Enrollment is closed until the next cohort begins in Early 2021
To get on our Early Bird list for 2021, click below! You'll be the first to know when we open enrollment AND get a special early sign-up discount!
You will discover:
- An authentic approach that embraces and elevates who you are
- Research-based, time-tested skills that you can apply to any situation
- A tried and true framework based on over 20 years of results
- How to react on your feet when it matters most
- A five-minute hack for completely transforming any conversation or meeting
- How to increase your awareness in key situations so you can react and adapt effectively
- How to uncover and communicate your best ideas
- How to have difficult conversations without getting derailed by resistance and defensiveness
- How to overcome barriers and blind-spots that derail communication
Developing more effective communication skills will lead to:
- Increased confidence
- Greater trust from others
- Bigger opportunities at work
- Getting ahead in your career
- Less conflict and fear in the workplace
- Easier interactions with difficult people
- Getting your ideas heard and understood
- More team engagement
- More fruitful collaboration
And through the process, you'll build your global network with like-minded professionals, located across the world, who are focused on their personal and professional development.
Carefully Designed Lessons to Get You Results Quickly
- Short, value-packed videos
- Entertaining instruction by a seasoned performer and adjunct professor
- The latest research distilled into actionable insights
- Interesting stories and examples to illustrate important principles
- Action plans to help you implement and integrate quickly
- Downloadable worksheets and tools for easy application and review of lessons learned
What is the breakdown of this online experience?
This learning experience will be ten weeks long. Sample dates from the October 2020 are listed in the next section.
Do not let the time commitment deter you: we know that everyone has a lot on their plates right now, so we made sure that the majority of the time investment for this experience is very flexible.
Work outside of our weekly live sessions will consist mostly of asynchronous training modules that are made up of bite-sized videos that you can easily fit into your schedule in a way that works best for you. You will go through two asynchronous online learning modules each week (45-60 minutes of self-paced work) and then have a deep dive live virtual instructor led training each Thursday to solidify the learnings in a 60-minute high-energy experiential session. For clarity: you will have six days to get through the ~60 minutes of self-paced online learning prior to Thursday.
With additional self-paced worksheets, and the hour-long live virtual session, the total time commitment to learning a highly transferable set of skills that will immediately pay for themselves will be less than three hours per week.
Finally, there will be an opportunity to schedule two 15-minute one-on-one coaching calls with your Lead Instructor over the course of the 8-week experience. These calls allow for a deeper dive on areas of interest and on-going support from our team.
Breaking Down the Important Dates
As mentioned a few times, the live virtual sessions will be held every Thursday and will be 60-minutes in length. As a participant, you will go through two modules of our asynchronous course as pre-work for each live session. We will open access for the following week's prep material on Friday.
We've broken down the syllabus for the overall experience below:
Saturday, October 10: Early sign-ups will officially have access to the first two modules of Improvisational Communication
Intro Module: Welcome!
Module 1: The Anatomy of Effective Communication
1 - Thursday, October 22: 60-Minute Live Virtual Session focused on Intro Module and Module 1.
On Friday morning, we will release:
Module 2: Core Competencies
Module 3: A Two-Word Hack for Better Communication
2 - Thursday, October 29: 60-Minute Live Virtual Session focused on Modules 2 and 3.
On Friday morning, we will release:
Module 4: Joint Problem Solving
Module 5: Conflict Management
3 - Thursday, November 5: 60-Minute Live Virtual Session focused on Modules 4 and 5.
On Friday morning, we will release:
Module 6: Divergent Collaboration
Module 7: Convergent Collaboration
4 - Thursday, November 12: 60-Minute Live Virtual Session focused on Modules 6 and 7, which dovetails directly into the introduction of the Team Project and putting participants in their teams for the first time.
5 - Thursday, November 19: 60-Minute Live Virtual Session with focus on continued individual skill building, networking and interacting with classmates who are not on your Project Team, and dedicated Project Team work time.
6 - TUESDAY, November 24: 60-Minute Live Virtual Session with focus on continued individual skill building, networking and interacting with classmates who are not on your Project Team, and dedicated Project Team work time.
