Improv provides a platform for the deliberate practice of skills relating to everyday communication. As opposed to lectures or other knowledge-based training that merely deliver information, improv provides a fun and low-stakes environment to practice the skills being taught.
MAKING THE CASE FOR KNOWLEDGE VS. SKILL
There have been limited benefits observed from continuing medical education, such as written courses, conferences, lectures, and symposia (knowledge-based education), for practicing physicians. Similar findings have been found in other healthcare disciplines. The accepted truth is that, while these types of education experiences are not worthless, their benefits are limited. In contrast, when an active component is added to continuing medical education, such as role playing, discussion groups, case-solving, and hands-on training (skill-based education), there is an increase in physician performance.
Improv is another platform for skill-based education.
How does it work?
Our program provides pre-course and post-course materials to ensure you and your team gain the most benefits from each training. Through post-course reflections, participants’ daily practice can be redesigned to take the form of deliberate practice long after the workshops have concluded. It helps you and your team to reframe your current work environment to enable continued growth. You won’t leave a Healthcare Improv workshop as a communications expert but you will have the map for your journey.
But isn’t improv funny?
While the goal of professional improvisers is to entertain, the core focus of even the funniest improviser is to connect with his or her scene partner in a very real way. While our workshops tend to be light-hearted - and yes, funny at times! - the skills we practice are applicable in even the most serious of situations.
Get in touch
Every member of our team believes in the power of improv to enhance our experiences as communicators and professionals. If you’re interested in learning how improv can help you or your team, schedule a free consultation with us.
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“The values of improv presented in this workshop have helped me to be present and open when interacting with colleagues, students, and patients. Especially as someone with introverted tendencies, I greatly benefitted from the supportive workshop.”
Areas of Training
Group Communication Skills
Interpersonal Communication Skills
Empathy
It’s impossible to show empathy for patients and coworkers without living in the moment. Through improv, we learn to let go of distractions and focus on the people in front of us to truly immerse ourselves in their perspectives and experiences.
Adaptability
The only constant in our work, home, and social environments is change. Improv teaches us to be flexible in times of discomfort and make decisions that move us forward instead of holding us back.
Body Language
Understanding body language is a vital aspect of communication, especially during difficult conversations. Improv teaches us to understand the subtext of day-to-day conversations through body language and environmental factors, such as time and place.
Listening
Even the most self-proclaimed “good” listeners are likely to benefit from the practice of active listening. Only by letting go of the urgency to share our own opinions, advice, and experiences can we truly retain what a patient or colleague has to say. Improv provides a platform to practice active listening in a safe, low-stakes environment.
GROWTH MINDSET
Feedback is accepted as an essential component of improving performance in any arena, yet most people struggle to give or receive it. Improv helps us to create meaningful conversations, so the exchanged information can lead to both personal and organizational growth.
Wellness
The constant drive for perfection at our jobs can unfortunately mean we struggle when things don’t go exactly as planned. Through improv, we learn how to connect with others and prepare for life’s curve balls, finding enjoyment in our daily lives even amidst the flames of burnout.
Trust
Effective communication requires trust from all persons involved. Improv provides a platform for us to practice vulnerability, take risks, and allow ourselves to be seen - all essential elements of building confidence with others and ourselves.
Emotion
Emotions are elevated in high-stakes situations, so a communications skill set must be in place to navigate difficult times. Improv provides a low-stakes environment to practice these skills and build a framework for implementing them in real life.
CULTURE
What are the core principals of your team, organization, or company? Working to understand your groups core principles is an essential task but only the beginning. Improv is a great way for your group to practice those principles, address how your group lives those principles, and develop shared expectations for when those principles are not practiced.
COURAGE
Being the agent for positive change takes Courage. That courage doesn’t just show up in those big moments when its required. It takes recognizing the opportunities in our everyday life and practicing different ways to improve the complex situations found in healthcare. The very act of starting your improv journey is courageous. Continuing improv can help develop and nurture the courage necessary to be an agent of positive change.
Your Personal Narrative
Vulnerability: Navigating an Unclear World
Get into the learning zone. In order to improve on past performance, you must be willing to acknowledge you can do things better. This requires setting aside the status quo, shining a light on your blind spots, and developing muscles of vulnerability, empathy, and adaptability to turn mistakes into opportunities for growth. After this session, you’ll see to it that each suboptimal experience is not wasted, but can be used to optimize future situations.
Authenticity: The Hidden Message
Once we are out of our work demands, who are we? What is most important to us? Your authentic self is always present but often not deliberately considered. In this session, we’ll use pretend scenarios to reveal reality. We’ll bring down the restrictions imposed by work and life, find fun with each other, and listen for laughter as a cue to illuminate our unspoken preferences. After this workshop, we will better be able to connect our authentic selves to the people and world around us.
Engagement: Living a Better Life
We have become stagnant in our routines and the way things are in our life. We have worked hard to build our lives, but know there could be more for us. With limited time, how can we engage with the world to create more meaningful experiences? How can we begin to see, feel, and experience the unfamiliar to help us connect with the world? After this workshop, you will be re-wired to pursue growth and a better life by seeking opportunities to engage with the world and to become comfortable in the discomfort of new situations.
Stories: Learning What Can’t Be Taught
Computers understand data. Humans understand stories. Humans are story telling beings and naturally use stories to communicate large and complex ideas. Yet, most of us leave the stories we tell ourselves to chance. This workshop will help you understand how we connect to the stories we tell ourselves, and the process by which we can start down the path of authoring our own story.