Improv is the Gym - Tapping the mindset of improvisational theatre to enhance learning and development

 Improv is the Gym - Tapping the mindset of improvisational theatre to enhance learning and development

This session will be made up of experiential activities, each followed by brief topical debrief and discussion. The activities have all be extensively vetted in virtual space and will use the wide variety of tools and group configurations available online. Participants will both experience and learn how to facilitate these activities themselves.

Organizations these days preach the value of emotional intelligence, creativity, and communication skills. As trainers and facilitators, we not only design and deliver programs on these topics, but must demonstrate them at the highest levels. But creativity, empathy, flexibility, awareness, risk-taking and courage are not bodies of knowledge. They are skills that must be practiced, muscles that must be exercised. That is why more and more companies of all kinds, are turning to the world of improvisational theatre for their training and development needs in these areas. Improv is the gym.

In this playful, experiential session, participants will engage in activities that they can then take for use themselves that will help to:

Learning objectives:

• Exercise empathy and awareness 
  
• Encourage risk-taking and build comfort with uncertainty
• Expand creative problem-solving strategies
• Build collaboration and influencing skills.

_Koppett_ Improv is the Gym Overview and Activity Packet.pdf

    Presenter: Kat Koppett

Kat Koppett is the founder of Koppett, an organizational development company specializing in blending traditional organizational development tools and principles with cutting-edge improvisation and storytelling techniques to enhance individual and group performance.

She holds a BFA from NYU, and an MA in Organizational Psychology from Columbia. Her book Training to Imagine: Practical Improvisational Theatre Techniques to Enhance Creativity, Teamwork, Leadership, and Learning, is a seminal work in the field of Applied Improv and is used by professionals around the world.

Kat is a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach, co-director of The Mopco Improv Theatre, and host of the podcast Dare to Be Human. Kat has designed and delivered programs for a diverse roster of organizations including the Clinton Global Initiative, Apple, Prezi, St. Peters’ Hospital, RPI, Skidmore, Oracle, Havas Health & You, Chanel, Eli Lilly, AAA, JPMorgan Chase, Houghton-Mifflin Harcourt, Merck, NASA, and GE.