Chances are, if you’re the one pitching an improv workshop to your team, there’ll be some “I don’t want to look silly” reservations. So it’s an important to remind them that while the workshops are hilarious and fun, they do pack a bunch when it comes to skills training.

The main one being, that no matter how much we might plan ahead, every interaction we have in our life is improvised! And even beyond the ability to adapt in the moment (thinking on your feet) improv training is an essential tool in business, because the core skills of improv apply directly to what teams and leaders need in today’s fast-changing workplaces.

Here are some examples of how it helps:

1. Strengthens communication and active listening

Improv requires you to listen closely so you can respond in real time, and have your response be clearly connected to what they said. In business, this translates to:

• Fewer misunderstandings

• Improved inter-departmental collaboration

• Better client conversations (and conversations in general)

2. Builds adaptability and comfort with uncertainty

Improv scenes change without warning, and you had to be constantly adapting to the world being built around you. Practicing flexible responses helps employees:

• Stay calm under pressure

• Pivot quickly when plans change

• Embrace ambiguity rather than freeze in it

3. Encourages creativity and rapid problem-solving

The “make it up as you go” mindset helps people:

• Generate ideas without self-censoring

• Approach challenges with curiosity rather than fear

• Find unconventional solutions (yeah, improv gets weird)

4. Develops confidence and presence

Having to speak on the spot, without having a speech prepared helps build:

• Executive presence

• Public-speaking skills

• Confidence in high-stakes interactions such as pitches and negotiations

5. Cultivates psychological safety for teams

Improv is built around the concept of “Yes, and…” which is designed to create a culture where:

• People support rather than shut down ideas

• Teams become more cohesive and trusting

• Innovation increases because risk-taking feels safe

6. Enhances empathy and openness to different ways of thinking

Building ideas together makes it so there isn’t one person controlling the story. Which forces you to not only be open to the fact that people think different, but enjoy it. Focusing on others teaches:

• Reading nonverbal signals

• Understanding others’ perspectives

• Responding with empathy in conflict or feedback situations

7. Improves leadership agility

Many Fortune 500 companies practice improv training precisely because leaders learn to:

• Make decisions with imperfect information

• Empower others in shared storytelling (similar to collaborative leadership)

• Model openness and vulnerability

8. Makes skills more likely to stick

Studies show there are tremendous benefits to laughter while learning. Because improv is experiential and playful, participants:

• Retain lessons longer

• Reduce stress and anxiety

• Build stronger team bonds

• Improve morale and engagement

• Have fun!

At its essence, each Play with Fire Improv workshop is designed to lessen fear and increase confidence.

The workshops still focus on skill-building, and making sure everyone is laughing and having fun, there’s just more talk about what might be holding people back, and how they can get to the next level.

Want your team to listen better? Great! We’ll help them past the fear that keeps them planning in their heads instead of present while someone else is talking.

Want your team to present better? Great! We’ll help them past the fear that keeps them stiff and afraid to go off script.

Want your team to just have some fun? Great! We’ll help them past the fear that adults have with playing or looking “silly.”

All the fun improv games and exercises that hone collaboration, thinking on your feet, etc. with a bonus focus on changing behaviour and confidence far beyond the improv session.

Well, they all look different based on how long, how many people, the focus, etc. But here’s a rough outline to give you a starting point for discussion.

First, you start with a room full of coworkers somewhat nervous about the idea of making up jokes on the spot. (Or whatever they imagine the workshop to be.)

INTRODUCTION: The facilitator will do a quick intro on the idea of “Yes and,” and how applying it will benefit your workplace communication. And explain that you don’t have to be funny.

WARM-UP EXERCISES: A few simple improv games to get people moving their bodies and into a state of playfulness.

SKILL BUILDING EXERCISES: Exercises that directly focus on better team communication, connection, and collaboration (or whatever the team goals are). The facilitator will always explain the reason for the exercise, and how it’ll help in the “real world.”

PERFORMANCE EXERCISES: Whose Line Is It Anyway?-type games, to put their newly honed improv skills into practice.

Q&A: Throughout the workshop, we’ll discuss the benefits of each exercise, but this is change for any additional questions.

And then, one last, fun, everyone moving together cool-down exercise.

Again, this is a starting point, each workshop is customized based on you & your team’s needs. But it gives you a sense that improv workshops are designed to be fun, funny, and helpful in developing skills that will make a dramatic improvement on the way your teams communicate.

The simplest way is to contact us and ask for a phone call/Zoom to discuss all the details at once.

