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Improv as a training and development tool

Improv is fun!
What is “Yes, and”?
February 15, 2021

Development Tool

When most business people think of improv they think comedy. That's what I first thought when I started almost 30 years ago. And improv is the most fun thing ever, but it also has hundreds of lessons and exercises that can help build connections off stage as well!

When businesses come to us for an improv training session or team building it is usually because a leader has had some experience with improv, or has read about it in a professional journal. They have an understanding that there is a lot that improv offers that can be impactful to businesses, teams and leaders. That is what I would like to speak to in this blog.

Why Improv

It's Fun and Effective: Improv has a lot of twenty first century skills that apply to the modern workplace. Improv is about creating strong relationships in the moment in front of a live audience. Being able to adapt to a different audience each night. Being able to accept, build and thrive in a quick changing environment. Being able to problem solve, pick up on small clues and utilize them for a positive outcome all while maintaining a positive, can do attitude. These are the things that we must do on stage. Improv has exercises and games that are used to develop and enhance these skills. These exercises are not specific to just performing, they have bleed over to all aspects of life. Most important these games and exercises are fun!

Eric Farone

Partner, Apixii - Applied Improvisation Co-Owner of Bovine Metropolis Theater in Denver.

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What We Teach

Improv is more than an "if x, then y" system of managing engagements. It is a school of thought, a philosophy. a way of life that has so many things to teach us about how we interact with each other in authentic and humane ways. Some of our most popular offerings are listed below:
1Listening
We all know the value of listening. We are all told that we must listen, but how do we do this? Apixii has some very easy exercises that get you listening with your whole body.
2Presentation
How we deliver a message can be more important than the message we deliver. Apixii has a litany of exercises that will get you being more authentic, dynamic and telling a story that will captivate and engage your audience.
3Creativity
Creativity is a pre-req for some jobs, but it is a great skill for everyone. Improv focuses on group creativity. Group creativity is listening for an idea and building on it. If you always know where you are going or have had no failures getting there, you have not been creative. Let Apixii help you!
4Sales
Sales has been described as a transfer of enthusiasm. We bring our passion for improv to our real world experiences training sales teams. Apixii can help you connect, fact find, build rapport, ask for the sale, and even overcome objections in a positive manner. Your team's bottom line will thank you for this workshop. Contact Apixii now to set up a workshop.
5Team Building
Bowling, hockey, escape rooms and improv are all fun. If you just want to get out of the office together, take a walk. But, if you are really looking to break down silos and have your team see each other, not just as their job titles, you need Apixii. We have improv exercises that are fun and interactive, but where we are different from other practitioners is in our debriefs. Your team will have fun, but they will also be a unified team when we are finished. We focus on ROI even on our team buildings.
6Leadership
Whether you practice "Agile Leadership" or "Adaptive Leader" or "Participation Leadership" being a leader requires a large skill set when dealing with people. Apixii has the tools to help you embody the leadership style you are looking to find.
7Misc.
Just For Fun, Thinking On Your Feet, Trusting Yourself, Creating A Positive Work Environment, Diversity, Embracing Change, Having Fun At Work, Apixii will customize our curriculum for your desired outcome!

How It Works

We Get Everyone Involved: Ben Franklin said "Tell me, I forget. Teach me, I remember. Involve me, I learn." Our exercises our learned by playing them. The lessons learned are not taught, but discovered by the participants. And since they discover the lessons they own the lessons. We have been doing this a long time, so we have learned how to get everyone engaged. The exercises are also fun (yes, I keep mentioning this because it's true) so even the most reserved people will have a blast! It is a system designed to educate while playing and having a great time.

Why Apixii

We don't try to sell people on the "7 Effective Habits of Improv" or "How to Use Improv to Find Your Cheese" and we definitely don't have a "More Efficient Methodology for Cataloging Electronic Records". What we know and taught for the last 25 years is improv.  My name is Eric Farone, I run (most) and create the curriculum for all of our training sessions personally. I never pretend to know how to run anyone's business. I have been teaching improv for over 25 years. I also used to be a corporate trainer for USWEST and it is there where I saw the connection between needs of companies and the abundance of improv. Denise Maes, co-founder of Apixii, was a corporate trainer for Merrill Lynch for years before leaving to open the Bovine Metropolis improv theater in Denver.

Improvisation has been our full time job since the year 2000. We have taught improvisation to thousands of people so they can be more successful on stage and off. To give them the tools to live in a constantly changing environment by finding connections and identifying patterns and moving things forward. Our other instructors here at Apixii each bring an average of over 10 years of experience in improv to the team.

 Apixii: Applied Improvisation has a customer retention rate of over 65%, which means when we come to your company to do a workshop, odds are you will be so happy that you will want to bring us back next time you have an outside trainer in to do a training session.

Contact Us

Click on the "Contact Us" up at the top right of the page and let's get started on getting your team to be more improvisational.