Everyone from senior organizational leaders to salespeople to spouses knows that listening is a key skill necessary for understanding issues, uncovering needs, and building successful relationships. But what does it really mean to listen well? How can we grow our listening “muscles” rather than just talk about listening? How can we exercise that muscle so we notice more, understand more deeply, and engage with more curiosity?
Luckily for us, improvisers have answers to these questions. Improv is the listening gym. In this session, we will:
Be sure to join us for this interactive webcast on improv-ing your listening skills.
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Kat Koppett is the founder and president of Koppett, a consulting and training company specializing in the use of improvisation and storytelling to enhance workplace effectiveness. Kat has worked with organizations as diverse as Apple, Prezi, GE, Havas Health, the URJ, and the Clinton Global Initiative.
Kat is the author of Training to Imagine: Practical Improvisational Theatre Techniques to Enhance Creativity, Teamwork, Leadership, and Learning, considered a seminal work in the field of applied improvisation. Kat has taught and spoken at RPI’s Lally School of Business Stanford and UC Berkeley, as well as ATD, ISPI, the YPA, NASAGA, AIN, and many other organizations. She has given two TEDx talks on the use of improv to enhance nontheatrical performance. Kat is co-director of the Mopco Improv Theatre and the creator of the full-length musical improv format “spontaneous Broadway,” for which Theatreweek Magazine named her an Unsung Hero of the Year.
Michael Burns is a partner at Koppett and the artistic director and founder of the Mopco Improv Theatre, Koppett’s sister company, a performing improv company and theatrical venue. As an executive coach and facilitator for Koppett, Michael has worked with clients such as GE Research, MVP Health, Ellis Hospital, the Workforce Development Institute, CapCom, SUNY, and more.
Michael studied theater at SUNY Purchase, and then improv with David Shepherd in New York, where he directed for the American Modern Dance Theatre and the American Folk Theatre. He was a member of the Big Apple Experience, a short-lived but cleverly named improv troupe. He is the author of First You Sit on the Floor: A Guide to Developing a Youth Theatre Troupe.
