Putting Improv to Work: Spontaneous Performance for Professional and Personal Life

Improv is an art form in which participants act and respond in the present, trusting that each thoughtful action will lead to a wonderful outcome--even if it isn't the intended result. In this book, the principles and practices of unscripted theater are applied to non-theatrical circumstances.

This book is based on a highly successful business school course, and aids in the development of communication, teamwork, creativity, confidence, emotional intelligence and other abilities. Each chapter assesses a different component of improv--how it connects to stage success and how it can be used in professional, academic and social settings. This is the only text that lays out an entire course on applied improv, providing activities with detailed instructions and descriptions. With roots in higher education, the book is informal, entertaining, and designed to be beneficial for anybody. Behavioral science, philosophy, art and athletics are all used to inform this discussion of improv and its real-world applications.

Greg Hohn is a communication professor at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, where he began teaching in 2000. He has been a professional improviser since 1989, when he joined Transactors Improv Company in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, becoming the company's director in 1996. He also taught in Duke University's Theater Studies Department for five years and has led applied-improv programs for corporations, organizations, and academic institutions across the U.S. and outside it. His theater career has also focused on original and musical works, and he has acted in film, TV, radio, and industrial media.