Get thrown off when the unexpected happens? Try this improv exercise...

“Coulda said!”

After someone says something, anyone else can say “coulda said!” and the first person has to come up with a new and alternate thing to say.

For example:

Steven: I need those reports by Friday.

Rachel: Coulda said!

Steven: I want those reports by Friday.

Rachel: Coulda said!

Steven: I like your new hat.

Rachel: Awww, thank you!

It’s an opportunity to practice saying things off the cuff. We often get so hung up on building the perfect thing to say in our heads, that when told to say something else, it can throw us off. Good. Make this a gentle and playful part of your culture, so you get to practice failure in a safe space.

Stiff during presentations? Try this improv exercise…

Act it out. Mime. Essentially, play charades.

If you’ve got someone on your team (or it’s you) who feels stiff or flat presenting ideas, have them present one of the ideas on mute.

It forces them to get their body more involved, which will get them out of their heads.

It’ll also bring up their energy.

And they get to celebrate when the audience guesses what’s trying to be said, connecting joy with successful communication.

Once they start talking again, have them carry over some of that movement.

Presenting can be fun!

Having miscommunications? Try this improv exercise...

“What I hear you saying is…”

This one has two parts: a literal recap and an emotional one.

Part 1: Literal recap.

Take two people who aren’t on the same page. Have one person say what they’re feeling/thinking about the situation. The other person has to begin their response with a recap, “What I hear you saying is…” and try to repeat exactly, word for word, what was just said.

E.g.

Person 1: “She asked for more time on the project and I said ‘We can’t, we promised the client today.’”

Person 2: “What I hear you saying is… I asked for more time and you said we can’t because we promised the client they’d see the work today” (doesn’t need to be exactly the same words) and then they add their response. The other person repeats exactly, then adds their response. This makes sure we’re being heard.

Part 2: Interpretation.

Same exercise, but not as literal. They resond, “What I hear you saying is…” (inflection on the “I”) and say how their brain is interpreting those words.

E.g.

Person 1: “She asked for more time on the project and I said ‘We can’t, we promised the client today.’”

Person 2: “What I hear you saying is… (emphasis on the “I”) asking for more time would make you look bad in front of the client and you’d rather I suffered than you did.”

Then the other person repeats, then gives their interpretation. It might get heated, but it’ll go deeper into what’s really going on instead of just the endless loop of surface arguments.

Give it a try and let us know how it goes!

Conflict between team members? Try this exercise...

Have them sit back to back. That’s it.

Depending on how heated the conflict is, sometimes even seeing each other can trigger tension. So remove it. Take away the judgmental eyes, the facial expressions, all of the body language (middle finger?).

If you’re gonna have them talk it out, simplify the communication down to just the words.

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What’s a work issue you’re having? Let us know, and we’ll find or create an improv exercise to help.

100 Ways to Play at Work #39: Keywords

Give yourself 5 random words to try and fit smoothly into your next interaction. If it’s a larger meeting, give a friend 5 keywords, and they give you 5, and impress each other by how you fit “Quetzalcoatl” and “moist” into the latest budget meeting with such “aplomb.”  

Need some words to get you started: ethereal, cinnamon, recalcitrant, haberdashery, skedaddle, Tom Hanks.

<— Way to Play #38

Way to Play #40 —>

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This series was inspired by people asking me “How do I keep doing improv?” after a corporate improv workshop. There are, of course, improv classes, more workshops, team building exercises you can do with your group, but these games are specifically ones you can do on your own to practice “Yes and” and get into a state of play.

100 Ways to Play at Work #38: Adjective/Noun

Maybe you’re thinking, I’d like to play a character today just to see my work through a different lens, but what character should I be? Here’s a fun trick, write a bunch of adjectives (wild, silly, monstrous, agile), then write a bunch of nouns (student, firefighter, lobster, clown). Take one of each at random and that’s your character.

Respond to emails the way a “happy doctor” would. Or a “professional emailer.” Or a “wacky tractor.”

Way to Play #39 —>

<— Way to Play #37

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This series was inspired by people asking me “How do I keep doing improv?” after a corporate improv workshop. There are, of course, improv classes, more workshops, team building exercises you can do with your group, but these games are specifically ones you can do on your own to practice “Yes and” and get into a state of play.

