Blog
Is Applied Improvisation fun? Yes and no…
‘What about fun?’, I hear you ask.
Does fun matter in the serious context of work? And is fun really at the heart of Applied Improvisation?
How to assess the improvisational skills of a facilitator by watching them run an activity
Ever wondered if you can assess the extent to which a facilitator has improvisation skills, by observing their interactions during an activity?
What helps learners learn most – what they get right or what they get wrong?
In a previous post I described an improvisation activity for speakers and story-tellers which determines the outcome: The better the player improvises, the better the resulting story.
An improvisation activity for speakers and story-tellers: ‘Fish, Cable, Catapult’
I’m often asked, ‘What makes a good activity in applied improvisation?’. Well, more truthfully I was once asked this once in an interview.
Here’s what I said…
Making a virtue of virtual
Discussing trends with fellow facilitators, we agree that virtual is here to stay. Allowing people to work more at their own speed and in their own time, with neat ideas such as shared documents, can offer more engaging, enjoyable and productive working…
Why luxury hotel trips may not be over as facilitators imagine
We have learned to hold events online that connect more people with reasonable efficiency. And yet, the virtual falls short when it comes to the quality of interactions..
How can you be an improviser, if you’re not an actor or jazz musician?
Can you be an improviser if you are not a gifted artist?
Yes, you can. In fact, you are.
Three ways to make conferences less boring
Have you ever felt deflated by attending a conference where there’s presentation after presentation – and you seem to get nothing from it?
What’s the point in fearing failure?
If we focus on playing well or enjoying the game, our performance will improve. What might you win by playing to play, instead of fearing failure when failure has few consequences?
Play to play – choosing your best level of challenge
When do you play to play, rather than win? How often do you play to learn, experimentally exploring the dimensions of the game to discover what it has to offer?
Improvising Recipes for Success
Many facilitators find it helpful to think in terms of Structures and their concomitant Freedoms when designing and running activities that aim to engage participants at appropriate levels of safety, risk and challenge..
Is it your turn to go first? How to decide who starts in a pairs activity..
A recent post on the Applied Improvisation Network’s Facebook page asked for fun ways to determine who goes first in an activity.
The consensus was to aim for the sweet spot of innocuous enough not to cause offense, yet interesting enough to prompt a quick get-to-know-you..
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