 Once upon a time, in an enchanted far as far far north from Montreal, there was a community that wanted to change the world. They gathered by the lake to reflect on the best way to achieve their task. The great Moos showed up to bring them inspiration and told them a good way to change the world would be to gather people with joyful mindsets for them to connect with one another. And this way, surrounded by nature, they can walk their way to find their true selves and then help save the world. Oh, and by the way, I forgot to introduce myself. I am the spirit of the Blueberry Lake. But their plan really began in the city of Montreal. So I used to be a magician and I quit being a magician because of the fact that I wanted to wonder because when I found out what was done, total disappointment, total disappointment. You know, I found out how David Copperfield vanished the Statue of Liberty or how he walked through the Wall of China. I said, oh, you're kidding me. That's how he did it. At first I said to myself, oh no, just another bunch of people that's here only to party and have fun. The second day, it was a different story. The gathering was entering the serious part. People of great wisdom were sharing their experiences and knowledge. But a world that is actually closer to our nature. For me, Buddhism is really that spark of life, that bit of us that bubbles up when we let it and that drives us towards beauty and joy and connection. Back to nature, the theme of this conference is interpreted in many ways. And so here we are in nature. It's very direct and obvious meaning. It's also back to our nature as humans to be collaborative as well as to be competitive, to be playful while we're also working hard. So it's about human nature. And after their morning encounter, they all separated in small groups. Let's see what's going on in the Elk House. One is called Getting to Yes. And the second one is Difficult Conversations. A, it's, well, we thought this was a game that it wasn't. And I would argue that we see a lot of competitive games just because we're used to seeing it. And so human beings have this habit. And at the same time at the Moose House, they were making some strange music. I think they were trying to call me. Although I could feel their good intentions, I didn't always understand their ways of expressing it. And because they were talking a lot, the organizers decided to include some time for an on-the-road meditation between activities. But what I'm going to talk about today is the benefits of focusing on the listening part. The conflict I have found has started from miscommunication. Miscommunication comes from not listening. One of the things I noticed was the diversity. You could find very energetic, crazy, and loud workshops. And a few meters from there, you would find introspective, deep, and emotional exchanges. It was just like the autumn leaves, full of colors. When I get to be present. I had a big philosophical thinking in my head about spontaneity, authenticity. Being a spirit brings some advantages, so I could follow them to the village's church where the organizers had prepared a feast and a show. One comes close. No, this is the deepest part of my life. That's your character. On the third day, it was planned to rain, but I made a deal with the sun so they could feel blessed to have such beautiful weather. Everything started normally, but once inside the barn, they began to act weird again. I had another 12 hours for myself. You are good. My working context is very much in design schools. The world of design is moving into what is called design for social innovation. Which means let's not make more buildings or more apps, but let's make more social wholeness. But how do we learn how to work with humans, our emotions, our beliefs, our distrust, our trauma. Those are the materials that we need to transform. We need to act our way into great uncertainty. That is frightening for any human being. Improv provides almost a methodology and a toolkit of a way of being and working that helps us say, Okay, I don't know what's coming. Yes, it is frightening, but I'm going to lean into it and I'm still going to take a chance, learn from it and go about it again and again. So I think it provides us with great tools to create a world that we all want, but that we don't know how it's going to look like. I'm glad that our public is watching this video right now in the world. It's not everybody. It's sad. The orange bravery comes from inside. And that is what we give to the world. Yay! Yay! Things are happening so quickly and changing so quickly that if we try to control it or predict it, it creates an incredible amount of stress and personal disturbance and then I think disease as well. Improvisation gives us a set of tools and principles and ways of being for reacting or responding is better word, more nimbly and more supportively. Now that I'm began to ponder the question, I think that act of nature really kind of reminds me of that common refrain I've been told as an improper performer and also kind of what I tend to encourage my workshop participants to think about. I always tell them there's no acting involved here. You don't have to be anyone but yourself. And on the last day I must admit I felt something unexpected. I felt I would miss this joyful crazy bunch of people. I love seeing the applications in particular cases where someone tells us what they did in an organisation, how they worked with the leadership and it made a difference or how they've taken improvisation in humanitarian work around the world. You can yes hand this question. How about this weather? Yes, it's beautiful out. And if you had another day here at Blueberry Lake, how would you spend it? Yeah, and he said that's wonderful, isn't it? It's almost like a whole body and spirit organism or like, yeah. He said, yeah, the audience doesn't care. You are boring now. Stop doing that on stage. So your task, find a partner, who is A, says this, and B says that, then say something, A something, then you have 30 seconds, 30 seconds. Those of you who are standing, you are back in nature. Back in nature means that your body is no longer having you because you've died. We're such a mechanized digital society now, so to come to a place where people's cell phones are not necessarily working and where we have to hike on dirt roads and deal with maybe a little bit of rain or sun or hills or whatever is a reminder of getting back to who we are as humans and being connected to the earth. And I think that's important because when we're dealing with our clients, they're dealing with chaos and to help them get grounded and centered and remember that they're part of a bigger picture is so important. These people are so creative. They always find a way to use improvisation to help in conflict resolution in enterprises, in spirituality, in climate change. They use it everywhere. One word for the AII conference? Amazing. Inspiring. Reconnected. Amor. Natural. Transformational. Joyful. Genuine. Mind-opening. Rejuvenating. Magic. Liberating. Dreaming. Brilliant. Warm. So we wanted this land for you to feel it and for you to have that time of walking and creating great connections within you, within us. Where is your land? Your base? And how is this conference? How is this moment going to make you move forward? So small. Where's my signal? Where's my signal?