Improv for Confidence: The Blog

Exercises, tips, and stories to boost confidence, collaboration, and communication in the workplace.

Improv is weird and silly and unpredictable, so you get to practice being thrown off and messing up, so you can practice thinking on your feet and recovering with aplomb. And the best part is, you don’t have to do it alone.

You can’t help but feel more confident going into a situation knowing that you’re part of a team, and you can handle things not going exactly as planned.

Browse the categories below to learn how to fear less, and confidence more:

Improv for Business: Team Building & Collaboration • Listening & Communication Skills • Leadership & Management Skills • Presentation Skills • Health & Wellness • 100 Ways to Play at Work

Improv for Anxiety: Anxiety Tips • How I Overcame Anxiety

100 Ways to Play at Work #37: Act Out Your Stories

Sure, I could tell you how my weekend was, or how the meeting went, but wouldn’t it be better if my whole body brought this story to life? Yes, yes it would.

Way to Play #38 —>

<— Way to Play #36

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This series was inspired by people asking me “How do I keep doing improv?” after a corporate improv workshop. There are, of course, improv classes, more workshops, team building exercises you can do with your group, but these games are specifically ones you can do on your own to practice “Yes and” and get into a state of play.

100 Ways to Play at Work #36: Change Your Appearance

A variation on “spot the difference” where you change little things about yourself throughout the day. Change your shirt. Add a scarf. Wear a ring. Change your necklace. Grow a mustache. You’ll be wonderfully mysterious, and each time someone sees you they’ll look at you with intrigue and say, “Did you always have a face tattoo?”

Way to Play #37 —>

<— Way to Play #35

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This series was inspired by people asking me “How do I keep doing improv?” after a corporate improv workshop. There are, of course, improv classes, more workshops, team building exercises you can do with your group, but these games are specifically ones you can do on your own to practice “Yes and” and get into a state of play.

100 Ways to Play at Work #35: Spot the Difference

Every time you visit a coworker, move something around. Move their family photo frame to the other side of the desk. Their mug just a little more out of reach. Tilt the lamp slightly. (Or non-office-from-the-2000’s-specific examples.)

Eventually let them know you’re playing this game with them. But only after they confide in you about “the ghosts.”

Way to Play #36 —>

<— Way to Play #34

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This series was inspired by people asking me “How do I keep doing improv?” after a corporate improv workshop. There are, of course, improv classes, more workshops, team building exercises you can do with your group, but these games are specifically ones you can do on your own to practice “Yes and” and get into a state of play.

100 Ways to Play at Work #34: Act "As If"

Write yourself a goal. Now imagine what it would be like it you achieved that goal. Now act like you would after having achieved it.

Want to lose weight to feel more confident? Act more confident now!

Want to make more money to feel more secure? Act more secure now!

Want to be the boss of this place? Act like the boss now! (Take the company plane. Heck, wanna be a pilot? Fly it!)

Play the character you want to be. Show the universe you’ll be able to handle what it brings you.  

Way to Play #35 —>

<— Way to Play #33

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This series was inspired by people asking me “How do I keep doing improv?” after a corporate improv workshop. There are, of course, improv classes, more workshops, team building exercises you can do with your group, but these games are specifically ones you can do on your own to practice “Yes and” and get into a state of play.

100 Ways to Play at Work #33: Have your own Competition

You know that scene in Mr. Bean where he’s trying to outdo the guy at the buffet? He grabs more food, eats it faster, wolfs down oysters… anyhoo, watch it if you haven’t. Point is, get into a playful mindset by having your own little competition.

But it’s not about a battle between two or more people. In fact, the key is that the other person doesn’t even know they’re in a competition. Write on the whiteboard just a little faster, bigger, clearer than them. Win gold for whiteboarding.

Way to Play #34 —>

<— Way to Play #32

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This series was inspired by people asking me “How do I keep doing improv?” after a corporate improv workshop. There are, of course, improv classes, more workshops, team building exercises you can do with your group, but these games are specifically ones you can do on your own to practice “Yes and” and get into a state of play.

