Wise words from Amy Poehler

I finally had a chance to watch Amy Poehler's speech at the 2011 Harvard Commencement ceremony, and I loved it so much I thought I'd share it here. It's been a while since I've done the old "here's something I found online" blog post, and this one is worth sharing.

My favorite part:

"I moved to Chicago in the early 1990's, and I studied improvisation there. I learned some rules that I try to apply, still today.

• Listen.
• Say yes.
• Live in the moment.
• Make sure you play with people who have your back.
• Make big choices, early and often.
• Don't start a scene where two people are talking about jumping out of a plane. Start the scene having already jumped.
• If you're scared, look into your partner's eyes. You will feel better."

"...when you feel scared, hold someone's hand and look into their eyes. And when you feel brave, do the same thing."

I've always said that the time I spent with ComedySportz was some of the most formative, positive, wonderful time of my life. I know other folks who have histories with Improv feel the same way (even CNN wrote about it), and it was lovely to hear Amy Poehler put the feelings into such true words.