Two Improvisation Exercises for Improving Team Synchronization

Cathy Salit is an improv coach. In her view, one of the keys to successful improv is the level of synchronization among the cast. The more the cast members breathe together, share each other’s joys and sorrows, and think what the others are thinking, the more seamlessly they can perform together.

Here are the improvisation exercises Cathy uses to improve synchronization among the cast (and, of course, they can be applied just as easily to team-building in our own work):

Exercise 1: Mirror, Mirror

Two people sit facing each other. One of them slowly changes their facial expression (frowning, smiling, pursing their lips…) or makes a body movement (raising a hand, moving a leg…). The other person’s task is to imitate their partner’s expressions and movements as quickly and accurately as possible, until they move in perfect sync.

There is also a version of this exercise for larger groups:

The group sits in a circle, and each person casually chooses someone else’s facial expressions and movements to imitate. At first, things may be a little chaotic, but as synchronization improves, everyone in the circle begins to sync up in a strangely wonderful way—with no one even able to tell who is imitating whom.

Exercise 2: Mind Meld

Two people sit facing each other and count together: “1, 2, 3.” When they reach 3, they each say any word that pops into their head. For example, one person might say “movie theater,” while the other says “bicycle.”

Next, they count “1, 2, 3” again. As they count, they think of a word associated with both “movie theater” and “bicycle” (for example, “seat”). When they reach 3, they both say the word they came up with.

If they say the same word, the game is over.

If they say different words—for example, one says “seat” and the other says “shopping mall”—the game continues. In the next round, both of them have to think of a word associated with both “seat” and “shopping mall.”

As the game goes on, their level of synchronization steadily increases.

(The content above is adapted from Daniel H. Pink’s When.)

Note

• This article in the “Psychology Bites” series was a short popular-psychology essay/ramble written to accompany the related content of Psychology Bites by Zhichao Wei. It was published on the now-defunct platform Fentuan, and the original link no longer exists.