Ever wondered just how you can make better toilet paper? Better firewood? Better sandwich baggies? With just seven "rules," you'll learn how learners took these prosaic household items and transformed them into unique new products. The tools and techniques in this session will enable faculty and staff to start with simple ideas and build them into inventive and creative ideas--whether they're for new businesses, new products, new recipes, or new customer service initiatives. By attending this session, you'll experience the power of improv to generate these ideas, and see just how easy it is to "just say yes!" ... "and!"
2. Objectives
• By the end of this session, you will:
1. Know and apply the 7 “Rules of Improv”
2. Participate in two improv sessions
3. Generate ideas for how this applies to you
3. Agenda
• Why Improv?
• What Is Improv?
• Let’s Improv!
• “What’s in the Box?” Exercise
• “This Would Be A Better (Item) If…” Exercise & Debrief
• Wrap-Up
4. Why Improv?
• Many students believe they’re “not creative”
• Improv rules “override” the brain’s frontal lobes, allow
the rest of the brain to wander…and be creative
• The rules are simple enough to teach anyone
• Once you’ve done it once, you can do it again
5. “Improvisation is a
process; it’s a way of
making a thing. It’s not a
product I can give you or
show you.” (Morris, 2011)
9. “What’s in the Box?”
• Find the person whose card number and colour is the
same as yours (e.g., A♠ and A or 4 and 4)
• Because we have so many people, you may have three people
in your group. If so, rotate between roles amongst the three
of you.
• Follow the instructions on the next slide
• Switch roles until we run out of time
10. “What’s in the Box?” (3 minutes)
1. Giver (G): (Mime a box)
2. Recipient (R): “What’s in the box?”
3. G: “It’s a gift.” (Hand to partner)
4. R: (Open the box and define the contents)
“It’s a red stapler.”
5. G: Respond with a reason it meets recipient’s needs
“Lumbergh took your stapler.”
6. R: Reinforce the reason and add supporting info
“And he moved me into storage.”
12. “This Would Be The Best (Item) If...”
• Divide into groups
• By numbers (e.g., A, 2, 3, etc.)
• There should be four or five members per group
• I will come around and assign items to groups
• Follow the instructions on the next slide
13. “This Would Be The Best (Item) If...”
(4 minutes)
1. Participant (P): “This would be the best (item) if…”
(add an attribute to the item)
2. Next Participant (NP): “yes, and it would be even
better if…”
(add another attribute to the item)
3. Repeat #2 as often as needed
4. When the timer reaches 2:00, switch to the second
(item) you’ve been given
16. How Did It Go?
• How did the process work for you?
• What were the biggest challenges?
• What surprised you?
• How would you apply these innovation and creativity
lessons in your classroom / work?
• How would you apply these lessons in your life?
