Free guides, articles, and insights from our team of facilitators. Practical ideas you can use with your team today.
Explore the research from Harvard, Stanford, and MIT that explains why experiential learning builds stronger teams than traditional training.
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Everything you need to know before booking an applied improv workshop. Questions to ask, what to expect, and how to prepare your team.
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Insights on leadership, communication, and team dynamics from our facilitators.
Applied improv takes the principles of improvisational theater — listening, adaptability, collaboration — and puts them to work in the professional world. No performance required.
Experiential team building is a specific, research-backed methodology — not a synonym for 'fun team event.' Here's what it actually means, why it works, and what to look for when evaluating programs.
Yes, improv training works—and the research backs it up. Here's what applied improv actually teaches, why it outperforms typical team building, and when it falls short.
Not all team building activities are created equal. Here's what separates the ones that actually change how your team works from the ones that produce a shared memory and nothing more.
Improv training builds stronger teams by developing the real-time skills that matter most: listening deeply, adapting quickly, and trusting colleagues under pressure.
Most presentation training teaches technique. CSz Portland teaches presence. Here's why improv-based presentation skills training creates more confident, authentic communicators — and how it works.
Eric Reveno, Associate Head Coach of Men's Basketball at Stanford, on what the plus/minus stat teaches us about taking responsibility for outcomes — on the court and at work.
A software developer shares how improv training from CSz Portland helped him stay calm, focused, and effective during a high-pressure three-hour live coding session with senior colleagues.
A Forbes article on a Fortune 50 leadership program reveals what we've known for years: community-building first, then coaching, produces dramatically better results — and CSz was part of it.
Mac Bishop, CEO and Founder of Wool&Prince, writes about his company's experience with our Basic Improv Skills Workshop — and how it ended up being one of the most rewarding team experiences in ten years.
In the interest of full transparency, here are ten real disadvantages of using applied improv for corporate training — and our honest responses to each one.
Curated articles, podcasts, and videos on applied improv, leadership, and team dynamics from around the web.
Patrick Short on The TeamBonding Podcast — how humor and improv help teams build trust, spark creativity, and stay connected.
Jordana Cole's TedX talk on recharging your inner improviser and leading bravely into the unknown.
Hidden Brain Podcast: Researcher Dannagal Young on uncertainty vs. certainty, and how these traits may divide or unite us.
CSz Portland's Ruth Jenkins discusses improv in speech language pathology, her CSz origins, and more.
Applied improv colleagues Gary Ware and Jeff Henry on how play creates psychological safety and reduces burnout.
Research shows that just 20 minutes of improv a day increases creativity and reduces social anxiety.
Jordana Cole (formerly CSz) on how improv principles transform L&D. Includes a link to her master's thesis on improv in the workplace.
CSz Portland's Andrew Berkowitz (also TeamSnap's founder) on how improv shapes how his company operates.
Just 20 minutes of improv theater can foster creativity and confidence, and help with anxiety and tolerance of uncertainty.
A practical Harvard Business Review framework for achieving work-life balance through ongoing adjustments.
Tiffany Crotty & Patrick Short of CSz Portland on how improv principles improve relationships of all kinds.
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