Improv for Democracy

<p><b>Explores how improv-based teaching and training methods can bridge differences and promote the communication leadership and civil skills our world urgently needs.</b></p><p>While much has been written about what democracies should look like much less has been said about <i>how</i> to actually train citizens in democratic perspectives and skills. Amid the social and political crises of our time many programs seeking to bridge differences between citizens draw from the surprising field of improvisational theater. Improv trains people to engage with one another in ways that promote empathy and understanding. Don Waisanen demonstrates how improv-based teaching and training methods can forward the communication leadership and civic skills our world urgently needs. Waisanen includes specific exercises and thought experiments that can be used by educators; advocates for civic engagement and civil discourse; practitioners and scholars in communication leadership and conflict management; training and development specialists; administrators looking to build new curricula or programming; and professionals seeking to embed productive sustainable and socially responsible forms of interaction in and across organizations. Ultimately this book offers a new approach for helping people become more creative heighten awareness think faster build confidence operate flexibly improve expression and governance skills and above all think and act more democratically.</p>