Do you want fries with that?

Here’s some of my take-away’s from last week’s Applied Improv Conference in Portland, Oregon. This was my fifth improv conference, and my focus has shifted from learning improv to furthering my understanding of how to incorporate and apply improv into my practice. These are tasters – to remind me to write in more detail later. Let me know which ones you are interested in.

Performance improv is all about the audience – applied improv is all about the participants and their experience and learning.

To overcome the myth and perception of improv being a soft, kumbaya-type experience, ‘shock’ the participants with a ‘violent’, sarcastic or overly-competitive game.

There’s a tremendous hunger in organisations for individuals to be seen and to have the skills to communicate what they’re passionate about.

Improv trains your brain to sit with threatening or fearful triggers (such as unfairness, lack of choice, uncertainty, difference and status) and to react less often, and better.

Improv activates the part of the brain that loves to learn, as well as enabling innovation by creating opportunities for neural rings to intersect.

The purpose of Playback Theatre is community building. (And, BTW, I love playback!)

There are so many applications for gibberish in facilitation that I don’t know where to start. Don’t know why I haven’t used gibberish much before – that’s about to change!

So, what would you like to hear more about?