Blog
Transports of Delight
My colleague was inspired to invent a new introductory game for our London improvisation group session the other night. She saw a new electric scooter hire service and fancied giving it a try. So, at the beginning of the workshop, she asked everyone to describe to a partner how they had got to the session that evening and what way they would have liked to have arrived.
What if communication goes right?
A fellow facilitator described how he had worked with a high-performing team and tested the team with an activity with which some of you may be familiar.
It’s called ‘Telephone’ and it involves each player in the team passing a mimed
Your storytelling is more than just the story
Your storytelling is more than just the story "The art of storytelling is centred on the storyteller's involvement with character and plot. He cannot, in James Joyce's words, sit back godlike and pare his fingernails. He must have an attitude towards the contents of...
Changing the innovation agenda
When developing an agenda for a government-backed think-tank event on innovation, in climate risk insurance practices, we were wondering what would make for stimulating activities between facilitating heavy rounds of technical discussions.
Breaking up proceedings with a ‘two-minute chat-to-your-neighbour’ break seemed ideal, but we had to make a careful choice of topics.
Getting beyond the fear when we drop our scripts
I’m always glad to see new books about applying improvisation. From a random dip, there’s a lot to like in Jeff Katzman and Dan O’Connor’s ‘Life Unscripted’. I was particularly looking forward to this one as I’ve enjoyed watching Dan perform and was glad to see he might be combining an improviser’s insight with those of his psychotherapist co-author.
Why it’s important to celebrate risk-taking rather than mistakes or failure
Why it’s important to celebrate risk-taking rather than mistakes or failure It’s in our nature to make mistakes, notably in everyday life. We pour the wrong drink, utter an incorrect word and leave the house without an umbrella. We get unintentionally overcharged, on...
Playing to play – on and off the sports field
Playing to play - on and off the sports field One of my favourite tenets of Applied Improvisation (AI) is 'Play to Play'. It reminds us that most people play most games to win - which, to be fair, is inherent in the nature of many games. Take for example the Cricket...
Big idea from Harvard – Excellent!
Big idea from Harvard – Excellent! ‘Excellence is not the opposite of failure… Excellence is idiosyncratic and cannot be learned by studying failure… ‘ At last! It’s what they call your ‘HBR Moment’. That’s when your big idea gets recognised in an article in the...
Eight secrets for applying improvisation in life and at work
Eight secrets for applying improvisation in life and at work 'I’ve been learning to improvise, and I love it. I’d like to know more about what’s beyond the stage - this idea of applying improv in life and at work.' Great, that’s what we call Applied Improvisation,...
Hopes and fears? Don’t invite fears into the room!
Hopes and fears? Don't invite fears into the room! A lot of training sessions, courses, even conferences begin by asking their participants to consider their hopes and fears. It's a good idea to hear what people want (their hopes), and better to have those expressed...
Lubricate your presentations with collaborative humour
Lubricate your presentations with collaborative humour When people don’t laugh at my jokes – and by people in this context I mostly mean my children – I don’t get offended. I remind myself that I was a comedy professional. Yes, the BBC employed me for five years, and...
Your stories are never neutral
Your stories are never neutral I was listening to the provocative BBC radio series, The Tyranny of Story, which prompted a few thoughts. One suggestion is that a story is never neutral. Any story that you hear, and for that matter any story that you tell, is pushing...
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