Not Just for Laughs: Comedy Skills for Entrepreneurs
This is part of the Female Founders Rise Summer School for Founders. Check out our other summer sessions here.
Most advice on public speaking treats it like a script to memorise - get the words right, rehearse until it's polished, hope nothing throws you off. But the moment an investor asks an unexpected question or the room goes quiet, a memorised script falls apart. What actually holds up under pressure isn't polish. It's preparation, improvisation, and the ability to generate a fresh idea on the spot.
The founders who speak with real confidence aren't the ones who've eliminated nerves. They're the ones who've trained their physical and mental preparation, learned the principles of improvisation for handling audience and investor questions, and built structured ways to brainstorm fresh ideas for talks and pitches - skills that hold up whether the room is friendly or not.
In this Summer School masterclass, Michael Elizabeth Gasior - a Belfast-based mental health researcher and professional comedian who's worked in six countries over the past decade and leapt headfirst into entrepreneurship through the WE Innovate 2025 programme - will show you how comedy skills make you a better speaker and pitcher.
This session is particularly geared towards founders who want to pitch and speak with more confidence, though the principles apply anytime you need to think on your feet in front of a room.
You'll leave with:
Techniques for physical and mental preparation for public speaking
Principles of improvisation for tackling audience and investor questions
Structured brainstorming methods for generating creative, fresh ideas for talks and pitches
Speaker:
Michael Elizabeth Gasior, Mental Health Researcher & Comedian
Speaker socials:
The Female Founders Rise Summer School for Founders is here to kickstart your business growth with 30 trusted experts in the ecosystem. Our mission this summer is to upskill 1,000 female and non-binary founders on all things entrepreneurship.
Whether you're a founder, student, or simply curious to learn more, this is open to everyone (and it's free). And no need to be a member of FFR, but you can join free here.