The Applied Improvisation Mindset

How can improvised theatre's theories, tenets, games, techniques, and exercises be used beyond conventional theatre spaces to provide lasting results in areas as diverse as education and training, business leadership, medical care, therapy and community development? Organizations all over the world are now hiring more and more impro-trained facilitators to teach their people how to do offstage what successful improvisers do onstage: work collaboratively and spontaneously in the moment, generate endless ideas quickly, remain flexible, multitask, motivate and inspire others, take risks willingly, fail good-naturedly, and connect authentically to deliver a story, idea, or new product to an audience.

The Applied Improvisation Mindset takes readers deeper into the ever-expanding field of Applied Improvisation (AI) practice and research to equip and inspire them for their own practice. It shares strategies for achieving powerful results by applying the methods and theories of improvisational theatre. Featuring case studies by 16 expert AI facilitators/scholars drawn from six countries, the volume explores a wide variety of long-term projects that have produced significant empirical data and have had lasting impact on their communities. Each contributor describes their practice, gives away their best secrets, integrates feedback from clients, and includes a workbook component outlining the exercises used in their case study to give facilitators and students a model for their own application.

Whether reading about reducing high school anxiety in Detroit, fostering trust while developing presentation skills at an ad agency, or virtually training global climate risk managers, this second volume serves as a valuable resource for both experienced and new AI facilitators, as a primer for higher education and K-12 faculty combatting traditional teaching limitations, and most importantly, a practical 'how to' for theatre practitioners, artists, educators - anyone -seeking to apply theatre improvisation theories and methods beyond the stage to lead, collaborate, and create.