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Build A Better Team With Improv Emily Dobervich <[email protected] > H. Wade Minter <[email protected] > @minter Mark Cornick <[email protected] > http://teamsnap.com / Tuesday, July 17, 12

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Page 2: Build A Better Team With Improv - assets.en.oreilly.comassets.en.oreilly.com/1/event/80/Build A Better... · • Come up with a product and 2-3 line description of what it does in

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)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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)

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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)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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”

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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)

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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!”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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