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Have you ever watched “Whose Line is It Anyway” or other improv comedy shows and thought, "How can they think so quickly on their feet?" The answer is: practice! Yes, you can practice being spontaneous! You’ve done it at the office... You’re all prepared to share information at a meeting and suddenly someone asks you a question about a totally different project. The first time this happened you probably felt a bit off-balance, but the more it happened (and, let’s face it, most of your workday is spent improvising!), the easier it got. This workshop will formalize that experience. We will break down all the skills it takes to be an excellent improviser -- listening, quick thinking, collaboration, being ‘present,’ creative communication choices – and we'll practice them in a comfortable, fun environment. The result is a laughter-filled session in which you increase your ability to effectively communicate with your teammates and feel comfortable and confident in situations that call for ‘off the cuff’ thought and action.
The magic word in improv is YES. Everything you say or do has its place, mistakes are part of the discovery process, and the main objective is to make our teammates look good! We’ll get rid of that little critic on our shoulder who tells us that what we just said was wrong. Since improvising is a learned skill and practice is the key, we can safely guarantee that you will be better at improvising when you leave our workshop than when you begin.
What happens at our Improv Workshop? First, let's look at what we DON'T do:
We don’t teach you how to be funny. We teach you how to improvise. So let go of any thoughts that you or your group isn’t ‘funny enough’ to do this. Funny doesn’t figure into it.
We don’t put anyone on the spot. All of our exercises are designed to work in small groups, large groups and pairs. No one is ‘volun-told’ to do anything in front of the others.
Here’s what we do:
Our ideal group size is 14, but we can accommodate up to 25. Larger groups will divide into smaller break-out groups and work simultaneously with a different facilitator in a separate room.
First, we ‘warm up’ the group . Everyone stands in a circle and we exercise the three things we need to effectively communicate: our body, voice, and mind. Research has shown that 93% of our message is received through body language and vocal tone, so in our warm-up we experiment with different ways to relax and energize our bodies, and play with vocal pitch, emphasis and articulation. During this warm-up, we explore the concept of ‘being present’ so that we are able to be flexible and spontaneous and are not distracted by outside influences.
Next, we engage in a series of physical and mental exercises (nothing strenuous) in which the skills are isolated and practiced. These exercises and games are all based on improvisational theatre. They are easy to learn, just challenging enough to bump your skills up a notch, and always laughter-inducing. We learn that all we need to do is follow the ‘rules’ of good improv, and we don’t have to ‘be funny’ – the games will be funny for us. Did you ever laugh hysterically at a family gathering while playing ‘Charades’ or some other game? It’s the same concept – the act of doing the game will have us in stitches. When we’re done laughing, our expert facilitator will debrief the exercise and examine what made it work or not work. We will then apply our learnings to the next game. We will layer these communication and teamwork skills until finally we ‘re working together, behaving spontaneously without hesitation or fear, and without the critic (or at least he won’t show up as often).
After every game or exercise, our philosophy calls for everyone to cheer wildly at the courage and ability of the participants, creating a very positive environment. Participants are often shocked and thrilled at the kind of ‘performance’ they give at the end of the day.
Business Application: Throughout the day, the facilitator debriefs the skills and objectives of each activity and relates the experiences to real-life business applications. Rich discussions typically result as participants recognize behavior patterns and how the skills from this workshop can greatly improve workplace communication, and therefore increase overall job effectiveness.
This session is typically a half-day program, however, we can work with you to adjust the length and content to your needs.
When combined with other Team Builders Plus programs, such as Why We Click with Some and Clank with Others, the Improvisational Comedy workshop offers an excellent vehicle to experience communication styles in action
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