7 - Thursday, December 3: 60-Minute Live Virtual Session with focus on continued individual skill building, networking and interacting with classmates who are not on your Project Team, and dedicated Project Team work time.
8 - Thursday, December 10: Project Team Report Outs!
On Friday morning, we will release:
Module 8: Pulling It All Together
9 - Thursday, December 17: 60-Minute Live Virtual Session focused on transferability, sustainability, and solidifying your action plan for moving forward.
We are expanding to a 10-week model beginning with the 2021 cohorts!
Basic Mechanics of a Live Virtual Session
Each week, you will have worked through two modules of our asynchronous course (more on that below) in preparation. There will be ample time to ask questions about the asynchronous content during the live sessions, and, we also want to provide a practice field each week where you can experiment with the tools and techniques in a live setting with immediate feedback. Typically speaking, this wireframe will be the breakdown of a 60-minute Thursday session:
- Opening remarks, burning questions answered, and a group warm-up - 10 minutes
- Small group breakouts focused on interpersonal interaction, networking, and skill-building practice of the week's content - 20 minutes
- Large group exercise(s) / discussion on the content of the week - 20 minutes
- Closing remarks, burning questions answered, and setting up for success - 10 minutes
Once we introduce the Team Project in Week 4, and in the weeks that follow, the second half of the 60-minute live session will be Team Project focused.
The transition to virtual is an on-going process, rife with challenges. Our experience and expertise will provide a roadmap to success.
For a decade, the Business Improv team has believed that virtual training was going to be in the immediate future. We wanted to proactively master our high-energy, experiential style in the virtual environments. For the past three years, our team has been heavily involved in fine-tuning our virtual training wing, both through asynchronous training as well as live virtual training. We wanted to be prepared to enter into the virtual training market, and thankfully we were.
We have worked with dozens of clients on virtual training over the past three years and have had incredible success in improving team dynamics and increasing personal effectiveness (productivity, energy management, morale boosting, etc). We've had the privilege of working directly with teams that have always been virtual and supercharging their effectiveness, and, we've worked with teams that have just transitioned to virtual and realize that the distancing has caused cultural issues that they don't know how to fix.
We've been fortunate to have great success along the way and we're extremely proud of our work because we are able to see the difference it makes.
Historically, individuals would have no access to that type of training. It would only be reserved for corporate clients with training and development budgets. Now, with a virtual-first approach, we are finally in a reality where we can offer our solutions to a fully virtual open enrollment cohort! And, we're committed to jam packing this program to ensure the highest possible return on investment for our participants.
Our expectation is to have our participants walk away with real-world, sustainable communication and interpersonal skills that are highly impactful in our current virtual world. And, we'll show you how to infuse them into your day to day, transfer the learnings back to your colleagues and teams, and capitalize on the skillset even if you go back to the office.
For more than twenty years Business Improv has had the great privilege of working with truly amazing businesspeople.
For perspective, in those 20+ years, we’ve trained over 100,000 professionals/students, on six contents, in dozens of countries, and in dozens of languages.
Business Improv is the world's leading provider in high-impact, immediately applicable training that links the tenants of improv to business communication, and leaves students with real-world take-aways that are immediately applicable and translatable into every day life (at work and at home).
This hybrid learning experience is the culmination of those 20+ years of experience linking improv to business, and is the very first of its kind in our industry.
We do things differently. Our authentic approach doesn’t crowd out the best of who you are: it helps you enhance your authenticity. We don’t want you to be a different person; we want to teach you how to perform at the top of your intelligence.
We’ve had the great fortune of working with some of the world’s leading behavioral psychologists since Business Improv's inception, so for more than twenty years we’ve been studying the how’s and why’s of communication through the lens of decision-making and linking all of that to our founder and CEO Bob Kulhan's 25+ years as an elite-level professional improviser.
To be clear, this is the very first time that Business Improv is offering an open enrollment session—historically, our clients have been high-paying corporations and universities providing training sessions to their employees. We're thrilled to be able to offer this opportunity as a way to have direct access to everybody who wants to grow personally and professionally!
