Build A Better Team With Improv H. Wade Minter - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Build A Better Team With Improv

Emily Dobervich <emily@teamsnap.com>

• H. Wade Minter <minter@teamsnap.com>

@minter Mark Cornick <mark@teamsnap.com> http://teamsnap.com/

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Line Up By

• Everyone in the group should line up by

various criteria.

• Possibilities: Height, Age, Distance traveled,

Birthdate(1/1-12/31), Number of computers owned, place of birth (east-to- west)

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Hey Buddy

• Everyone start milling around the room.
• Start off not making eye contact with

anyone (as per our natural behavior).

• The moderator will then call out increasing

levels of interaction (brief eye contact, longer eye contact, saying hi, etc) on the way up to greeting people like they’re your long-lost best friend.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Pass The Clap

• Everyone stand in a circle.
• The starting person turns to their side and

they and the person beside them make eye contact and clap simultaneously.

• That person then does the same to the

person on the other side.

• Eye contact and rhythm are the keys.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Artist, Model, Clay

• Three person exercise: one is the model, one

is the artist, one is the clay.

• The clay faces the artist, the model is behind

the clay.

• The model strikes a pose.
• Silently and without touching the clay, the

artist tries to get the clay to adopt the same pose.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Rock, Paper, Scissor Battle

• Everyone pairs up to do one round of

rock, paper, scissors.

• If you win, you seek out another winner to

battle.

• If you lose, you become a cheering section

for the person who beat you (and people who beat them)

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Walk/Stop

• Everyone walks around. When the

moderator says “Walk” you walk, when “Stop” you stop.

• Then reverse the commands (“Walk”

means stop, “Stop” means walk)

• Can also do “Jump”/”Clap” and

“Name”/”Wave” (say your name)

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Tiger/Martian/Salesman

• Three person game.
• Everyone stands with their back to their
• partners. Decide whether you will throw a

“Tiger”, “Martian”, or “Salesman” pose.

• On the count of three, turn around and
• throw. If all three match, you win.

Celebrate! If not, try again.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Knife And Fork

• The entire group builds marching-band

style figures.

• Can start with basic shapes, move onto

more complex things (like a knife and fork)

• Finish up by making an “O” to get everyone

back in the circle.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

I Like People Who...

• Everyone gets into a circle, with one person in the

middle.

• The person in the middle says “I like people who

_______”, filling in a criteria (“I like people who program in Ruby”)

• Anyone in the circle who matches must go trade

places with someone else who matches.

• The person left in the middle makes a new topic.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Zip Zap Zop

• Everyone gets into a circle. One person

stops.

• They point across the circle and say “Zip”.

The person they pointed at points across at someone else and says “Zap”. Then “Zop”, then back to “Zip”

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Categories

• In the circle, one person starts by naming a
• category. Then you go around the circle with

everyone naming one item in that category. Then the next person in line comes up with a new category.

• Can get played for speed (just say something

without worrying about whether it fits or repeats) or accuracy (no repeats allowed)

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Yes Circle

• Everyone in a circle. One person starts.
• They point across the circle at someone.

That person says “Yes” to give them permission to move.

• The person pointing moves across the

circle to take the spot of the person saying “Yes”. That person must then point at someone else to get permission to move.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Yes And/Yes But Party

• Break into small groups.

You’re throwing a party.

• Everyone make suggestions for the party.

For each suggestion, someone says “Yes, but...” and expands on the idea.

• Try it again, this time saying “Yes, and...”

instead.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Post-It Brainstorming

• Break into small groups. Get a business idea.
• Think of features and marketing for your
• business. Write as fast as you can, accept

everything, slap Post-Its on the wall.

• At the end, have someone from the group

pitch your ideas.

• The point is to brainstorm with no

judgement.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Fraternity Handshake

• Get into a circle. Two people will enter the

circle.

• Meet up, greet each other, and then create

your own complicated fraternity handshake.

• See what you can build together.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Machine

• Medium-size group game.
• One person goes to the middle and begins

doing a physical activity.

• Someone else joins them and adds an

activity to the machine.

• You build a machine with everyone

contributing.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Tableaus

• Small/Medium group game.
• The moderator gives the group a topic

(“The Moon Landing”, “Winning the Stanley Cup”)

• Everyone goes and strikes a pose to form a

painting/photo of that event.

• Sometimes you lead, sometimes you fill in.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

The Advertising Game

• Break into groups of 4-7 people.
• Come up with a product and 2-3 line

description of what it does in 45 seconds.

• Report to the larger group about your

product.

• Then take 30 seconds to create the slogan

for your product.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

The Advertising Game

• Then 60 seconds to come up with the

jingle for your product.

• Then 60 seconds to come up with the

jingle dance.

• For every idea, say “Yes!

Yes! Yes!”

Tuesday, July 17, 12

• Dr. Know-It-All
• Three people are Dr. Know-It-All, one is

the host.

• The host gets advice-type questions from

the audience (“What should I do when my kid won’t go to bed?”)

• Dr. Know-It-All answers with each member

giving one word of the answer at a time in

• rder.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

String Of Pearls

• 7-10 people participate. The host gets the

title of a story.

• The first person gives the first line of the

story, the second person gives the last.

• Everyone else fills the line in with another

line, at any point in between two other people.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Pants On Fire

• Three people are the panel. Two get a piece
• f paper saying “Truth”, one saying “Lie”
• The host asks a few questions that lead to

longer answers (“Describe your dream job”

• r “What were your hobbies in college”)
• The audience tries to figure out who is

lying.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Conclusions

• Saying “yes” isn’t the same thing as
• bligating yourself to do something.
• Listen and build, instead of blocking ideas.
• Sometimes you can lead, sometimes you

can contribute, but both are important.

• Mistakes aren’t always mistakes.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Finding Improv

• ComedySportz in 20+ cities - http://

comedysportz.com/

• Improv workshops in your city - use

Google or email us.

• Contact us if you have questions or can’t

remember something when you get home.

Tuesday, July 17, 12

Build A Better Team With Improv

Emily Dobervich <emily@teamsnap.com>

• H. Wade Minter <minter@teamsnap.com>

@minter Mark Cornick <mark@teamsnap.com> http://teamsnap.com/

Tuesday, July 17, 12