Improv for leaders

Since lockdown, lead happiness consultant, Dave Keeling, has been looking to challenge himself, but tired of jigsaws and the eternal hunt for flour, he was thrilled to be asked to do some online improvisation to help business leaders think differently.

Dave was keen to cram the 45-minute session full of improv tasks with exotic names such as ‘Go Compare’, ‘What Happened Next?’, ‘Which would Win?’  and ‘I Did it Five Ways’.

Improvisation is full of techniques and skills that are transferable to the non-comedy world, so the audience gets to have a giggle, while learning valuable stuff.

The rules of improvisation are simple: 

1 – Build, don’t block. Always work and develop an idea, rather than block it. Building thoughts can lead to new and exciting ideas, questions and thinking.

2 – Add new information. Provide details and bring something to the table. Contribution is key to the generation and development of ideas.

3 – Be energetic. Good improvisers attack every thought, feeling and idea with 100% conviction. Sometimes the sheer force of that energy turns something seemingly ordinary into something extraordinary. 

4 – Go with your first thoughts. Get used to saying the first thought that comes into your head. Very often these can be your best thoughts but are self-edited because we fear they’re not good enough.

Laughology’s improv sessions work brilliantly virtually. They are designed to support innovative thinking and to encourage participants to explore and develop a range of skills. They encourage risk taking, listening, effective communication, idea building, thinking styles, collaboration, confidence and playfulness.