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| Improvise This!: How to Think on Your Feet so You Don't Fall on Your Face | 
 enlarge | Authors: Mark Bergren, Molly Cox, Jim Detmar
Publisher: Hyperion
Category: Book
List Price: $22.95
Buy New: $1.51
You Save: $21.44 (93%)
Buy New/Used from $1.51
Avg. Customer Rating:  (9 reviews)
Sales Rank: 463323
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.9
ISBN: 0786867744
Dewey Decimal Number: 658.85
EAN: 9780786867745
ASIN: 0786867744
Publication Date: March 13, 2002
Release Date: March 13, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Businesses are sending their top managers to improvisational classes to learn how to give presentations, how to talk to clients, and how to finesse difficult situations. But those same skills can be mastered with the help of the simple and fun exercises found in this book. The authors explain how improvisation comes into play in our daily lives, and the rewards of taking risks in those situations. Improvise This! is filled with true-to-life business scenarios and offers methods for not only surviving but triumphing in those situations, making this a valuable and entertaining resource.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 4 more reviews...
 Improv: Techniques for Training & Development in a Fast-Paced Society May 19, 2007
Today's business works at a faster pace than ever--opportunities open and close quickly, and may be lost if one isn't prepared to react to them. In addition, today's workers expect a more collaborative workplace than ever. The techniques adapted from improv theatre are a great match for the intersection of these two phenomena, and many organizations are taking advantage of those techniques when offering their employees professional development opportunities.
Successful business people are adapt to the constant changes in their work environments, taking advantage of new opportunities and letting go of those that become stale. They enthusiastically engage the task of the moment, listen actively to others, trust both their own instincts and the sensibilities of their teammates, and build onto the ideas of others to create improved ideas...all elements required for successful improv theatre, as well. The authors are careful to detail ways in which these elements can be transferred to and applied in employee's work and personal lives.
Across eleven chapters, the authors provide detailed directions for 15 improv exercises adapted for business and life. Ten of those are designed for individuals (fairly rare in the training and development world). These include activities for breaking the inhibitions to risk-taking to innovative brainstorming approaches to having fun with telemarketers. (True, this last one seems to be unfair to the hapless telemarketer...but truly embodies spontaneity.) The group activities will develop skills in active listening, building on the ideas of teammates, and trusting your teammates. Other activities written into the narrative round out the ideas you can take, use, and adapt for yourself. In the four years I've owned this book, I have used or adapted 11 of these activities for training programs and found successes with each one.
This book provides some rich resource material for the reader to think about innovation, adaptability, risk-taking, and active listening. The activities are both enjoyable and thought-provoking, as are the interviews with six people who practice and apply the underlying principles.
Ken your Ken September 27, 2005
0 out of 4 found this review helpful
Know your material and be yourself for god's sake. This is the best I've reviewed to date. Thanks Mark
 Disappointed! September 13, 2005
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was hoping to find some activities in working with groups and with improvisation. I wanted to find some tools to improve my own skills in improv. For me this book offered neither of these. The writing was rather bland and I had trouble just getting through the book. If you really want it, I would look for used copies.
Dog-eared with a broken spine April 4, 2003
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I pull this book off the shelf so often that I'm thinking of naming it and teaching it to fetch. As an acting teacher, I not only find the games energizing and useful for my students, but I value the advice and suggestions. It really helps with the side-coaching, with reviving the essential spirit of the work that got all of us into this. As a mostly human being, I sometimes let this book jump up onto my lap simply for the giggles. These are people who not only know what they're talking about, but who write with great wit about wit. Hey . . . this book may be the solution to that pesky old form vs. function debate. This is a really, really good book that continually inspires.
I love the messege! September 3, 2002
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
In a world where the corporate climate is becoming more and more concerned about don'ts, than dos, more worried about what can't be said, than what can, this delightful book is the perfect reminder of the power of play. I love the messege. Let's get out of our heads and have some fun. Then let's see how that fun effects our work product.The authors give us inspiring examples of humor in the workplace, and a series of excerises to loosen up even the most button downed office. They manage to give sound advice while keeping tongues firmly in cheek. I found it an easy read, perfect for the airplane. This is a great beginner's book for Improv in the workplace. Now,I would love to see a more in-depth work from this joyful team. Improvise This! has whet my appetite.
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