Don’t get in your own way. We are always encouraging our improv participants to be in the moment and get off script. Effective improv is reliant on participants not over-thinking their next action or reaction. Rather, we focus on listening, and building off our team mates.

One of the “traditions” I’ve established during my eight-year history of teaching beginning improvisational comedy classes at the DC Improv is what I call “the-after-the-class-drinks-and-post-mortem”: everyone of drinking age retires to a local pub to share their experiences of the class. Approximately 17 people squeeze into a medium-sized booth at a local Irish pub to hoist their potable preferences, where I then invite their class critiques. Hey, it’s better than some formalized written class critique. Plus, there’s booze.

It’s now 30 minutes into your web-based seminar. . . Do you know where your participants are?I suspect some are checking email, others are finishing important client work, and yet others are surfing social networks.

Here’s a recap of what I said:
“In the nearly 20 years I’ve been working with groups, it is, without a doubt, most transformational team building experience I’ve ever witnessed. It’s much easier than ropes courses. It’s more immediately impactful than personality typing. It gets you out of your head and into the more creative parts of your brain—in an instant. Plus it just plain feels good to just plain laugh with your co-workers. And what could be better than laughing while advancing your business goals?”I also offered a simple exercise you can start using with your team today called “Yes, but …” or “Yes, and …”?.