Yellow Ball
From OER Commons Wiki
Contents |
Improv Goals:
- To give participants tools to collaborate during the conference—new ways of being together.
- To help them see that they individually don’t have to have “The Amazing Idea”, that that can be discovered.
- To have them experience “Yes, And…” as a technique to achieve this.
- To build trust within their groups
Tenets of Improv:
- Suspend judgment (Stay present—evaluate later)
- Let go of your agenda/be flexible (Be open, see your partner as brilliant)
- Listen in order to receive (Listen for where you agree or can support)
- Build on what you receive (Connect and move forward WITH your partner)
- Make your partner look brilliant (Focus outward. Build on what they say.)
- Look for connection/what you can accept
- Serve the scene. (Serve the bigger picture)
Improv is NOT about being cleaver, funny, witty or fast. It’s about listening, connecting, and collaborating. It’s a “state of acute cooperation.”
Focus for the facilitator: to have participants experience equality; how a short simple offer engages their partner; suspending judgment to support their partner.
Yellow Ball
- Objective - Connect and collaborate with each other.
- Setup - Stand in big circle
- Example - Begin by telling participants that you have a yellow ball in your hands which will be tossed around the circle. When you toss the yellow ball to a participant, make eye contact with them and say "yellow ball" as you toss. They catch the ball while maintaining eye contact with you and acknowledge they have received the ball by saying "yellow ball, thank you." They then make eye contact with someone else in the circle and toss the yellow ball while saying "yellow ball." The person receiving it says "yellow ball, thank you." Keep this going for a few minutes to give everyone a chance to toss and receive the yellow ball.
- Activity
- Debrief - How did that feel? What did you notice?
- Reinforce the importance of maintaining eye contact during the entire exchange and do the Activity again. After a few minutes, introduce a new ball by saying red ball and tossing it to a participant. Now there are two balls moving around the circle. After a few tosses, introduce another ball by saying green ball and tossing it to a participant. Now there are three balls moving around the circle. Let them toss the three balls for a few minutes and Debrief.
- Debrief - How was that? What did you notice this time with more balls in the circle?
Improv Resource: Life Plays
