Three Improv Games Coaches Can Play With Their Clients - International Coaching Federation
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Three Improv Games Coaches Can Play With Their Clients

Posted by Wan Chung | December 12, 2014 | Comments (9)

Be average. Make mistakes. Let go. Put down your clever. Don’t prepare, just show up. Be affected.

These are just some of the counter-intuitive values improv (short for improvisational theater) actors go by when they take the stage without a script and go on to put up a great show before a paying crowd. Speaking of thrills and nerves, little quite match up to the improv experience, where actors dance in the moment together and allow something really special to just emerge.

Improv is not about trying harder. It’s about being yourself, and doing less outside of who you are.

Adding a dash of improv to coaching can bring exciting benefits to both coaches and their clients. While clients learn to function out of their best, unhindered selves, coaches discover a greater freedom and joy in coaching when they grasp the secret of dancing in the moment, staying out of their heads and capturing more of those intuitive insights that facilitate breakthroughs for their clients.

Improv actors warm up by playing a wide variety of theater games to shake loose of rigidity and self-consciousness, and embrace a spontaneous, collaborative spirit. Here’s my pick of three fun and simple improv games coaches can play with their clients to hone their powers of attunement, teach flow (deep, focused collaboration) and unleash creativity. These games can be played in a one-to-one format, and either in person or over the phone. Just great for coaches!

 

#1. ONE-TWO-THREE

(Learning Value: Attunement and Flow)

 

 

  • Coach and client count one-to-three in an alternating, continuous manner. (Eg. Tom says one, Mary says two, Tom says three, Mary says one, and on it goes.) Participants will discover it’s harder than it seems.
  • Do round two where three is replaced with a clap (or a random word), and round three where one becomes a double clap, a finger snap, another random word, or whatever you like.
  • Call time-out and talk about what makes it hard and how to do better. (Insight: Good players cease trying to get their own parts right, and make a pact to keep the counting going. They tune in to the rhythm, and get into a flow with each other.)
  • Do one final round, commit to collaborating and watch what happens!

 

#2. TEN THINGS

(Learning Value: Creativity and Self-Belief)

 

 

  • Coach or client starts off by suggesting a category of things. (Eg. car brands, famous movies, ways to cook an egg, the different uses of a paper clip, and so on.)
  • The other person, then, proceeds as quickly as possible to name 10 things that belong to that category. The key here is speed, and it’s acceptable to offer creative answers thought up in the moment. (Don’t be too tough!)
  • Increase pace and excitement by counting down the items your partner comes up with (one, two, three, four,… two more to go, just one more!).
  • When done, swap roles and attempt a couple more rounds.
  • Discuss how you both felt and what you discovered playing this together. (Insight: People often think they can’t do it at the start and surprise themselves in the end, especially with challenging categories! There’s a lot more within people that can be summoned as resources to meet a present challenge.)

 

#3. RANDOM INPUT

(Learning Value: Innovation and Cognitive Agility)

 

 

  • Open the dictionary to a random page, point at a random spot and slide your finger until you come to a noun. You could also use a stack of images.
  • Write down 10-15 words associated with it.
  • Ask your client to force-associate each of these words with a goal or challenge he is currently facing, and produce an idea per word that will facilitate an innovative solution to the challenge.

Edward de Bono devised Random Input to encourage new lines of thinking. Here’s a radical but true example – The word apartment led to the creation of Campbell Soup’s Chunky Soup product in a brainstorming session. Apartment led to building, build, tools, hammer, saw, drill, knife, eventually leading to fork. Someone then exclaimed, “You can’t eat soup with a fork. It would have to have chunks in it.”

 

 

I love improv. Its little games offer lasting metaphors and an experience of powerful concepts like attunement, flow and creativity, in a matter of minutes. The next time you coach, throw in some improv warm-ups and feel the difference!

Wan Chung

Wan Chung, LAI (ACC) is a Regional Learning & Development Director, organizational psychologist and leadership coach. He has worked in the public, private and non-profit sectors, and actively coaches leaders across Asia. Wan Chung holds a first-class honours degree in Linguistics (Sydney) and an MS in Industrial-Organizational Psychology (New York). Currently, he's all caught up in the excitement of the soon-to-launch MasterCoachTM App, and invites you to find out more at www.mastercoachapp.com.

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Comments (9)

  1. Alison says:

    Like it. Thanks Wan Chung. I’d do this with a group but have never felt the need for games in years of coaching 1:1. I’ll give it a go!

  2. Wan Chung says:

    Thanks, Alison! Yes, these games work well with both groups and 1:1 to give clients an actual experience of ‘attunement, flow, creation’. In fact, to your point, 1:1 clients would probably be pleasantly surprised with the games, and appreciate the awareness-engendering exercises! Try it out and let me know how it goes! 🙂

  3. Oxana says:

    Thank you so much, Wan Chung! i would like to collect improv games and play with my clients! I have some from my improv class and also from the Hendricks institute that I graduated from.
    Oxana

  4. Wan Chung says:

    Great, Oxana! That would be fun! So, that makes you an ‘Improv Coach’. 🙂

  5. Wan Chung says:

    Thanks for your compliment, Calculate Federal Tax! Very encouraged. 🙂

  6. John Daubney says:

    Thank you. These games look interesting as starters and warm-ups for a session, and I will try them.
    John Daubney

  7. Patty Chan says:

    Thanks Wan Chung, I will try with my client and it should be fun.

  8. There are lots of places to learn from.

  9. benzo.maria@mayo.edu says:

    Love it! I will use it in our peer coaching groups 🙂

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