If you don’t like calls, cut and paste and send us something like this:

“Hi Play with Fire Improv, I have a team of [roughly 30 people], and we’re looking for a [90-minute] improv session to help with [team building, and thinking on your feet] at our offices located at [234 Workplace Ave.]. Our budget is [roughly $2,500] and we’d like the event to happen on [May 12th] at [2pm]. Let me know if that works for you. Talk soon, [your name]”

Any number of people can participate at once. The main difference between 15 people and 150 people are the number of facilitators, and the amount of performance time.

Smaller groups (30 or less): more group exercises, connection between individuals, and more likely to participate in performance element. Ideal for a Lunch & Learn style workshop (short & skills-focused).

Larger Groups (60 +): huge energy in the room, shuffled into smaller groups throughout, exposed to a greater variety of different ways of thinking,. Ideal for a longer session, with emphasis on having fun.  

It depends on several factors, mainly the number of people, duration, customisation level, number of workshops (if it’s part of a series), and of course, the client’s budget. Based on those parameters, we’ll follow up with an estimate.

Reach out to us today.

1) The improv concept of “Yes, and.”

Improv built around the idea of “Yes, and…” which basically means “Yes” I’m listening to your idea “and…” I’m going to build directly off of it. It’s essentially an agreement to work together as a team. To be open to other people’s ideas, different ways of thinking, and have a more collaborative mindset. You have to work together as a team to build the scene.

2) Improv is scary.

Most people are hesitant to try improv because the idea of making up jokes on the spot seems daunting/terrifying. And it is. But, here’s the key, you’re not alone. One of the great things about improv is precisely that it is intimidating to do alone, so you turn to your team for help. This trains your team that in those pressure moments, you can be successful, if you work together.

3) Improv is funny.

Laughter is one of the greatest ways of forming bonds. Most corporate improv training isn’t about being funny, per se, but the games and exercises are designed to bring out naturally hilarious moments.

1) Improv makes it so you HAVE to listen.

Improv is making stuff up on the spot. Creating worlds, the rules of the worlds, the names for things in this new world, so you can’t zone out even for a second. You can’t plan in their head, or zone out because you get the gist, you have to stay present to what’s happening or you’ll be lost.  

2) Improv reminds you that communication is collaborative.

A group of people all pitching ideas on how a new world could work can get pretty hectic. So you quickly learn to give and take focus. You also learn to make sure your ideas are clear, heard and understood by the rest of the team. And you start to see ideas as the starting point of a shared concept, vs one person’s possession.

3) Improv gets you out of your head.

Being lost in thought, whether to plan a response, or judge what’s happening, is a big hurdle when it comes to listening and communication. But improv teaches you to focus on others (they’re the source of what you’re going to say/do next) and think collaboratively (supporting each other).  

1) Improv makes you less afraid of failure.

Most people see public speaking as a high risk of judgement, and embarrassment if things go wrong. With improv training, you learn to think on your feet, and adapt in the moment without panic, so something going “wrong” feels less dangerous.

Before improv training:

1) Nervous before presenting, worried about things not going as planned

2) Carry that nervous energy into the presentation

3) Have a stiffer presentation because of the nervous energy

4) Assume next time will be bad again

After improv training:

1) Less nervous about presenting, because you’ve practiced adapting, thinking on your feet and failure recovery

2) Bring less nervous energy into the presentation

3) Have a good presentation

4) Gain even more confidence, and even expect your presentations to go well

It’s self-fulfilling. Go in worried about a bad presentation, you’re more likely to stumble. Go in confidently knowing you can handle it even if it doesn’t go perfectly, you’re more less likely to mess things up out of nerves.

2) Improv makes you focus on others.

When it comes down to it, there’s no presentation if there isn’t anyone to hear the ideas.

Often with public speaking, people make it about the individual speaker, fearing how they’ll look, or if they’ll do a good job. Improv trains you to focus on others. It’s one thing to have an idea in your head, but the key is your ability to express it in a way that others understand. It shifts the importance from “how” you present, to whether you communicated your ideas to others.

3) Improv helps you enjoy performing.

Do enough improv, and being in front of people becomes something fun and joyful. And you inevitably bring that performance sensibility into presentations.  

Our improv workshops can be customized in any number of ways. 

Skill-building: There are specific exercises and games to hone specific skillsets (see “What skills does improv training help with?)

Events: The structure of the workshop can be adjusted to suit Lunch & Learns, Holiday shows, AGM’s, Team Competitions, you name it.

Industry: Exercises can be altered to relate to specific industries (improv for laywers, improv for customer service, etc.)

