12:00pm Strategic Communication Through Improv

Strategic Communication Through Improv
           
Brandon Boat                               Tane S. Danger
Improvisational theater demands performers hone acute listening skills, think on their feet, and can move a story forward collectively. The same skills are equally valuable off stage, in the conference room, the office, or a on a team project. In this session you’ll learn and try out specific exercises improvers use to hone these skills. We’ll work in small groups to practice the concepts of “Yes and…”, group story telling, and heightening ideas. Be prepared to move around, engage with fellow conference-goers, and have a good time. You’ll leave with new ways of thinking about communication and new confidence to put it into practice.

Tane S. Danger and Brandon Boat have more than 12 years of improvisational experience between them, performing, teaching, and leading troupes. They are the founders of The Theater of Public Policy with InCommons, T2P2 for short. A new and groundbreaking show, T2P2 features substantive conversations with leading policy thinkers and makers on the issues of the day. A team of the Twin Cities’ best improvisers then uses the ideas, debates, and anecdotes as inspiration for long-form improv scenes. Using humor and imagination, T2P2 dissects, unpacks, and engages old debates in new ways.

Outside of T2P2, Brandon and Tane are founding members of the Walrus Improv Comedy Troupe which performs regularly throughout the Twin Cities with recent runs at HUGE Theater, Yes and Foods in Coon Rapids, and the Blue Nile Restaurant and Lounge.