Improvisational Communication
Intelligently designed with busy professionals and leaders in mind
Your success is what we're most focused on in this self-paced, asynchronous learning experience. We mentioned before that our approach has always been focused on applicability and transferability, and this course is built on those principles. The lessons are laser-focused on specific challenges that build on each other for more robust deliverables and take-aways as you progress through the course. This course is the very first of its kind, and we're confident that it is (and always will be) unmatched in its approach. Here's why:
- 80 professionally shot, high-quality video lessons, broken up into 8 modules that build on each other. The communication-training field is so full of solutions based on soundbites, untested theory and unrealistic promises. This course strives to be different by providing proven strategies in an easy to digest format.
- More than 45 downloadable worksheets (~2-3 minutes to complete) that culminate into a synthesized Action Plan, designed to be achievable and actionable.
- Lifetime access to the course. Watch any time, as many times as you want. You can watch on any device and the software is highly intuitive for tracking your progress. You will also receive updates to this course, for life.
- BONUS: Three additional downloadable cheat sheets covering deep-dive topics of interest.
Improvisational Communication Course Curriculum
- Intro to Module 1 (0:33)
- Barriers (2:07)
- The Reality About Behavior Change (1:29)
- React / Adapt / Communicate (3:47)
- Divergent / Convergent Thinking (4:05)
- Energy Manipulation (2:28)
- Framing of Language: Yes, And... (2:18)
- Postponing Judgment (5:01)
- How does this matter in my world? (3:15)
- Homework (1:36)
- Intro to Module 3 (1:29)
- Let's Talk About Mindfulness (2:22)
- Exercise: Yes, And Conversation (5:32)
- Exercise: Yes, And Conversation - Breaking It Down (1:18)
- Exercise: Yes, But Conversation (3:14)
- Exercise: Yes, But Conversation - Breaking It Down (1:04)
- Yes, And vs Yes, But (11:44)
- Yes, And vs Yes, But - Bringing It All Together (3:32)
- How does this matter in my world? (2:06)
- Homework (0:47)
- Intro to Module 4 (0:33)
- Self-Audit vs Self-Edit (1:21)
- Warm-Up! (1:52)
- Techniques for Managing Conflict (6:53)
- "Yes, And" for Conflict Management (2:02)
- Exercise: "Yes, And" Debate (7:24)
- "Yes, And" Debate - Putting It to the Test (7:34)
- "Yes, And" Debate - Bringing It All Together (1:04)
- How does this matter in my world? (1:57)
- Homework (0:50)
- Intro to Module 6 (0:47)
- Barriers (Revisited) (5:16)
- "SAD JR QB" (4:13)
- A Culture of Acceptance (3:54)
- Panning for Gold (1:20)
- Warm-Up! (3:22)
- Exercise: Party Planner (8:01)
- Exercise: Party Planner Pt. 2 (7:16)
- 9 Keys for Better Collaboration (4:49)
- How does this matter in my world? (2:38)
- Homework (1:08)
Get a sneak peek inside Improvisational Communication
Take an extended look at a popular lesson pulled directly from the course. Each of the 80 lessons in the course are similar to this.
Taught by a 25+ year veteran improviser who's been linking improv to business for more than 20 years.
Hi, I'm Bob Kulhan, Founder & CEO of Business Improv, and creator of Improvisational Communication. That's me in the video above!
My love story with improv started more than 26 years ago in Chicago, IL, better known as the birthplace of improv. I had the great fortune of being taught this amazing art form from the people who created it. I was coached by people like Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Improvisation has been my life's passion for more than half of my life, and I am insanely grateful that I get to share this great art form with others!
My company, Business Improv, first started way back in 2000 when I was given the very unique opportunity of delivering a managerial improv program to a group of MBA students at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. That program was the world’s very first credit-bearing improv program offered at a business school. Today, in addition to dozens of university partners, we now offer credit-bearing electives at three (soon to be four) business schools.
I regularly work with the world's top business schools, bluechip organizations, and government agencies. Business Improv has trained over 100,000 professionals/students, on six contents, in dozens of countries, and in dozens of languages. In addition to consulting work, I am also a professional speaker and facilitator.
An investment in your future
This is an investment in yourself, and like any good investment, there is absolutely a return. The higher you want to move in your career (regardless of industry or your profession), your communication skills are going to be paramount in achieving those goals.
