Australian improvisation coach and founder of Impro Act — on why your authentic self is always your best self, how improv removes the fear of failure, why trying to please everyone pleases no one, and three skills that transform every conversation and connection in your life
Nick Byrne did not set out to be an improvisation coach. He started as a musician, moved into musical theatre, then scripted theatre, and eventually found himself in the world of improvisation — not because he was looking for it, but because a friend said "try this." He tried it. He liked it. And the reason he couldn't leave it was not the craft itself, but the human angle: every day he watched people become more themselves, more confident, and they told him so. That kind of feedback is not easy to walk away from.
Serhiy met Nick in the lobby of the Aloft Hotel in Kyiv — a classic improvised encounter. Nick was in Ukraine to lead a series of master classes and perform at Kyiv's Pro English Theatre Club. Just two hours after they met, this conversation was recorded. It is one of the most spontaneous and direct episodes of the Be Yourself Podcast, with a guest whose entire life's work is about what happens when people stop performing and start being real.
Nick's argument is simple and backed by twenty years of watching it work: your authentic self is your best self. The barriers that stop people from connecting — the inner monologue telling you to be more polished, more interesting, more like someone else — are exactly what makes you less likeable, not more. Improv is the technology for removing those barriers. And the skills it teaches apply just as much in a business meeting or a first conversation as they do on a stage.
Nick Byrne is an Australian improvisation coach and the founder of Impro Act school in Australia. His career in performing arts began with music — playing for years and earning well above the average income — but the repetition eventually wore thin. Theatre came next, then improvisation arrived through a friend's invitation. He tried it, liked it, and found he couldn't leave because of the difference it made for people: the impact of accidentally helping someone feel better about themselves turned out to be a job worth building a life around.
Nick's approach to improv is not the standard "be fast and funny" model. He teaches relaxation, mindfulness, and presence first — then tricks people into doing things they thought they couldn't do, like sing or perform Shakespeare, once they're relaxed enough to stop worrying. His signature show, "Inspired," proves to every member of the audience that they themselves are also inspirational — that their ordinary stories, when dug into, contain the kind of detail that makes a room go silent.
He travels the world leading workshops and performances, working with actors, business professionals, and anyone who wants to reconnect with the person they actually are when no one is watching. He came to Ukraine to lead a series of master classes at a time when many international visitors were opting out — and found it, as he put it, an absolute privilege. The Ukrainian personality — poetic, fun, resilient — reminded him of his fellow Australians in the best possible way.
your authentic self is your best self if you're just caring about the other person they will think I like this guy and they will ask you what you do
trying to please everyone is pleasing no one but what we do want to have in our life is a unique tribe
it's a absolute privilege to be here and you're you're right about the Ukrainian personality it's very poetic but also you're always having fun you know even in this difficult which is quite quite like Australians