer in the Los Angeles/Orange County, CA area. He has performed in hundreds of shows in Los Angeles, Orange County, San Francisco, Oakland, and even Brazil! Fernando loves to bring people of all backgrounds together, and lately, he has been...
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Elevate Your Sonic Branding and Flex Your Creative Thinking with Shantel Sole' (aka The Jingle Lady)
Have you listened to a few episodes of this podcast and loved the jingle that plays before each episode? Maybe you have found that you can't help but dance and sway when this jingle kicks off an episode. (You're not alone!) Shantel Sole' is based out of Atlanta, Georgia, and she joins this…
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Empowering Military Veterans with Healing and Resilience through Applied Improv with BJ Lange
Special guest BJ Lange shares how he supports military veterans by leading applied improv workshops and helping them learn important resilience skills as they navigate back into civilian life. BJ Lange is an actor (The Prank Panel, General Hospital, The Rookie), retired USAF Reserve medic…
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Clownly Speaking: From Clown Presence to Authentic Stage Presence with Don Colliver
Don Colliver is a speaker, communications consultant, comedian, improviser, and clown. His public speaking workshops have helped transform hundreds of nervous speakers into more joyful and effective communicators. He recently released the bestselling book entitled Wink: Transforming Public…
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Improv Saved My Life And Helped Me Get Sober with Erick Escalante
Erick Escalante is an improviser and creative performer from San Diego, CA. Erick took acting classes all throughout high school and college, but he tried his first official improv class in June 2021, when he decided to take a Level 1 class at Finest City Improv. Before that, Erick was struggling...
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Becoming the World's Greatest Improviser with Will Hines
Will Hines is a longtime improv teacher and performer who trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in both New York and Los Angeles. In April 2020, he founded the World's Greatest Improv School (WGIS and can also be pronounced Weegis), which the name of the school was based on his...
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I Have Arrived at 35, and I'm Ready to Thrive!
SPECIAL SOLO BIRTHDAY EPISODE -- I turned 35 in May 2023 (yay!), and I wanted to do a solo episode to highlight this special birthday milestone. Not only is it a mid-thirties milestone, but also this is the age that I always thought I would magically just become confident and love myself. I don't...
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Saying Yes, and... to Adult Learning Best Practices with Dr. Carrie Graham
Have you ever sat through a presentation, conference session, or workplace training and thought, "Well, that's an hour of my life I won't get back!," after it's over? Chances are that the presenter or speaker didn't make the content applicable to you, didn't make it engaging to keep your…
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Using Applied Improvisation and Creative Play to Enhance Intellectual Humility, A Special Conference Debrief with Jesse Greenfield
Jesse Greenfield is a health communicator, storyteller, and improviser from San Diego, California. Jesse started doing improv in college at Tufts University, and with eight years of experience as an improviser, Jesse now leads applied improv workshops for adults, youth, and the LGBTQIA+…
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It Takes Hard Work And Flexibility to Wear the Crown, a conversation with Miss North Carolina Karolyn Martin
In June 2022, Karolyn Martin earned the job of Miss North Carolina, and she is currently serving as Miss North Carolina for the 2022-2023 year. In this episode, Karolyn shares her journey to becoming Miss North Carolina — why she decided to compete and how she focused, trained and prepared for…
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Approaching Improv (and Life) with Joy & Ease with Pam Victor
Pam Victor is the Head of Happiness (aka founder and president) of Happier Valley Comedy, the first improv theater in Western Massachusetts. Pam is the co-author of Improvisation at the Speed of Life: The TJ & Dave Book along with TJ Jagodowski and David Pasquesi. Pam is also a TEDx Speaker, and...
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Improvly Flyin' and Freestylin' on the Pole with Susan Bartley
Susan Bartley is the owner of Heaux Apparel, a company that specializes in pole dance and aerial sports apparel, products and accessories. Their goal is to help women of all shapes & sizes, who have fallen in love with pole & aerial fitness, look their best and feel confident while they're in the...
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Helping Healthcare Professionals Become Better Communicators Through Improv with Dr. Michael Smith
Dr. Michael Smith is an attending physician of internal medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. In 2014, Mike began taking Level 1 improv classes. Realizing early on that the skills learned through improv could help him as a hospitalist, Mike began implementing them at work. The...
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Rockin' to Recovery through Improvised Songs and Breathwork with Sonny Mayo
Sonny Mayo is a super rad musician, breathwork facilitator, and overall human being. Sonny has been sober for 21 years, and he now facilitates Rock to Recovery® sessions and breathwork sessions to help people heal through creativity and breathing. Rock to Recovery® is a non-profit organization…
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Improv-ing Employee Wellness, Engagement, & Psychological Safety with Dr. Raquel Garzon
Dr. Raquel Garzon is the President and Founder of Revitalize Project and author of the book, The Business of You: Leveraging Business Principles to Thrive in Life. She is a keynote speaker and thought leader in the employee engagement, performance, resilience, and work culture space. Her goal is…
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About this show
Dayna Gowan is a speaker, improviser, and Facilitator of Fun, and the Founder of Improvly Speaking. Each episode, she brings you golden, beautiful, delicious nuggets of wisdom about public speaking, improv, performance, creativity and anything in between. Learning public speaking and improvisation skills has changed her life and made her a more confident speaker, colleague, and friend. Listeners will be inspired to face their public speaking fears, try new things, flex their creativity muscles, and say “Yes, and…” to challenges and roadblocks in both their personal and professional lives.
Hosted by
Dayna Gowan
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