The biggest and most fulfilling opportunities in life come about thanks to strong personal and professional relationships. Forming and benefitting from these relationships requires strong communication skills. In a very real way, what you learn in this course will continue to benefit your professional and personal life for years to come.
As I mentioned above, this hybrid experience is the very first of its kind in our industry. We made the strategic decision to offer this learning experience as a way to reach and help more students.
Historically speaking, the only way to attend one of our training sessions was:
- As an elective in your MBA program, which is a significant investment of time and money
- Through a university Executive Education intensive, which can range in price from $3,000 - $6,000 (or more)
- Or through one of our customized corporate workshops for which organizations pay top dollar
For the first time, we are offering access to this training at a fraction of what you would have had to pay previously. Again, we want to reach and help more people with this framework that we’ve spent over twenty years developing.
Click the button below to join this experience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why improv? Is this a comedy class?
As an art form, improvisation is rooted in communication, collaboration, team-work, trust, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. We define Business Improv as the critical moment when strategy meets execution. We exclusively teach improv as a set of tools and techniques for personal and professional growth. We don’t just simplify your needs to make them fit into what’s available from comedic improv. Instead, we take the tenets of improv and elevate them to the sophisticated and intelligent needs that our clients demand.
Isn't improv just making stuff up when you don't know what to do?
This question is actually covered in the sample video above. And, if you think about real teams that improvise well (First Responders, Special Forces Military, ER Doctors and Nurses, Professional Sports Teams, etc.) and think about why they are able to improvise when it matters most, what you find is surprising to a lot of people. Improvisation is not the lack of preparation; on the contrary, improv is the abundance of preparation. Improv is rooted in preparation, repetition, and consistency.
What is the time commitment for this experience?
Our main objective in creating this hybrid experience was balancing an impactful learning experience while also not inundating learners. Most, if not all, of us are still working from home and we fully appreciate the challenges (which is why we created this experience), and we will not add to those challenges! For each of the first four weeks, you will have two modules of Improvisational Communication to consume prior to the live virtual session on Thursday. Each module is approximately 30 minutes long and broken into ~4 minute lessons. Therefore, each learner will be expected to complete approximately one hour of self-paced work over a six day period, prior to the live weekly session. And, each live virtual session will be an hour in length, and we will work with students to ensure the session time works. For the second half of the experience, you will be assigned to a project team and if your team chooses to meet outside of class (which is encouraged and not mandatory) that would be your additional time devoted to the experience outside of the Thursday live sessions each week.
English is not my native language. Will Improvisational Communication still work for me?
The answer, in short, is absolutely. Regardless of industry, profession (corporate or entrepreneur), language, region and culture. We've had the privilege of working with over 100,000 people all over the world for more than 20 years and know for certain that the communication skills we teach supersede the barriers listed above. Though our course is taught in English, the tools are 100% translatable and we know this because of the thousands of participants we teach who are not native-English speakers. This online course is the culmination of those 20+ years of experience linking improv to business at the very highest level.
How long is Improvisational Communication? Is it manageable?
The go-at-your-own-pace portion of this experience was designed with business professionals in mind. We strategically designed the modules to pack significant value without overwhelming in any way. In full, the total course is just under 4 hours. The delivery mode is in bite-size "snackable" videos that are mostly less than 5 minutes, with just a handful that are longer. And, because you have lifetime access, you can rewatch the videos as many times as you'd like.
I'm interested in bringing this experience to my organization or sending multiple people. Do you offer discounts?
We absolutely do. If you are interested in taking advantage of multi-enrollee discounts, please send us a message at [email protected].
Is this course a purchase I can write-off in my business or expense at my company?
First, make sure to check with your accountant (I am not an accountant, and am therefore not giving tax advice). What I do know is that people very often can get training reimbursed by their organizations or write off training as an expense. And, we will provide a Certificate of Completion once you have officially finished the course.
What else will I need to purchase after I sign up?
Absolutely nothing. We've provided everything you need.
I have other questions. How do I ask them?
You can send us an email at [email protected] and someone from our team will be in contact within 24 hours.