Improvisation is a Youth Work Superpower!

On-Demand Webinar
Recorded on Thursday, August 26, 2021
1.5 hour training
FREE for YIPA members
100% approval rating
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Learners' Own Words

"This was a great training, lots of fun to learn new ideas and techniques to engage with youth in a relaxed way that also promotes connection and trust."

"The trainer's passion, engagement, expertise and vulnerability was quite refreshing."

"I particularly enjoyed how the facilitator emphasized and focused on making the youth feel comfortable during proposed exercises. Inclusion was very clear."

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Your Training Description

Youth workers need to be able to think on their feet. Learning improvisation techniques will give you all the practice you need. Build your self-confidence for dealing with challenging and unexpected moments by practicing improvisation. Incorporate improv into your programming to foster cooperation, inspire creativity, and strengthen problem-solving. Improvisation techniques are a fun and engaging way to connect and reinforce real trust in your relationships with youth. Let yourself play with improv in this safe learning environment and see where it may take you.

Your Learning Objectives

Learn key elements of improvisation theory, methodology, and form to enable your use of improv in youth work
Understand the ways that improvisation can be used to develop youth programming and youth worker self-reflection practices
Explore exercises and games to demonstrate improv’s potential to encourage self-confidence, trust, creativity, and cooperation

Your Trainer

Nick Kleese is an educator who lives in St. Paul, MN. Born on a family farm in Southeast Iowa, he has since received a B.A. in English Education at the University of Iowa and a PhD in Literacy Education at the University of Minnesota. Nick has a passion for using improv as a tool for building self-awareness and trust. He has honed his skill performing improv comedy in a range of venues across Iowa City, Chicago, New York, and Minneapolis. He credits those improv adventures for helping him grow more comfortable working with young people in programming that ranges from children’s literature to nature immersion. He is committed to fostering confidence and trust in young people through creative expression.

Your Competency Focus Area

Each of YIPA’s trainings are designed around a broad framework of eight youth work competencies. The competency focus of this training is: COMMUNICATIONS.

Gain communication flexibility which allows you to develop healthy, productive work relationships, engage in collaborative problem solving with youth, and improve individual and group facilitation.

This training will count as 1.5 CE hours for most boards. Please contact your board directly with questions on submitting. You are encouraged to print or save this training information as a PDF for your records.