Time: Quick meeting warm-ups, 90-minute skill-building sessions, half day events, full day training, or an ongoing series of workshops, we’ll work with the time you have.

Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

(But we’re always happy to go on a road trip if you need us out of town.)

When my therapist suggested I try an improv class to help with my GAD, I thought it was the worst idea ever! It felt like I’d said, “I’m scared to leave the house and I hate my life,” and he said, “Get on stage and make up jokes in front of an audience.”

So, I just want to make clear that the Improv for Anxiety classes aren’t about being funny (though you can be, and often will be), it’s simply using improv games and exercises to connect with others.

And it’s not just about connection, improv helps with anxiety more than people expect in a bunch of different ways. It trains specific cognitive, emotional, and physiological skills that map directly onto the mechanisms of anxiety. Here’s how:

1. It teaches your brain to tolerate uncertainty

Anxiety often comes from wanting to control outcomes or predict what will happen (to avoid the bad). Improv forces you into situations with no script, which gradually teaches your nervous system:

• “Uncertainty is survivable.”

• “I can handle the unknown.”

• “Unexpected moments can actually be positive.”

Do this enough (repeated exposure) and it lowers your threat response to ambiguity.

2. It interrupts anxious rumination with presence

Improv demands focus on the immediate moment: your scene partner’s words, tone, body language, are all important to what you respond with.

This trains:

• Mindfulness

• Reduced self-monitoring

• Faster recovery from intrusive thoughts

You literally don’t have time to spiral while improvising, because it’s all appening right now.

3. It reframes mistakes as fuel, instead of failure

Anxiety often stems from fear of messing up or being judged. In improv, mistakes are celebrated because they create new possibilities. There’s even an improv saying, “mistakes are gifts.” This thinking builds:

• cognitive flexibility

• self-compassion

• resilience

These directly counter the perfectionistic thinking that fuels anxiety.

4. It strengthens social confidence through safe exposure

If you have social anxiety, or performance anxiety, improv gives you:

• practice speaking spontaneously

• support from a non-judgmental group

• repeated success experiences

• desensitization to being watched

Over time, this rewires the association that people are watching doesn’t mean danger, but that you’re safe.

5. It activates your parasympathetic nervous system

One of the key factors of improv, for me personally, was laughter. I hadn’t laughed in years before I took and class, and it felt nice. Laughter, play, and creative flow produce:

• lowered cortisol

• relaxed muscles and deeper breathing

• increased dopamine and endorphins

This helps your body unlearn chronic fight-or-flight-or-fawn activation.

6. It builds trust in your own thinking

Many people with anxiety doubt their ability to respond “correctly.” Because improv requires instant decision-making, it stops being about doing it right, and just doing it. And by just doing it, you get repeated proof:

• “I can come up with something.”

• “I don’t need a perfect plan.”

• “My instincts are enough.”

This confidence transfers to daily life.

7. It creates a sense of belonging

Anxiety lessens when you feel connected. And yet, anxiety is often what keeps you from connecting  with others. It’s nice to laugh, but even better to laugh with others. Improvers in general are super supportive, great listeners, and pretty funny, which are nice qualities to surround yourself with.

News & Media Interviews

Podcast Interviews

Videos

A 2014 government survey showed that an estimated 3 million Canadians (18+) reported they had a mood and/or anxiety disorder. And those numbers are probably low. When you factor in the stigma of mental health issues, the fact that almost half of people say they’ve never gone to see a doctor about their issues, most people end up suffering alone before admitting what would be perceived as a “weakness.”

While few scientific studies exist, improv and play have been shown to help:

• Relieve stress and anxiety

• Stimulate brain function and boost creativity

• Improve relationships and your connection with others

• Enhance your ability to take risks and try new things

• Relax the body and keep you energized

• Release endorphins (making you feel good) and boost the immune system

Improv is like going to therapy, and having fun at the same time.

Laughter truly is the best medicine.

My Story: How I Got Over My Anxiety

How Does Improv Help with Anxiety?

Yes! And you’re not even expected to be funny. These aren't comedy classes in the traditional sense. We won't be using improv to become performers or make an audience laugh. Instead, we'll play improv exercises to have fun and laugh and enjoy life. (Also, I bet you're funnier than you think. Again, not that being funny matters.) 

Also remember, it’s a class. Meaning you’re learning something new. So you’re not expected to already be good at it. So if you’re worried about sucking, don’t. You’re allowed to. Everyone else is just learning too, so you’ll fit right in.