By Richard Zink
Have you ever experienced imposter syndrome? You’re not alone. I have coped with imposter syndrome for much of my adult life. It is odd to be gripped with feelings of self-doubt, a lack of confidence, and a persistent fear of being exposed as a fraud when all evidence points to the contrary. This led to excessive preparation, constant second guessing, and continually reminding myself after the fact that a lot of that effort was unnecessary.
When I took a leadership course several years ago, one of my personal goals was to learn to gain control of my imposter syndrome. You may roll your eyes, but courses in improvisation helped me gain confidence in myself. And before I knew it was even happening, I found I worried far less about upcoming presentations, spent far less time trying to predict all the questions I would be asked, and cared less about getting things ‘absolutely perfect.’ Yes! Through silly group exercises, I learned to make bold choices and commit to them, think on my feet at the top of my intelligence, and experience how things that did not go quite according to plan could still lead to an amazing outcome.
If I could do all that with a topic given to me in the moment, I realized I could certainly do it with the discipline that has become my life’s work.
While there are plenty of opportunities to learn the ‘other AI’ at the 2025 Joint Statistical Meetings, I hope you will join me for an introduction to applied improvisationwith short course CE21: Quick-Thinking, Confident, Communicative, and Collaborative: Fundamentals of Applied Improvisation for (Bio)statisticians and Data Scientists August 5 from 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. This course is not about performance or being funny (though that happens). It’s about developing skills that are useful in any workplace.
This course might put you outside your comfort zone. Trying something new will sometimes do that. But you will learn and practice important interpersonal skills, and you will absolutely have a good time. By the end, you may even find you’re disappointed it was not a full-day course.
Space is limited to 20 individuals. And while I’d recommend this course to anyone attending JSM, students, young professionals, and those seeking to develop their confidence can especially benefit from participating.
Register for the course when you register for JSM. There is an additional fee, but I promise it’s worth it.
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