COM 66 A — Think on Your Feet: An Improviser’s Guide to Business Communication
Quarter: Summer
Day(s): Saturday and Sunday
Course Format: On-campus (About Formats)
Duration: 2 days
Date(s): Jul 8—Jul 9
Time: 10:00 am—4:00 pm (PT)
Refund Deadline: Jul 1
Unit: 1
Tuition: $420
Instructor(s): Debra Schifrin, Daniel Schifrin
Limit: 26
Class Recording Available: No
Status: Open
Summer
On-campus
Saturday and Sunday
10:00 am—4:00 pm (PT)
Date(s)
Jul 8—Jul 9
2 days
Refund Date
Jul 1
1 Unit
Fees
$420
Instructor(s):
Debra Schifrin, Daniel Schifrin
Limit
26
Recording
No
Open
The skill of thinking on your feet is no longer optional in the workplace; it is mandatory. In this interactive, improvisation-based communication course, you will learn and practice skills for handling the unexpected with calm, grace, inclusiveness, and humor. You will increase your agility, grow your confidence in unpredictable situations, and learn critical new skills and mindsets. These include being more present and open to surprising ideas, cultivating a mindset of curiosity, and engaging with your audience with energy, commitment, and delight. Whether you are in front of an audience of one or 800, you will learn how to prevent missteps and imperfections from derailing you. The course will reveal the ways spontaneity and thinking on your feet can be joyful and how play and humor can be game-changers in creating an authentic and positive connection with your audience. The course will include a blend of interactive activities in pairs and small groups, targeted debriefs, group discussions, and mini-lectures. By taking time to practice these techniques in a supportive and encouraging environment, you will come out of this course a stronger and more intuitive communicator.
This is not a theater-performance course; no theater or improv experience is necessary.
Section A and Section B of “Think on Your Feet: An Improviser’s Guide to Business Communication” cover the same content.
DEBRA SCHIFRIN
Lecturer, Stanford Graduate School of Business; Founder, Debra Schifrin Consulting
Debra Schifrin teaches two courses she co-created at Stanford Graduate School of Business: "Creativity and the Business Ecosystem" and "Spontaneous Management," the school’s first improv-based management course. Through her consulting company, she leads innovative, interactive, improv-based corporate training sessions for business teams nationwide. Her focus areas include leadership, communications, collaboration, and storytelling. Schifrin is a former NPR reporter. She received an MBA from Harvard. DANIEL SCHIFRIN
Founder, StoryForward
Daniel Schifrin consults with organizations in the area of narrative design, storytelling, and creativity. He has taught in the architecture department at UC Berkeley, co-curated an exhibition at SFMOMA, and written for The Los Angeles Times and the San Francisco Chronicle. Textbooks for this course:
There are no required textbooks; however, some fee-based online readings may be assigned.