BEA 2012 Ignite presentation

1. Using Improv Comedy Exercises
to Develop Leadership Skills
Roger Cooper
School of Media Arts & Studies
Ohio University

2. Origins
Created Course…
Leadership and Humor
for the Creative Industries
Focus on the role of humor in organizational
effectiveness, particularly collaborative, creative
professions.

3. Why Improvisation?
Promotes
• Cooperation and Respect (“yes, and”)
• Relationship Building (Humor is rarely “jokes”)
• Honesty and Trust (“Truth in Comedy”)

4. How Improvisation Exercises
Connect to Leadership Development
• Thinking quickly on your feet
• Being in the moment with people
• Importance of listening
• Value of teamwork/collaboration

5. How Improvisation Exercises
Connect to Leadership Development
• Sense of Humor
• Outstanding leaders use humor 2-3 times more
than average leaders
Humor Stimulates (and Signifies)
• Creativity
• Openness
• Trust
• Spirit of Joy/Play
• Higher Productivity (quality & quantity)

6. Exercises…

7. Basic:
One-Word Story/Pattern Game

8. Goofy:
Samurai

9. Intermediate:
“Yes” (We’re not Praying)

10. Bad News

11. Vegetable

12. Additional Benefits
of Using Improv
• Open, communicative class
• ‘Bonded’ group
• Deeper course impact

13. Leadership and Humor
for the Creative Industries
Textbooks
Primal Leadership: Learning to Lead with
Emotional Intelligence
Truth in Comedy: The Manual of Improvisation
Add’l media/humor readings
Resource
improvencyclopedia.org

14. Thank You!
Roger Cooper
School of Media Arts & Studies
Ohio University
cooperr@ohio.edu