What happens in an improv team building workshop?

Great question!

Quick caveat, each workshop gets customised based on your team’s needs and goals, the number of people, how long we have, etc., so what happens can really be anything. But this general outline can be a good starting point to get a sense of what a session could look like.

Bonus caveat, this outline isn’t going to sound nearly as fun as improv actually is. Just know that behind all skill-building talk, the workshops will always have a focus on fun and laughter.  

Let’s begin.

1) INTRODUCTION

We’ll do a quick intro on improv, the idea of “Yes and,” and the benefit of learning/honing this skill. At the start of any workshop, most people just want to know two things: what’s this about, and how it’s going to help me?

With improv, I’ll also address two other big questions: “Will I have to be funny?” and “Will I be put on the spot and look silly… and have to be funny?” No and no. These improv exercises are focused on connection and collaboration, building stories and ideas together. With everyone participating at the same time, and nobody is singled out or has to be “good at it.”

2) WARM-UP EXERCISES

A few simple improv games to get people moving their bodies into a sense of play. Games so easy there’s no fear of “messing it up.” Because even though I mention not needing to be good or funny in the introduction, there might still be some fear of looking silly in front of your peers.

Eg. “Yes Let’s!”

Someone calls out an activity, like “Let’s play basketball!” and everyone practices being open to other people’s ideas by responding with an enthusiastic “Yes! Let’s!” then playing imaginary basketball together.

3) SKILL BUILDING EXERCISES

This is where we explore the meaning of “Yes, and”, and how using it in work interactions makes for better team communication, connection, and collaboration. 

Again, which exercises go here can be determined by the type of team and their goals, whether overall communication skills, listening skills, conflict resolution, presentation skills, creativity, leadership and management skills, and so on.

Eg. “Word at a Time Story”

In smaller groups and/or pairs, each person takes turns adding just one word to the overall story, so nobody has too much control over where the story goes. Trains listening, being open and judging less, being present, letting go of control and thinking collaboratively.

4) PERFORMANCE EXERCISES

This is the section where not everyone is participating at the same time. Some are performing while the rest are their audience. A chance to put your newly honed improv skills into practice.

This part is closer to what you might see on Whose Line Is It Anyway? [link to youtube vid] (if that’s not too old a reference).

One small group at a time (unless it’s specifically a presentation skills exercise, then you might be alone for this part) will play an improv game on the “stage area.” The games are designed for success, aka ease of laughs and joy.

Eg. “The Show Must Go On!”

Five participants act out a 1-minute scene improvising a conversation between five different characters. Then we repeat the same scene 4 more times, each time removing one participant, but not their character’s line. Eventually, one participant has to recreate the whole first scene by playing all 5 characters. (If this seems hard, reminder, we do build up to this.)

5) Q&A

Throughout the workshop, I’ll explain how to do each exercise, but also how it applies in the real world. With that said, if there are still any questions, we leave time at the end for discussion.

And then, one last, fun, everyone moving together cool-down exercise.

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That’s about it. Again, this is just a general outline, and can be adjusted to anything you need. We’re improvisers, after all.

One workshop we did for The Toronto Raptors staff and management, we broke them into 8 different “teams” and did a bracket-style competitive improv tournament, so there’s really no limit to what an improv team building workshop could look like.

But if you like this starting point and want to talk more, reach out.

100 Ways to Play at Work #29: Give a Gift

In improv, there’s a lot of gift talk. Every offer from your scene partner is a gift. Mistakes are gifts. There’s even a gift giving game. It’s a reminder to focus on the other person. To share joy with someone.

So today’s challenge is to give a gift. Get a friend a coffee. Make a coworker something out of paperclips. Write something supportive on a post-it note and leave it for someone. Give to a charity. Or the greatest gift of all, the gift of friendship and Bluetooth speakers.

Top 3 Improv Team Building Exercises that could help the Toronto Maple Leafs

Okay, so after a few games this season, it’s apparent that the Leafs are missing Marner. Or, if not specifically Marner, someone who knows where everyone else is on the ice at all times. A playmaker. Someone who thinks as a team, instead of what’s feeling like a series of individuals on the ice at the same time.

Hey, it’s cool that everyone is trying to step up individually, but it’s not gonna be enough. If, however, everyone starts thinking a little more as a collective, you could make up for Marner in the aggregate. Here are some improv exercises that could help the Leafs hone their team cohesion.

1) Matthews in the Middle

Have the team get into a circle. One player skates into the centre of the circle and starts to dance. Or sing. (AND sing?) Whichever seems like more of a nightmare. The idea is that being in the middle is uncomfortable. That person dances/sings until someone else comes and takes their spot in the middle. Meaning, the people on the outside of the circle have to decide if they’re going to take the spot in the middle away and have to dance/sing (which sucks), or just leave the person in the middle to suffer (which sucks).

The lesson: Which sucks more, being embarrassed yourself, or watching your teammate be embarrassed? Get to the point where they care about each other more than themselves.

2) Blind Obstacle Course

Set up an obstacle course (cones to go around, tables to go over and/or under, objects to hit with the puck). Break into two teams to have them race against each other (so there are some stakes). One at a time, a player from each team with go through the obstacle course blindfolded, with only the words of their teammates to guide them through it safely. The next person goes when the previous person has successfully completed the course and passes them the puck (both blindfolded).

