Variations Have the expert tell a story, instead of giving a lecture.

Just Gibberish

How it Works Play a scene, completely in gibberish, no translations provided. The scene should be perfectly clear to the audience - we should be perfectly able to translate every gibberish sentence, and the story should make sense.

Notes

• This will only work if the stories are extremely simple, and if the platform is made clear right from the start.
• Some players tend to
  Be in Green with a Software Development Contractor
  What has been already discussed many times is if it’s worth to outsource contractors or to employ your own full-time developers. So if you stick to outsourcing, this article will make you think about several issues that always follow the process.Let’s think wide, the fact that you use staff from outside your company allows you to reduce your costs for monthly salaries, social benefits, and taxes, insurance, rent payments etc. Those are the payments you should process permanently despite the possible fact that the company is out of stable contracts and it doesn’t generate revenue during several months. You should be really confident that you can provide the company with permanent work to be in green.On the other side, hiring contractors for each particular project can make you think tha
  One of the major issues in today’s corporate work environment is the “lack of trust and team work”. Businesses have to be ever so focused on the “Bottom Line” because of the competitive pressures facing them from the global community; including: corporate downsizing, restructuring and downward price pressures on products and services. As a result of these new business drivers, we have lost our sense of trust in our employers and fellow employees. These observations were made evident to me in the many companies that I have consulted with over the years. Most workers want to trust, build and be part of a team, but feel there is a huge chasm with management in this area. When people go to work and don’t trust colleagues and senior management, the work atmosphere is filled with a negative vibe, much of which is unspoken. Some of the detrimental issues that a work environment devoid of Trust and Teamwork can exhibit are:
  • Uncertainty
  • Negativity
  • Fear of losing one’s job
  • Lack of cooperation and collaboration
  • Reluctance
  • Zero creativity
  This is where Improvisational Comedy can help. I needed a break from the “Corporate Rat Race”, so I enrolled at The Players Workshop of The Second City to learn Improvisational Comedy. While attending the classes, I gained some valuable insights into human behavior that could improve and enhance Trust and Teamwork in the workplace by utilizing Improv Games and Exercises. One of my favorites, which I still use today, is Gibberish.

  Gibberish is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as: gib‧ber‧ish /ˈ-/ Pronunciation Key [jib-er-ish, gib-] –noun

  1) Meaningless or unintelligible talk or writing.

  2) Talk or writing containing many obscure, pretentious, or technical words.

  —Synonyms 1. nonsense, foolishness, babble, gabble, drivel, gobbledegook.

  Gibberish Improv Exercises

  Gibberish Commands

  How it Works Players start in pairs. Have each play issue a command to her partner, in Gibberish. Players can't move on until the command is understood and executed. Simple things will do, like 'pass me the salt, please' . The idea is not to mime the command, but to try and make it obvious for the way the command is issued, and the environment that has been set.

  Translate Gibberish

  How it Works This is best played with an odd number of players. Everyone in a circle. The first player gives a gibberish word to her right neighbor, who translates the word. The next player provides the next gibberish word, and so on.

  Variations The receiver can provide both the translation, and a new gibberish word. You may want to add the origin of the language along with the translation.

  Notes Any gibberish word might be translated as 'banana' of course, but that is not the idea of the exercise. For your translation, use the first thing that comes to mind. You may be inspired by the whole sound of the word (it might sound like something 'known'), or parts of the word (only the vowels, or only the consonants), or by the intonation of the 'giver', or even by her expression or body language.

  Gibberish Expert

  How it Works One player is an expert on a subject, often provided by the audience. Furthermore, he's from a foreign country (perhaps also supplied by the audience). The expert gives a lecture in Gibberish and a second player translates.

  Variations Have the expert tell a story, instead of giving a lecture.

  Just Gibberish

  How it Works Play a scene, completely in gibberish, no translations provided. The scene should be perfectly clear to the audience - we should be perfectly able to translate every gibberish sentence, and the story should make sense.

