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

Build A Better Team With Improv H. Wade Minter <minter@teamsnap.com> @minter Emily Dobervich <emily@teamsnap.com> 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 order. 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 of paper saying “Truth”, one saying “Lie” • The host asks a few questions that lead to longer answers (“Describe your dream job” or “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 obligating 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 H. Wade Minter <minter@teamsnap.com> @minter Emily Dobervich <emily@teamsnap.com> Mark Cornick <mark@teamsnap.com> http://teamsnap.com/ Tuesday, July 17, 12