100 Ways to Play at Work #32: Talk without Talking

If someone all the way on the other side of the building makes the gesture of shoveling food in their mouths, you know you’re being invited to lunch. No need for words. We do it all the time. Here’s where the challenge comes in, try and communicate everything this way.

“Did you get my email?” (point to them, typing fingers, shrug)

“I love your new shoes!” (lift your foot high, point to your shoes, point to them, heart shape hands)

“Someone used the company photocopier to print out 200 pages of a file called ‘MyStory-novel-final-v.13.2’ at 10pm last night, was that you, you li’l rascal?” (you got this!)

Act things out, use your facial expressions, clearly mouth out your words, get your whole body involved, or simply learn sign language.

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This series was inspired by people asking me “How do I keep doing improv?” after a corporate improv workshop. There are, of course, improv classes, more workshops, team building exercises you can do with your group, but these games are specifically ones you can do on your own to practice “Yes and” and get into a state of play.

"What do you do for work and for fun and do you do them at the same time?"

Whenever we meet someone new, either networking, or dating, or small talk in the dentist’s waiting room, there’s two popular questions we ask to quickly sum humans up:

“What do you do for work?” and “What do you do for fun?”

As though they’re always two completely separate things.

“What do you do for work?” is essentially, “What do you make yourself do with your days to make enough money to put food on your family?”

And “What do you do for fun?” is like “What silly things do you do with any leftover time to try and help you recover from work?”

Instead of treating them as polar opposites, and that fun/play/joy could only possibly exist outside of work, try asking what I like to call a combo platter:

“What do you LIKE to do AT work?”

It forces them to think about the positives of what they do for a living. Are there little moments that are the highlights of each day? Is it the people? That they’re making a difference and helping others? The snack drawer? Do they just generally like their job?

In other words, as we’re always saying, look for the joy in work.

100 Ways to Play at Work #31: Give Yourself a Nickname

Sure, historically speaking, nicknames are usually bestowed upon their recipients. My nickname when I worked at the health food store was “Gramps.” And this was in my early 20’s. In my defense, I was anxious and hated myself and others. Especially those dang kids on my lawn. (You know this is a joke because I said “lawn” and I live in Toronto.)

This is your chance to get ahead of the game. Sign off some emails with a bonus “middle” name in quotes. Drop some third person references in conversation like “Tiger agrees” while pointing to yourself. Or simply hire an actor to call you your nickname loudly throughout the day.  

You don’t need to sell everyone, just get one person hooked. Most people call me plain ole Cam, or Cameron, or Cam-Bam 3000, but I’ve also planted the seeds of some weird ones.

Way to Play #32 —>

<— Way to Play #30

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This series was inspired by people asking me “How do I keep doing improv?” after a corporate improv workshop. There are, of course, improv classes, more workshops, team building exercises you can do with your group, but these games are specifically ones you can do on your own to practice “Yes and” and get into a state of play.

“Yes, and” you’re successful!

Wanna feel successful? Realize your days are already filled with successes.

Gonna get all High School Valedictorian speech and say, Oxford Dictionary defines “success” as: the achievement of a desired result or outcome; the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.

Which means, by definition, you could aim to brush your teeth, accomplish brushing your teeth, and that is a success. Then strut around knowing you’ve already been successful today!

To which you might think, “Technically yes, BUT…”

But brushing teeth isn’t a big enough achievement.

But it doesn’t make money.

But it’s not growing as a person.

But I can’t brag about it on social media.

But but buuuuut…

To which I say, remember the power of “Yes, AND.”

Making millions of dollars is a measurement of success.

Yes.

ANNNND… so is getting out of bed. (It’s so warm and comfy!)

Maybe you didn’t climb Everest today (lazy), but you did go for a walk. That might not be considered “worthy” of other people lifting you up and chanting your name, but it is worthy of YOU celebrating.

YES, celebrate the big achievements, AND the little ones. Clock enough little ones and they’ll start to feel big, too.

“I wrote a book today!”

“Yes! And I made a sandwich!”

“Look at us, just two successful people!”

Use your First Time Forgiveness™

Even perfectionists need to give themselves some leniency the first time they try something new. First time you ever sit down at a piano, the expectation can’t be that you instantly play a perfect concerto. Second time, yes, obviously you should be concert-ready, but first time?! There’s gotta be some “First Time Forgiveness.”