  Notes

  • This will only work if the stories are extremely simple, and if the platform is made clear right from the start.
  • Some players tend to
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    collaboration
  • Reluctance
  • Zero creativity
  This is where Improvisational Comedy can help. I needed a break from the “Corporate Rat Race”, so I enrolled at The Players Workshop of The Second City to learn Improvisational Comedy. While attending the classes, I gained some valuable insights into human behavior that could improve and enhance Trust and Teamwork in the workplace by utilizing Improv Games and Exercises. One of my favorites, which I still use today, is Gibberish.

  Gibberish is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as: gib‧ber‧ish /ˈ-/ Pronunciation Key [jib-er-ish, gib-] –noun

  1) Meaningless or unintelligible talk or writing.

  2) Talk or writing containing many obscure, pretentious, or technical words.

  —Synonyms 1. nonsense, foolishness, babble, gabble, drivel, gobbledegook.

  Gibberish Improv Exercises

  Gibberish Commands

  How it Works Players start in pairs. Have each play issue a command to her partner, in Gibberish. Players can't move on until the command is understood and executed. Simple things will do, like 'pass me the salt, please' . The idea is not to mime the command, but to try and make it obvious for the way the command is issued, and the environment that has been set.

  Translate Gibberish

  How it Works This is best played with an odd number of players. Everyone in a circle. The first player gives a gibberish word to her right neighbor, who translates the word. The next player provides the next gibberish word, and so on.

  Variations The receiver can provide both the translation, and a new gibberish word. You may want to add the origin of the language along with the translation.

  Notes Any gibberish word might be translated as 'banana' of course, but that is not the idea of the exercise. For your translation, use the first thing that comes to mind. You may be inspired by the whole sound of the word (it might sound like something 'known'), or parts of the word (only the vowels, or only the consonants), or by the intonation of the 'giver', or even by her expression or body language.

  Gibberish Expert

  How it Works One player is an expert on a subject, often provided by the audience. Furthermore, he's from a foreign country (perhaps also supplied by the audience). The expert gives a lecture in Gibberish and a second player translates.

  Variations Have the expert tell a story, instead of giving a lecture.

  Just Gibberish

  How it Works Play a scene, completely in gibberish, no translations provided. The scene should be perfectly clear to the audience - we should be perfectly able to translate every gibberish sentence, and the story should make sense.

  Notes

  • This will only work if the stories are extremely simple, and if the platform is made clear right from the start.
  • Some players tend to
    Success at Work : People Skills : Dealing with New Ideas
    Re-organizing, re-engineering, re-training, down-sizing, outsourcing, changing-changing-changing. Organizations today think they need to be constantly changing or they will perish. Corporate leaders worship at the alter of new ideas where the motto is, "Any new idea is a good idea".Every organization operates based on work-flow and processes. The reason the current processes are in effect is because over the years, many different ways of doing things have been tried, and the organization adapted the current processes because they work.There's nothing wrong with new ideas. Business conditions are always changing. New competitors appear, new regulations are enacted, and new technologies become available. The smart organization needs to adjust and innovate. But here's the problem - 99 per
    se, foolishness, babble, gabble, drivel, gobbledegook.

    Gibberish Improv Exercises

    Gibberish Commands

    How it Works Players start in pairs. Have each play issue a command to her partner, in Gibberish. Players can't move on until the command is understood and executed. Simple things will do, like 'pass me the salt, please' . The idea is not to mime the command, but to try and make it obvious for the way the command is issued, and the environment that has been set.

    Translate Gibberish

    How it Works This is best played with an odd number of players. Everyone in a circle. The first player gives a gibberish word to her right neighbor, who translates the word. The next player provides the next gibberish word, and so on.

    Variations The receiver can provide both the translation, and a new gibberish word. You may want to add the origin of the language along with the translation.

    Notes Any gibberish word might be translated as 'banana' of course, but that is not the idea of the exercise. For your translation, use the first thing that comes to mind. You may be inspired by the whole sound of the word (it might sound like something 'known'), or parts of the word (only the vowels, or only the consonants), or by the intonation of the 'giver', or even by her expression or body language.

