58½ Ways To Improvise In Training - Activities for Improv workshops, training courses and meetings

By Paul Z. Jackson

Hardback published by Gower
Paperback published by Crown House

Each of these 58 games and activities generates what Paul Jackson calls “Impro Energy”, a current that runs between participants. You recognise 'Impro Energy' when you see people who are clearly “in the moment”, alert to whatever is going on in the here and now.

At its best, it creates an event in which the quality of work is both high and seemingly effortless. At all levels, it is great fun - a zinging mixture of preparation and spontaneity.

The games in this collection can be used in a variety of ways. A physical activity warms up limbs and might also break down barriers between group members. A verbal activity might be an exercise in creativity as well as intellectual dexterity.

More than simply icebreakers, they are all designed as a vehicle for content. There are always links between the game and the subject of the workshop at a metaphorical level. The Ping Pong process, for example, can be positioned to show how a relaxed attitude to making mistakes often results in fewer errors.

The questions provided in the debriefing section that accompanies each game provide the means for making these connections. They offer prompts for generating insights, which you can then link to similar or parallel experiences in the workplace.

Whether you are running a training session, workshop or a team meeting, Paul Jackson's varied collection of games and activities will help you to create an environment of improvisation and experiment, of imagination and energy, and of laughter and commitment. What better way to engage anyone in the process of learning?

About the author

Paul Z Jackson is an independent training consultant with a wide spectrum of clients in both the private and public sectors. He has worked as a print journalist, senior producer for BBC Radio Four, lecturer at Bath Spa University College and teacher at the London Actors Centre. 58½ Ways To Improvise In Training is the companion volume to his earlier book Impro Learning.

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