Now, keep FTF in mind when I say, every single conversation you have in life, you’re having for the first time. Even conversations you feel like you’re having for the 100th time, it’s never happened in this exact context, with these exact words. Some part of it is always new.

Everything we do has some degree of newness. Some percentage of it is happening for the first time. And the percentage that’s happening for the first time needs to come with FTF.

Let’s say you go to your first improv class. Congrats, btw. And you and the class play the improv game where each person takes a turn adding one word to the story. Afterwards, you think, “That was hilarious, improv is amazing, and the story was fun, but wasn’t… perfect.” But hey, it’s your first time ever, so you can’t be too hard on yourself.

Then you play the same game again, but this time going in reverse order of the class. Second time, so you gotta think you’ll be better than the first time, but technically it is your first time going in this order.

Then you play it again, but this time in teams of two. Third time overall, but first time in pairs.

It could be your 100th time playing it, and something will always be different, new, the first time.

So when it doesn’t go perfectly (because things don’t, and that wouldn’t be as fun anyway) and you want to judge yourself, you have to factor in FTF. Instead of beating yourself up thinking, “I should be 100% great at this by now,” think, “I should be 80% great at this by now. But I should also go 20% easy on myself because it’s the first time playing it with these people, in this order, with this instructor, in these shoes… (or whatever is new this time).”

If there’s anything you’re being hard on yourself about right now, take a moment to think about what percentage was new/different this time. “I’ve done this presentation a thousand times… but never at this venue.” “I’ve met new people before… but never this person.” “I’ve done backflips plenty of times… but not usually with the whole office watching… anyway, here goes!”

Even if it’s only 1% different. Give yourself that 1% forgiveness for not being perfect. After all, you can’t be expected to be perfect, you’re living this exact moment for literally the first time.

How to Measure “Soft Skills” in Improv Training: Active Listening

Minimizing miscommunications with Improv

Let’s say you book your team for a listening skills workshop, how will you know if it worked? Are they saying, “Wait, what’s happening, I’m lost?!” less frequently? Fewer chairs being thrown? Less crying? When it comes to behaviour change, how do you measure success?

Well, first, let’s define what we’re talking about. Listening is holding focus on one thing.

Do they currently do that? And if not, how do we make them do that? Listen, nobody wants to be a “bad” listener. So there must be a reason people check their phones, tune out to think about what else needs to be said or done, or stare out the window wistfully during status meetings. And like most of the time, the thing preventing positive growth is… fear.

Here’s the Play with Fire Improv patented Listening Scale™ to show how fear affects listening:

Here’s the scale in relation to what the person will prioritize when it comes to listening:

Here’s the scale in terms of how someone might reply to what was said:

These are sliding scales, so someone might respond differently in different situations, but it gives you a sense of where someone is now in terms of their listening skill level. Now let’s talk about how improv training can help move them up the scale.

How improv helps if you’re always lost in thought.

Anxiety is tough on listening. Or having a busy mind, in general. Essentially, if you’re in your own head, your focus isn’t really on anything outside of your head. You can hear sounds, people talking, but nothing is really registering. It’s like driving somewhere and not remembering the journey.

Improv helped me be aware of other humans. Because improv is a group thing, you’re forced to pay at least some attention to what’s going on, or you’ll be completely lost. And the fear of embarrassment about being lost is usually enough to shift focus outward at least for a second or two. You might not be holding the focus just yet, but knowing that it’s even possible to shift outside your head is a good start.

How improv helps if you’re easily distracted.

There are always going to be other things that need to get done. And the feeling that they all need your attention right now. And the phones to constantly check on those things. So how do you prioritize holding focus? To quote Hale Dwoskin, of The Sedona Method fame, “Do what you’re doing when you’re doing it. Don’t do what you’re not doing when you’re not doing it.”

Improv teaches you that what’s happening right now is the most important, and only thing. When you’re building a world out of imagination, it’s like walking through the pitch black with a flashlight, the world appears as you go. What’s coming up? We’ll see when we get there. Right now, this is all there is.

How improv helps if you’re always planning your response.

