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Improv exercises are meant to encourage spontaneity, co-creation and 'thinking on your feet'. They originate in theatre improvisation, where the performance is created on the spot without a predefined script. Outside of performing arts improv is used for (a.o.) team-building, training communication skills and therapy. In futuring processes improv can be helpful as an ice-breaker, a way to train the 'speculative mind' or visualise a scenario, an exercise in collaborative storytelling or worldbuilding or in any other phases where the process tends to become overly analytical, bogged down in rigid worldviews or overconfident. Improv can shake-up the status quo and take people out of their comfort zones in a playful and harmless manner.

There are thousands of improv exercises available, that can be applied in as many different settings. On this page we will only mention a few techniques that we repeatedly use in FoAM's futuring workshops, with links to other improv resources online and in books.


  • futurist_fieldguide/improv_exercises.1431965016.txt.gz
  • Last modified: 2015-05-18 16:03
  • by maja