Ejercicios de comunicacion (communication excercises)

In this game, which I learned from Sakiko Ishitsubo, people pair up and take turns closely observing each other, describing what they see. When person A says, "I see you are holding the zipper pull on your jacket." Person B repeats the description, "I am holding the zipper pull on my jacket." In this way each observation is stated and verified. There is no strict sequence, players can shift back and forth as they like. The goal is to observe each other closely, to describe what you see, and to verify the observations.

This is adapted from a game I learned at Kani Club -- the improv club I participate in from time to time.　(http://kaniclub.com/) In Japanese, the game is "watashi -- anata".

Use the haka form to practice the body language of other emotions and attitudes: instead of intimidation, how about love, shame, flattery...?

Use it with language, as a kind of competition -- each side having its players say something in English, different for each player, showing off their language skill and clever ideas.

Use it with sounds, each side taking turns making one sound or word, like my name "Matt." The leaders can coach their teams and tell them which word is next.

Adapted from "Two by Three by Bradford" in Augusto Boal's Games for Actors and Non-Actors.

Team of three. Player one says, "One". Player two says, "Two." Player three says, "Three." Player one says "Four." Repeat the sequence again and again, picking up speed.

Once the team is smooth, the joker introduces a sound in the place of "one." The teams play again, this time using the sound in the place of "one."

Once the team is smooth again, change the sound into a word.

Repeat until all four words have been replaced by words and the team is saying a sentence.

Idea for an activity:

Take a text, in another language, that you love (poem, song, whatever).

Use Google translate to translate it to English.

If the result is sufficiently strange, copy it, reduce it, and perform it like a poem at a poetry slam.

If the result is too normal, try translating the translated version into a different language, then from that language into English, or into another language -- repeat until you have freed the words from the original text.

The idea is to start a discussion of a famous person (or text, artwork, etc) using the Dating Game format.

There are three roles: the Joker (emcee), the player, the potential dates.

The flow:
The player sits separated from the three potential dates.
The joker introduces the player.
The joker then asks the dates to introduce themselves in one sentence that will be attractive to the player.
The player then proceeds to ask questions, to one date at a time, trying to find the one who sounds best.

For a few years I have been using Facebook Groups in my university courses. One technique that has been especially useful is to have students post comments for homework, then, in the following class, read and respond to others' comments, using their smartphones. I also participate, provoking discussion and reflection. It becomes a kind of instant writing/reading process and the atmosphere is relaxed and fun.

The game Loud & Proud is designed to played as a rapid-fire competitive matching game. http://store.toolboxfored.org/loud-proud/

It can also be played:

• As prompts or seeds for making speeches or sermons. One card: if you draw "Organic food is...", you have to improvise a speech on organic food (for or against, or other). Two cards (matching symbols): if you draw "Corporation" and "A Democracy" you have to improvise a speech that relates the two concepts.

The card game Buffalo, by Mary Flanagan, is designed to be played as a rapid-fire competition between players. (http://www.tiltfactor.org/game/buffalo/)

It can also be played:

Play the game "Which would you rather be?" (have, do, see, eat...)

Do it first for fun, making the questions challenging, surreal, random, etc.

Then do it thematically: which would you rather be: a boss or a worker? A capitalist or a cooperativist? The questions should be real, not rhetorical or testing people's adherence to a political line.