How to Be a Better Improv Teacher (Part 2)

Last week, I shared five tips on how you can be a better improv teacher. This week, I wanted to share some more pieces of advice on how you can make teaching improv easier, more effective and more fun. Enjoy!

1. Always Be Learning From Your Students
   I started to get better as a teacher when I realized students can teach me as much as I can teach them. Once you get your ego out of the way, you'll realize learning from your students can be as much fun as teaching them.
   
   I can’t tell you how many games, exercises, and forms I have learned from my students because they were generous enough to show them to the class. It's exciting when a student modifies an exercise I have been doing for 30 years, because usually they make them even stronger.
   
   Remember, the definition of humility is being teachable, and it is also one of the best qualities in a teacher.
   
   If you are new to teaching improv, this is something to work up to. Once you get confidence in the material and with your students, this will come naturally. The longer I have worked with students, the easier it has been to ask: "Anyone got a warm-up exercise tonight?" The next time a student has an idea for a game or an exercise and it fits in the moment, jump on it.
   
2. You Are Going to Make Mistakes
   If you want to be good at something, make mistakes. If you want to be great at something, make even more mistakes. Thae trick is to learn from those mistakes. I get it. When a mistake happens, I can be defensive and filled with shame. But I have learned from every mistake I have made when I talk it over with someone, such as another teacher, a trusted friend, or my wife.
   
   When you do make a mistake, please, please, please be gentle on yourself. Most people want to beat themself up, but trust me, if it worked, I’d tell you to keep doing it. It doesn’t. The irony is we are teaching people that it's ok to make mistakes, but we don’t give ourselves the same permission. We will be happier if we do.
   
3. Remember, You Are an Expert, Not a Know-It-All
   If you try to teach improv thinking you have all the answers, you are screwed. That’s not teaching, that's being a know it all. Remember, the answers are always in the room, meaning together we (teacher + students) can come up with a better answer than if we relied on the one egotistical teacher.
   
   Sometimes you will get a question and the answer is clear. Sometimes it's not. When that happens, get the class involved to help come up with an answer. When I do that, it becomes a discussion, and nine times out of ten, my students are much more articulate than I am about the answer.
   
   So the next time you get a question in class, and you don't have the answer, ask the class what they think before you put your two cents in.
   
4. Don’t Answer Questions from Students After Class
   When a student comes up to you after class and asks a question, don’t answer it. Instead, tell them to bring it up at the next class.
   
   I have found when a student asks a specific, improv-related question, usually other people in the class could benefit from the answer. And here's the best part — they get a better answer because the whole class is involved.
   
   I have found that, in most cases, if one student has a question, most likely there are two or three other people in the class who could benefit from the answer.
   
5. Be Flexible With Your Lesson Plan
   To really serve your students, you need to be aware of when your lesson plan is working and when you need to adjust it. No lesson plan is written in stone. If it is, you're in fear.
   
   Instead, when you let the energy from your students be your guide, your students will think you are some wise, old wizard with magical powers.
   
   Think of being flexible in class like planning to go on a picnic. If it rains, you have to change your plans. You still need to eat, but now you have to go inside.
   
   I am constantly changing up my lesson plan during class based on the energy of the class at that moment. If I plan to do two-person scenes and the class seems sluggish, I will switch to group scenes, which will give them more energy.
   
   I may go back to doing two-person scenes, or I may not. Sometimes, another issue will arise, and I will introduce a principle and exercise that I had no intention of bringing up.
   
   That's called being flexible, or another word for it is: improvising.
   
6. Remember That Teaching Improv Should Be Fun
   I remember years ago when I taught at Second City, I was complaining about being exhausted after teaching an improv class, and Michael Gellman, an outstanding teacher and human being, said, "If you are doing it right, you will feel energized."
   
   Gellman was absolutely right. Sometimes after class I can get such a “performance high”, it’s hard to sleep. When I don't, I think about the class or the show to try to discover what happened. It is usually that I was working too hard, I was being controlling, or did not take care of myself, or I forced something.
   
   All things I don’t really want to admit.
   
   Are you an improv teacher who is looking to learn a new way of improvising? Don't miss Jimmy's next Advanced Virtual Class, starting April 28!