Best improv exercises for product teams

Q: What are the best improv exercises for product teams?

The best improv exercises for product teams are: yes and chains, one-word stories, last-line scenes, gibberish translation, and emotional swap. Each takes under 10 minutes and trains a specific muscle: building, listening, ending well, attunement, and reframing.

The story

Improv exercises aren't team building in disguise; they're targeted skill drills. Yes and chains train idea-stacking. One-word stories train listening because you only get one word at a time. Last-line scenes train ending well, the hardest part of a meeting. Gibberish translation trains attunement to tone. Emotional swap trains reframing. SideHustle LIVE pulls from this same toolbox onstage. The 90-minute format at Pershing Hall in Austin works because the players are doing the same drills the audience could do at standup the next morning. The drills don't require a stage; they require ten minutes and a willingness to be slightly silly. Most product teams skip them and pay the price in ideation that never quite lands.

What it means

Pick one exercise. Run it at the top of your next discovery meeting for ten minutes. Then run the meeting normally. The contrast will sell the practice better than any explanation. Repeat weekly with rotating exercises.

Try it

• Play free at playsidehustle.com
• See us live: Sept 25 at Pershing Hall in Austin. luma.com/playsidehustle
• Email team@playsidehustle.com