Lawyers as Improvisers? Is That an Oxymoron?

  I’m researching an article based on the premise that the skills and practices that make Improv performers successful are relevant and applicable to lawyers. For example, both: need to stay focused on small bits of information while seeing the desired end-result; co-create narrative from disparate points of view; understand how empathy develops in an … Read more

Your Quality of Presence is Revealed Through the Power of Focus

  When working with a large group, it is often desirable to have the participants form duos, triads, quartets, or quintets in order to enable everyone to participate in a particular game. As the different teams are absorbed into their tasks, a substantial racket is normally generated, frequently punctuated by gusts of laughter. During the … Read more

The Difference Between Acceptance and Agreement

  The easiest and perhaps the most concrete way to incorporate Improv Theater techniques into daily living is by understanding and adopting the concept of YES…AND. For improvisers, YES…AND serves the same purpose as the North Star does for sailors: that of a guiding light and a way to keep moving forward, even though the … Read more

A Rope Course for the Mind: Building Teams and Communication One Improv Game at a Time

  Why Improv? Improvisation theater games are wonderful resources because they call for participants to respond to an experience as it happens. This moment of involvement and spontaneity sparks discovery, creative expression, shared laughter, and behavior change. Improv is exciting, scary, challenging, immensely enjoyable, and paradoxical. In my experience, very few people are indifferent to … Read more

The Art of Attraction: Developing Authentic Platform Presence

  Among the many hats a speaker wears is one that reads “Energy Manager”. We know, as do the planners who hire us, that the attendees at a program experience one of two energy flow states. At just about any moment, they’re either being energized or they are being drained of their liveliness. Whether or … Read more