Improv Means BusinessTM Creativity, Communication,

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Improv Means BusinessTM Creativity,
Communication, Collaborationin The Workplace
ImprovMeansBusiness.comjim_at_tosoneassociates.com
Jim TosoneSIM Fairfield-Westchester
ChapterJanuary 15, 2009
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What is Improv?

• Set of Exercises or Games
• Originally Developed for Child Actors
• Basis for Sketch Comedy
• The Second City, SCTV
• Whos Line Is It Anyway?
• Curb Your Enthusiasm

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Why is it Useful in Business?

• Real-time Nature of Games Fosters Creativity
• Creation of Dialog Fosters Communication
• Group Games Foster Collaboration Teamwork

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Improv Games

• Mirror
• Dr. Know-It-All
• ABC
• Rewind

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Mirror

• Focus
• Exact imitation of partners movements
• Directions
• Pair up
• Stand facing each other
• Lock eyes
• Make slow hand, arm, face movements
• Goal
• Seamlessly transfer the lead back forth

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Dr. Know-It-All

• Focus
• Three people perform as one brain
• Directions
• Three people line up as Dr. Know-It-All
• We ask questions
• Dr. Know-It-All answers one word at a time in
  sequence until complete sentence or thought
• Goal
• Work together as if one

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ABC

• Focus
• Creating within constraints
• Direction
• Two-person scene (character situation)
• Dialog occurs in alphabetical order
• Goal
• Create an coherent imaginative story

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Rewind

• Focus
• Generating alternatives
• Direction
• Two-person scene (character situation)
• When I ring bell, replace line just said with a
  completely different one (but not just the
  opposite)
• Goal
• Improve on an initial idea

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Applying Improv Games Situationally
Creativity
Communication
Collaboration
Mirror
ABC
Dr. Know-It-All
Rewind
Brainstorming
Client Consults
New Teams
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Principles of Improv

• Initiate Ideas
• Acknowledge/Accept Ideas
• Build on Ideas
• Stay in the Moment
• Make Mistakes

Yes And!
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Improv Means BusinessTM Creativity,
Communication, Collaborationin The Workplace
Jim TosoneImprovMeansBusiness.comjim_at_tosoneassoc
iates.com