The lesson: Give up wanting to control the situation and learn to trust your teammates completely. We fail and succeed together.

3) Word at a Time Story

Get in a circle. The person with the puck says one word to start a story, then passes the puck. The person who receives it, says the next one word of the story, and bounces the puck to another player. The key is to keep the puck moving, and go fast, no time to judge or think of the “correct” next word.

The lesson: There’s a saying in improv, “Don’t bring a cathedral into a scene. Bring a brick; let’s build together.” It’s not about any one word, it’s about the whole story.

That’s it. Give them a try. Or not. After all, I’m just some improv guy, and you’re a professional team with a professional plan. In which case, don’t book a workshop because you need it, book one because they’re fun! (And you might need it.)

Fearless Presentations: Learn to actually enjoy public speaking.

Most public speaking classes are designed to help you do it better. Which, I guess, makes sense. The logic being, if you can get good enough at presenting, you’ll never make a mistake, which is a big part of the fear. Public embarrassment. But to me, that’s like being afraid of snakes, and only learning how to avoid snakes. It’s all good, until there’s a snake.

From my experience, it doesn’t matter if you tell me how to hold my hands properly, inflect the right words, and structure the ideal pitch, if as soon as I get up there, I panic and blank on everything.

What you actually need is to practice being bad at presenting. Practice blanking, and recovering from blanking. Practice panicking, and how to handle it and keep going. Instead of learning to be perfect, which is in reality just a way of avoiding failure, practice failing!

And this doesn’t just apply to public speaking, but all of life. But for the sake of this workshop description, it’s about public speaking.

If you, or anyone on your staff is a nervous presenter, reach out to us and book a Fearless Presentations workshop.

Through a series of improv games and exercises, we’ll get them thinking on their feet and more able to go “off script,” caring about their audience and communicating an idea more than focusing on how “well” they’re presenting, and overall find their voice and style and actually learn to enjoy sharing and connecting with others.

Don’t let your fear of public speaking hold you back in your career. You can overcome it, it just takes work. And by work, I mean doing improv games and a lot of laughing.

Improv for Anxiety for Business: What if my staff is terrified of an improv workshop?

A lot of times when I’m working with a company to plan their improv workshop, it’ll be brought up that amidst all the excitement and buzz for the event, there’s also a fair amount of trepidation. Meaning, some of their coworkers/staff have come up to them and said, “Do I have to do the improv?” “Will we have to go on stage?” “What if I’m not funny?” All the fun stuff our brains think about.

So they ask me, do you know how to handle a workshop when some (or most) of the people are terrified and don’t want to be there? And I’ll say, honestly, that’s my specialty!

I go into corporate workshops almost the same way I go in to teach an improv for anxiety class. Knowing that there’s a mix excitement and nervous energy. And quickly explain that improv isn’t about being individually funny or showing off, it’s about connection and collaboration, and building ideas together without judgement. In other words, goal #1 is to create a safe space.

For any adult, the idea of “being silly” can be scary. Most of us have been told off for “goofing around” since we were kids. Parents, teaches, managers all telling us to be more serious. Add to that the fact that during the workshop you’re still technically “at work” and depending on who participates, you might be acting goofy in front of your boss(es).

But there’s no reason we can’t do our jobs seriously AND also enjoy them. We can be talking to coworkers about an important project, and yet still enjoy the conversation. Humans instinctively want to play and connect and enjoy life, it’s just been a while since we felt “allowed.”

Improv is as a place where you’re allowed to have fun. And to put everyone at ease, no, I’m not gonna start the workshop with “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” style scenework, where two people have to be funny while everyone else watches. Sure, I could probably find two volunteers willing to do it, but I can tell you the anticipation/dread from the people “waiting their turn” won’t be fun. As much as improv is about stretching comfort zones, it ain’t about breaking them.

Think of improv as a series games and exercises designed to get people playing together like kids used to during recess. Moving around and being silly, connecting with your inner child, your free to be creative side, your state of play.

Because yes, an improv workshop is going to help everyone think faster on their feet, adapt to change, listen and communicate more effectively, feel more confident, and all that good stuff, but one of the main keys is that you’re laughing while learning. So it’s important that they’re having fun. Because it’s easier to play and laugh when you’re not so scared. 

How Fortune 500 companies use improv to build their leadership skills.

PART 2: Improv helps you care about others.

In Part 1, we talked about the importance of the ability to make decisions. Now we’re talking about which decisions to make. And ideally, they’re decisions that will help the team you’re leading.

Imagine you’re on stage with someone. And they start the scene by saying, “Well, I hope you’re happy now.” In Part 1 we talked about all the decisions that need to be made to help build the world out of imagination. What did you do? Who would ask you that? What’s the context? Etc. All decisions you could make by going in your head and rummaging around for answers.

Now let’s shift outside ourselves and focus on them. How did they say it? Annoyed? Angry? Almost laughing? How are they looking at you? How close/far are they standing? What do they want from you? Like is it funnier TO THEM if you say that you are happy now?

