The importance of reflection scripts
I first heard about Reflection Scripts from acting coach Jen Waldman on her podcast with leadership coach Pete Shepherd. On that podcast Jen and Pete state, “Essentially a reflection script is a creative way to either write or talk or just spend time thinking about and reflecting on a project, or an audition, or an interview, or a podcast, or like, a piece of work that you have done.” They suggest starting with a simple framework of 3 questions, 1. How do I generally feel about what just happened? 2. What went well? 3. What went less well? I naturally engaged in this practice without having a name for it for as far back as I can remember. However, I only recently realized how key this practice is for developing discernment when it comes to feedback.
In a recent TCE gym class, we were discussing feedback, how to know what to take in and what to leave out. As a creative, our job is to consistently share our work with people who will inevitably and understandably have an opinion about what we created. In response, we need to be dogged in developing our personal brand of creative discernment and aesthetic, so that we can know not only who our work is for and who it is not for, but which feedback to take into account as we iterate.
Engaging in a consistent reflection script practice allows us to build self-awareness and hone our natural instincts about what feels in line with what we expect from ourselves and our work. The key is to practice the reflection script with ourselves BEFORE we allow anyone else’s feedback or opinions into our creative psyche. By doing this, we learn to rely first on our own impressions and evaluate our work against our personal creative standards; we develop our own creative discernment and learn to listen to our gut instincts. Once we know how we feel about our work, ONLY THEN can we better sort feedback and determine which feedback to consider and which is out of line with our creative standards, intents and aesthetic.
Give it a try and start honing your creative instincts with a consistent reflection script practice before you give someone else power over how you should think about your work.