The slides from the TeamSnap "Build A Better Team with Improv" three-hour tutorial at OSCON 2012 in Portland, OR. Covers the basics of the exercises that the group performed.

1. Build A Better Team
With Improv
H. Wade Minter <minter@teamsnap.com>
@minter
Emily Dobervich <emily@teamsnap.com>
Mark Cornick <mark@teamsnap.com>
http://teamsnap.com/

2. Line Up By
• Everyone in the group should line up by
various criteria.
• Possibilities: Height, Age, Distance traveled,
Birthdate(1/1-12/31), Number of
computers owned, place of birth (east-to-
west)

3. Hey Buddy
• Everyone start milling around the room.
• Start off not making eye contact with
anyone (as per our natural behavior).
• The moderator will then call out increasing
levels of interaction (brief eye contact,
longer eye contact, saying hi, etc) on the
way up to greeting people like they’re your
long-lost best friend.

4. Pass The Clap
• Everyone stand in a circle.
• The starting person turns to their side and
they and the person beside them make eye
contact and clap simultaneously.
• That person then does the same to the
person on the other side.
• Eye contact and rhythm are the keys.

5. Artist, Model, Clay
• Three person exercise: one is the model, one
is the artist, one is the clay.
• The clay faces the artist, the model is behind
the clay.
• The model strikes a pose.
• Silently and without touching the clay, the
artist tries to get the clay to adopt the same
pose.

6. Rock, Paper, Scissor
Battle
• Everyone pairs up to do one round of
rock, paper, scissors.
• If you win, you seek out another winner to
battle.
• If you lose, you become a cheering section
for the person who beat you (and people
who beat them)

7. Walk/Stop
• Everyone walks around. When the
moderator says “Walk” you walk, when
“Stop” you stop.
• Then reverse the commands (“Walk”
means stop, “Stop” means walk)
• Can also do “Jump”/”Clap” and
“Name”/”Wave” (say your name)

8. Tiger/Martian/Salesman
• Three person game.
• Everyone stands with their back to their
partners. Decide whether you will throw a
“Tiger”, “Martian”, or “Salesman” pose.
• On the count of three, turn around and
throw. If all three match, you win.
Celebrate! If not, try again.

9. Knife And Fork
• The entire group builds marching-band
style figures.
• Can start with basic shapes, move onto
more complex things (like a knife and fork)
• Finish up by making an “O” to get everyone
back in the circle.

10. I Like People Who...
• Everyone gets into a circle, with one person in the
middle.
• The person in the middle says “I like people who
_______”, filling in a criteria (“I like people who
program in Ruby”)
• Anyone in the circle who matches must go trade
places with someone else who matches.
• The person left in the middle makes a new topic.

11. Zip Zap Zop
• Everyone gets into a circle. One person
stops.
• They point across the circle and say “Zip”.
The person they pointed at points across at
someone else and says “Zap”. Then “Zop”,
then back to “Zip”

12. Categories
• In the circle, one person starts by naming a
category. Then you go around the circle with
everyone naming one item in that category.
Then the next person in line comes up with a
new category.
• Can get played for speed (just say something
without worrying about whether it fits or
repeats) or accuracy (no repeats allowed)

13. Yes Circle
• Everyone in a circle. One person starts.
• They point across the circle at someone.
That person says “Yes” to give them
permission to move.
• The person pointing moves across the
circle to take the spot of the person saying
“Yes”. That person must then point at
someone else to get permission to move.

14. Yes And/Yes But Party
• Break into small groups.You’re throwing a
party.
• Everyone make suggestions for the party.
For each suggestion, someone says “Yes,
but...” and expands on the idea.
• Try it again, this time saying “Yes, and...”
instead.

15. Post-It Brainstorming
• Break into small groups. Get a business idea.
• Think of features and marketing for your
business. Write as fast as you can, accept
everything, slap Post-Its on the wall.
• At the end, have someone from the group
pitch your ideas.
• The point is to brainstorm with no
judgement.

16. Fraternity Handshake
• Get into a circle. Two people will enter the
circle.
• Meet up, greet each other, and then create
your own complicated fraternity
handshake.
• See what you can build together.

17. Machine
• Medium-size group game.
• One person goes to the middle and begins
doing a physical activity.
• Someone else joins them and adds an
activity to the machine.
• You build a machine with everyone
contributing.

18. Tableaus
• Small/Medium group game.
• The moderator gives the group a topic
(“The Moon Landing”, “Winning the Stanley
Cup”)
• Everyone goes and strikes a pose to form a
painting/photo of that event.
• Sometimes you lead, sometimes you fill in.

19. The Advertising Game
• Break into groups of 4-7 people.
• Come up with a product and 2-3 line
description of what it does in 45 seconds.
• Report to the larger group about your
product.
• Then take 30 seconds to create the slogan
for your product.

20. The Advertising Game
• Then 60 seconds to come up with the
jingle for your product.
• Then 60 seconds to come up with the
jingle dance.
• For every idea, say “Yes! Yes! Yes!”

21. Dr. Know-It-All
• Three people are Dr. Know-It-All, one is
the host.
• The host gets advice-type questions from
the audience (“What should I do when my
kid won’t go to bed?”)
• Dr. Know-It-All answers with each member
giving one word of the answer at a time in
order.

22. String Of Pearls
• 7-10 people participate. The host gets the
title of a story.
• The first person gives the first line of the
story, the second person gives the last.
• Everyone else fills the line in with another
line, at any point in between two other
people.

23. Pants On Fire
• Three people are the panel. Two get a piece
of paper saying “Truth”, one saying “Lie”
• The host asks a few questions that lead to
longer answers (“Describe your dream job”
or “What were your hobbies in college”)
• The audience tries to figure out who is
lying.

24. Conclusions
• Saying “yes” isn’t the same thing as
obligating yourself to do something.
• Listen and build, instead of blocking ideas.
• Sometimes you can lead, sometimes you
can contribute, but both are important.
• Mistakes aren’t always mistakes.

25. Finding Improv
• ComedySportz in 20+ cities - http://
comedysportz.com/
• Improv workshops in your city - use
Google or email us.
• Contact us if you have questions or can’t
remember something when you get home.

26. Build A Better Team
With Improv
H. Wade Minter <minter@teamsnap.com>
@minter
Emily Dobervich <emily@teamsnap.com>
Mark Cornick <mark@teamsnap.com>
http://teamsnap.com/