In other words, improv teaches you to care about your scene partner(s). In real life, you can think of your “scene partner” as anyone you’re having an interaction with. Be present with them. What are they feeling? What do they want out of this conversation?

Humans tend to think other people think like they do. And often get frustrated when they don’t. But with improv, you quickly learn to be open to different ways of thinking, and even more important, appreciate different ways of thinking. So in a leadership position, you learn it isn’t about teaching your staff to be more like you, or that you’re the only one who knows how to do it “right,” but appreciating people for who they are, and what they can bring to the table.

In other words, you learn to let go. Leading isn’t about control. At first, out of fear, people often try to steer conversations/situations to where they want it to go, or to where they think it should go. But it’s hard to control others, and make them say or do everything you want. It’s frustrating. So with improv, you give up control, and the next thing you know, you’re sharing an experience where the collective ideas are way better than your individual ones would’ve been.

In conclusion, if you want to care more about others, a key leadership skill, you should definitely try improv.

100 Ways to Play at Work #22: Status Numbers

It’s funnier that the servant (low status) be smarter than the king (high status). It’s playing with expectations and surprise. (Though it turns out, having someone so incompetent in such a position of power isn’t that funny.) But status can move around. It shifts.

A project manager might make you feel like a 2 (out of 10), then commiserating with a friend can bump you up to a 9. You could feel like an 8 going into a meeting, see that the whole C-suite is there for some reason and drop to a 3.

So here’s the challenge: feel like a 10. As often as you can. Play a confident character. Not a 9. 9’s are still competing for status and will try and put others down to build themselves up. A 10 isn’t battling for status. They have it. They’re secure in themselves. They are enough. So enough, they’re willing to help others who are still struggling with status.

You may not always feel like it, but just know, you are a 10.

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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.

The 10 “Z's" of Choosing the Best Team Building Activities

As we all know, any list that uses all the same letters is clearly more thought out, and not just a gimmick. It’s like when common sayings rhyme, they’re just better. And this list should be considered the most definitive, based on Scrabble scores.

Here are the 10 “Z’s” you need to make sure you’re choosing the perfect team building activity for your staff/executives/board members/friends and family.

Zeal

It’s gotta be an activity people want to do with great energy and enthusiasm.

Zen

It’s gotta be something that connects them to their senses and intuition.  

Zone

It’s gotta get them in the zone. Like, locked in.

Zig-zag

Hmmm, okay, yeah, it’s gotta help them be able to pivot their thinking in the opposite direction, and then back again.

Zestful

Um, did I mention it’s gotta be something people do with great energy and enthusiasm?

Zoo

It’s gotta have some level of confusion and disorder. And people behaving like animals.

Zombie

It’s gotta break them out of their regular behaviour patterns.

Zarf

That thing that goes over a coffee cup to keep you from burning your hands. So, like, the activity should help your team protect each other from… heat and stuff.

Zoomies?

It’s gotta get them running around like dogs that need to get rid of some excess energy, because they’ve been sitting in front of the computer all day.

Zip-Zap-Zop

It’s gotta be an improv game. It’s fun. You should try improv.

Wondering which team building activity does it all?! Including the last one, which is specific to improv? It’s improv!

Book your improv workshop today and reach the zenith of team building activities!

How Fortune 500 companies use improv to build their leadership skills.

PART 1: Improv makes you a better decision maker.

Imagine all hell is breaking loose. Someone yells out, “All hell is breaking loose, what should we do?!” You hear a series of panicked “I don’t know, I don’t know!” then, breaking through the cacophony, you say, “We could try [anything really]” All heads are going to turn to you. Because you’re now the leader.

Leaders are the people who make decisions, and in turn, others look to to make those decisions. Especially under pressure.

So if you’re in management, or want to be, and you want to hone your decision making skills in moments of pressure, improv can help. Because improv is essentially just a series of decisions.

Imagine you walk out onto an empty stage with another person. You need to build a world out of imagination and show it to the audience. Where are you? Who are you? What are you doing? All decisions that need to be made pretty quickly. How do we know each other, how do we feel about each other, how many wings does a squirrel dragon have…? In improv, there are infinite options, so you’ve gotta choose wisely. And by wisely, I mean, just make a choice!  

Let’s say the scene starts with the other character saying to you, “Is that a new cape?”

You have a couple seconds to shake off the fact that you’re not actually wearing a cape in real life and accept the new reality being proposed, then decide some of the following:

• Why are you wearing a new cape? Is it to impress the other character? Job interview? Laundry day?

• Are you a superhero, or just fashionable?

• Is it new as in brand new, or just new to their character seeing you in it?

• Did you buy it, or make it, or a combination of both?

• What’s the difference from your old cape if you had to describe it?

• Who would ask you that? How do you know each other?

• Did they sound curious? Impressed? Disappointed?

• How much does them liking it matter to you?

There might be moments where you might think, “I don’t know.” But you do know, because you’re the one creating the world. Just like in life, you just make a choice, then make it work.

In conclusion, if you want to practice decision making, a key leadership skill, yeah, you should definitely try improv.

PART 2: Improv helps you care about others.