    Gibberish Expert

    How it Works One player is an expert on a subject, often provided by the audience. Furthermore, he's from a foreign country (perhaps also supplied by the audience). The expert gives a lecture in Gibberish and a second player translates.

    Variations Have the expert tell a story, instead of giving a lecture.

    Just Gibberish

    How it Works Play a scene, completely in gibberish, no translations provided. The scene should be perfectly clear to the audience - we should be perfectly able to translate every gibberish sentence, and the story should make sense.

    Notes

    • This will only work if the stories are extremely simple, and if the platform is made clear right from the start.
    • Some players tend to
      What Your Yellow Page Ad is Missing (Part 5 of 5)
      Have you looked at your Yellow Page ad recently? You know, the one you’ve had for years. Has it changed much? Is it getting all the customers you want? Are you really tracking the results? Perhaps you are doing everything you can or don’t have the time to do anything at all. The day will come when the rep calls to renew the ad and you should take a few moments to make sure it’s working hard for you. Besides a headline that excludes your name, unless it’s a brand-name, and a picture that ties back to this headline, have you given much thought to the copy? This is the critical area that can make or break a sale. And it’s probably missing from your current ad. So what should it contain?Start with the whole concept of the ad. It should fill a need and offer features and benefits. So a carpet clea
      iver can provide both the translation, and a new gibberish word. You may want to add the origin of the language along with the translation.

      Notes Any gibberish word might be translated as 'banana' of course, but that is not the idea of the exercise. For your translation, use the first thing that comes to mind. You may be inspired by the whole sound of the word (it might sound like something 'known'), or parts of the word (only the vowels, or only the consonants), or by the intonation of the 'giver', or even by her expression or body language.

      Gibberish Expert

      How it Works One player is an expert on a subject, often provided by the audience. Furthermore, he's from a foreign country (perhaps also supplied by the audience). The expert gives a lecture in Gibberish and a second player translates.

      Variations Have the expert tell a story, instead of giving a lecture.

      Just Gibberish

      How it Works Play a scene, completely in gibberish, no translations provided. The scene should be perfectly clear to the audience - we should be perfectly able to translate every gibberish sentence, and the story should make sense.

      Notes

      • This will only work if the stories are extremely simple, and if the platform is made clear right from the start.
      • Some players tend to
        Complete Customer Information in the Palm of Your Hand
        Feature-Rich SoftwareSage SalesLogix Mobile gives you access to contact and sales data at the click of the button. Whether you’re in the field or in the office, you have the same terrific information at your fingertips. Sage SalesLogix Mobile replicates familiar Sage SalesLogix functions on your mobile device. This gives you real-time delivery, rich functionality, and the unbeatable convenience of wireless.With SalesLogix Mobile, you don’t have to cart around stacks of papers, or drive all the way back to the office for updates. Just click on your handheld device, and review detailed customer history. Check information on previous sales, customer support tickets and issue resolution records. Features such as handwriting recognition, speedy lookups, filtered searches, and one-click
        country (perhaps also supplied by the audience). The expert gives a lecture in Gibberish and a second player translates.

        Variations Have the expert tell a story, instead of giving a lecture.

        Just Gibberish

        How it Works Play a scene, completely in gibberish, no translations provided. The scene should be perfectly clear to the audience - we should be perfectly able to translate every gibberish sentence, and the story should make sense.

        Notes

        • This will only work if the stories are extremely simple, and if the platform is made clear right from the start.
        • Some players tend to do this as a scene without words, but that is not the idea of the exercise.

        Improvisation Strengthens Trust in the Workplace

        When you hear the word “improvisation”, many people think about the funny antics of comedy improv that they have seen on a television show like “Whose Line is it Anyway” or at a nightclub. Most people are unaware of the power of improvisation and its ability to bring positive results to even the most negative of people. The guiding principles of improvisation are all based in Trust and Cooperation. By trying these gibberish exercises in the work environment, you can have fun and increase the level of Trust and Teamwork.

        (Improv Games Compiled from Improv Eneyclopedia)