Interact WA

Today our actors brought the SCARF model to life with a group of Sales Leaders.

Working in small groups, each leader stepped into a conversation with one of our professional roleplay actors. Their challenge wasn't just to respond to the conversation; it was to identify which SCARF trigger (Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness or Fairness) was driving the other person's behaviour.

🤔 Was it really resistance... or a threat to autonomy?
🤔 Was the frustration about the task... or about fairness?
🤔 Was it about lack of confidence or need for certainty?

By recognising the trigger, leaders could adapt their approach, shift the conversation and experience the difference in real time.
That's what makes experiential learning so powerful.

Communication isn't just about knowing a model. It's about recognising what's happening in the moment and responding in a way that helps people feel safe, understood and able to move forward.

A huge thank you to our talented actor team for creating realistic, challenging, and safe conversations that allowed participants to practise, reflect, and try again.

Last week, we shared the difference between theatre acting and roleplay acting. Here's another comparison that often comes up:

👉 The difference between practice with roleplay actors and practice with AI.

Because people sometimes ask:
"Don't we think AI will replace professional roleplay actors?"

Our answer is always the same:
"We don't think it's an either/or. We think it's both."

For example, last week, a senior leader had a high-stakes conversation coming up. He practised with AI. It helped him organise his thoughts and anticipate possible responses. By the end, he felt well prepared.

He then brought the same conversation into our 1:1 Practice LAB with a professional roleplay actor. That's where the real shift happened.

Our actor didn't just respond to his words. They responded to his hesitation, his tone, his body language and the emotion behind what he was saying. Afterwards, our actor shared exactly how his communication had landed from the other person's perspective.

The leaders' insight?
"My message was right... But my delivery wasn't."

That experience perfectly captures what we believe:

✅️ AI prepares you for the conversation.
✅️ Roleplay actors prepare you for the person.

At INTERACT WA , we don't see AI as a threat to experiential learning. We see it as a powerful addition. AI offers unlimited opportunities to prepare, while professional roleplay actors provide the human realism, emotional nuance and honest feedback that build confidence when the stakes are high.

The future isn't AI or roleplay actors.
It's knowing when and how to use both. 💛

Mountain biking and track cycling both involve a bike, balance, endurance, and skill.

But ask anyone who does both, and they'll tell you… they are completely different disciplines.
The same is true for theatre acting and roleplay acting.

Both require talent, preparation, and emotional intelligence. But their purpose is very different.

🎭 Theatre actors perform for an audience.
🎭 Roleplay actors work with people to help them:

✅ Practise challenging conversations
✅ Experiment with new approaches
✅ Receive feedback in real time
✅ Reflect, adapt, and build confidence

They aren't there to deliver a performance. They're there to create a safe space for learning and growth.

At INTERACT WA, this is why we work exclusively with professional roleplay actors: our INTERACTORS.

Because facilitating learning through roleplay simulation is its own craft.
It's a unique blend of acting, coaching, observation, adaptability, and psychological safety.

And just like mountain biking and track cycling, while they may look similar from the outside… the skills required are worlds apart.

I'm curious. 🤔 If you've experienced learning with professional roleplay actors, what impact did it have on you or your team?

She stared at the floor for a moment after the roleplay ended. Then she looked up at me and smiled.

"That felt like therapy."

A few minutes earlier, she had stepped into a conversation she'd been carrying around for months. You know the one... The kind that follows you home. The one that pops into your head while you're driving, walking the dog, or trying to get to sleep.

Should I have it?
What do I say?
What if it goes badly?

In our Courageous Conversations Practice LAB, she finally said the words out loud. At first, they didn't land the way she intended. The character in front of her was dismissive. Defensive. Difficult.
She found herself reacting instead of staying connected to what she really wanted to say.

So she took a time out.
Reflected. Tried again. And again.

Each attempt brought her closer to her own values, her own message, and the leader she wanted to be in that moment.

She stopped performing the conversation and started having it. Afterwards I could see the relief on her face.

Whether she chooses to have the real conversation or not is almost beside the point.
She left feeling lighter.
Clearer.
More confident.

It feels like therapy, is something we hear more often in our Practice LABS. Because people aren't just practising communication skills. They're practising courage. They're practising how to regulate emotions under pressure. They're discovering how different personalities and behaviours affect them. Most importantly, they're finding their way through conversations before the stakes are real.

What conversation have you been rehearsing in your head that might benefit from a chance to practise it first?

A lot of leadership communication training stops at understanding.

People leave the room saying:
"That made sense."
"I know what I should do."
"I understand the model."

But what they're often thinking is:
🤔 But what if they react badly?
🤔 Or what if I get emotional?
🤔 And what if I get it wrong?

Too often, we leave learners to bridge that gap on their own. And that's where learning initiatives lose momentum.

Knowledge isn't behaviour.
Understanding isn't performance.

The journey looks more like this:
📚 Learning "I understand the concept."
⬇️
🎭 Practice "I've tried it, received feedback, and refined my approach."
⬇️
🚀 Performance "I can do it confidently when it matters."

At INTERACT WA, we specialise in the middle part.

Through realistic practice with our INTERACTORS, immediate feedback, reflection and repetition, people build the confidence to use new skills in real conversations, not just talk about them in a training room.

Because success isn't:
"That was a great workshop."

It's:
✅ "I had the conversation."
✅ "I handled it differently."
✅ "I used the skill at work."

What communication shift are you making this week? 💬

This week, our team ran four Practice LABS with staff from the WA Maritime Museum, focusing on de-escalation skills.

One thing we always keep in mind with this work is finding the right balance between challenging people and keeping it safe.

For staff to truly build their skills, the practice needs to feel real enough to create pressure, yet safe enough for them to step back, reflect, and give it another shot when emotions run too high.

That’s why we work with our professional INTERACTORS.

They’re not roleplay actors following a script, but trained professionals who can adjust the intensity, respond realistically, and help create learning moments that challenge without overwhelming.

When it comes to tough interactions, knowing what to do is only part of the story. Practising in a safe space is where real learning happens. 🌱

Last week, we facilitated a Practice LAB with the team at WesCEF, exploring what happens when values, vision, and purpose move beyond the posters on the wall… and into real conversations.

One thing that stood out is that most people know the values.
Far fewer have had the opportunity to actually practise communicating them in difficult, messy, real-world situations.

Organisations often invest heavily in defining values and strategy, but much less in helping people rehearse how those values and strategies sound and feel in everyday leadership conversations.

Kudos to the Wesfarmers Chemicals, Energy & Fertilisers team for embracing the practice with such openness, honesty, and courage. 👏

"Is this really a priority right now?”
“Do you want it done properly or just fast?”
“Have you actually looked at our workload?”

Some “questions” leaders get from their team… aren’t really questions.
They’re frustration… in disguise.

Because saying:

👉 “I’m overwhelmed”
👉 “This doesn’t feel realistic”
👉 “I’m not on board with this”

…can feel risky.

So it comes out as a question instead.
But here’s the catch. Those questions trigger an automatic response in many leaders to:

→ explain
→ justify
→ defend

And suddenly the conversation shifts away from what actually matters. And leaders end up solving the wrong problem.

In our Leadership LABS with our trained roleplayers, we help leaders practice something different: responding to the energy, not just the question.

“You sound a bit frustrated.”
“It feels like there’s more behind that. What’s going on?”
“What’s prompting that question?”

It slows things down.
Gets the real issue on the table.
And makes the conversation a whole lot easier.

Because you can answer the question…
…and still completely miss the point.