Business & Leadership

Holding back feels like a small private decision that only costs you. It's neither small nor private, and you're not the one who pays. Someone hands you an invisible banana, and you say, "Oh, a banana, sure." The scene doesn't die right there, but something just happened, and everyone in the room felt it without being able to name it. The usual note afterward is that you dropped the offer. That's true, and it's the least interesting part of what went wrong. Half-committing is

Every improviser learns how to step out into a scene, but the harder lesson is learning when to stay put, and that one applies to a lot more than improv. Two people are in a kitchen scene. It's quiet, it's specific, and something true is starting to surface between them. Back line, four of us are watching, and I can feel at least three people reaching for the door. One of them goes. Big character, big voice, and the kitchen is gone. Here's the part I actually think about afte

Every group of people trying to do something together eventually faces a choice between two operating systems. The first is the management model. You've seen it in every committee, board, and club you've ever joined. There's a strategic plan, a meeting agenda with time stamps, a succession chart, a membership drive template, and a binder of bylaws that gets updated once a decade. It's safe, legible, and predictable. It's also why most community organizations spend their energ

The improv insight that'll change how you see office downtime. Here's the thing about improv shows that most audiences never see. The real magic doesn't happen on stage. It happens in the wings, in the green room, in that two-minute pocket between scenes where a performer leans over and whispers "hey, what if we try this on the next beat?" That off-stage moment, the one with no audience, no pressure, no script, that's where the best ideas actually surface. And it's exactly th

Here's something I've noticed teaching improv workshops, people can do beautiful two-person scenes all day but put five of them on stage together and suddenly it's a traffic jam. We spend so much time on duos that group scenes become this mysterious thing nobody quite taught us how to handle. The truth is they work differently and once you get the hang of them they're some of the most fun you can have on stage. The single most useful thing I can tell you about group scenes is

You know it when you feel it. That thing between two people on stage where every move lands, every look means something, and the audience leans in because they can tell something real is happening. We call it chemistry, we treat it like magic, like some people have it and some people don't and you just have to hope you get lucky. But chemistry isn't magic, it's not even mystery. It's a skill you can practice and a choice you can make. And here's what improv taught me about it

Here's a quick scene for you. Two improvisers walk on stage. One of them launches into a passionate monologue about the mating habits of penguins. It's weird. It's specific. It's kind of brilliant. The other improviser nods, steps in, and says, "Dr. Kowalski, the board of the Antarctic Zoological Society is waiting for your report." That's support. And that second improviser just made the whole thing work. You see this all the time in improv. The funniest person on stage isn'

The Difference Between Hearing and Listening Most people think listening is passive. You sit there, let sound waves hit your ears, and somehow communication happens. That's hearing. That's the easy part. Listening is active. Listening means tracking not just what someone says, but what they almost say. The pause before the word. The shift in tone. The word that got cut off and replaced with something safer. In improv terms, listening means catching the gift in every line. Not

Improv, short for improvisational theater, is an exciting art form that thrives on spontaneity, creativity, and collaboration. At its...