I wrote a whole post on this, so I’ll link that here. But to quickly recap: most people believe that if they can sneakily plan a response in their heads while you’re still talking, their response will not only be immediate, but also better. (“Better” in this instance is not blanking or saying something stupid and feeling embarrassed.)  

Improv teaches you that shifting into your head to plan your response makes it MORE likely you blank or say something stupid, because what you say has a higher risk of not being related to what the person said while you were tuned out.

How improv helps you stay fully present.

The only reason we’re not all great listeners is fear. Fear sells you on the idea that interactions are better if you go into your head to plan smart responses. Fear tells you that giving someone your full attention will look too intense. Fear says you’re missing out on something more important. Improv shows you that this moment right now is the only time that exists! That sounds pretty important.

To recap, here’s how you measure success when training the “soft skill” of listening:

1.    Get a sense of where people are now on the Listening Scale™.

2.    Do an Improv For Listening™ workshop (or a few).

3.    Observe where they are after.

Improv helps you shift focus out of your head, so you can stay present with the other person the whole time they’re talking. In other words, improv makes you a great listener!

26 Ways Improv Can Help Your Business In 2026

What are you going to do this year to help your team? You could book a team building workshop, an active listening workshop, a presentation skills workshop—or just cover all the skills in one go, with improv!

Improv helps with Listening & Communication Skills

 1) Improves listening skills through the practice of staying present and focused

2) Hones non-verbal communication, reading body language, energy and tone

3) Develops openness to different ways of thinking

4) Enables thinking on your feet

Improv helps with Collaboration & Team-building

5) Promotes building ideas together through “Yes, and”

6) Encourages the support of the ideas of others

7) Bonds the team over stories and laughter

8) Builds trust among team members and other departments

Improv helps with Creativity & Innovation

9) Breaks rigid thought patterns with outside the box thinking

10) Lessens fear of making mistakes to open up to creative problem solving

11) Opens the mind to many different perspectives and points of view

12) Shifts the mindset to see ideas in terms of potential vs pitfalls

Improv helps with Confidence

13) Forms the ability to handle change and uncertainty without panic

14) Keeps the fear of failure and the judgement of others from holding them back

15) Builds trust in themselves and the team

16) Increases the willingness to take calculated risks

Improv helps with Leadership & Management

17) Harnesses the ability to stay calm under pressure, respond vs react

18) Cultivates the ability to make decisions on the spot

19) Promotes inclusive leadership, focusing on delegation and empowerment

20) Focuses on emotional intelligence with authenticity and empathy

Improv helps with Culture

21) Creates a safe, supportive environment with “Yes and”

22) Fosters a sense of shared ownership of outcomes (we’re in it together)

23) Reduces miscommunications, misunderstandings through clear communication

24) Aids in conflict resolution, objection handling and negotiation flexibility

Improv helps you find Joy in what you do

25) Improv is fun, which improves morale and engagement

26) Improv helps you play!

If any of that sounds good, reach out to book an improv workshop!

26 Ways Improv Can Help You In 2026

Improv helps with everything!

Did you write a list of New Year’s Resolutions with the plan to do a bunch of different tasks to achieve those goals? Simplify, man! Just do improv!

Improv helps you…

1) Laugh more.

2) Play characters that don’t have your problems.

3) Get out of your head.

4) Be silly and be okay being silly.

5) Practice failing and recovering.

6) Use your imagination to create wonderful things.

7) Tell fascinating stories.

8) Move your body in interesting ways.

9) Think differently and be okay with others thinking differently.

10) Adapt to the unexpected.

11) Let go of expectations.  

12) Surprise yourself! (Improv gets you doing things you had no idea you could do.)

13) Be open to the ideas of others.

14) Love and support the ideas of others.  

15) Connect with people on a deeper level.

16) Judge less. Yourself and others.

17) Accept things as they are. It’s not settling, just not denying.  

18) Take yourself and any “failings” as little less seriously.

19) Trust yourself more. You can do this.  

20) Feel more confident.

21) Make bold choices. (Or make any decision, then boldly follow through.)

22) Make new friends.

23) Know that you are enough.

24) Release stress from your body and mind.

25) Focus on all the little moments of joy.

26) Play!

If you like the sounds of that, reach out to book an improv workshop today!