Facilitate a biweekly improv club for practicing difficult conversations.

Run a biweekly online improv club where participants practice navigating difficult conversations using improvisation exercises. Sessions use improv techniques like "Yes, and," role reversal, and scene work to help people experiment with responses to politically charged, emotionally loaded, or otherwise tricky real-world situations. Humor is a key tool here. The point is to loosen people up so they can try things they would not try in a real conversation, laugh at the awkwardness, and build flexibility without the stakes of an actual argument.

The goal is not to rehearse correct answers. It is to build the confidence and flexibility to stay in a conversation instead of shutting down or blowing up.

Sessions happen every other week. On off-weeks, you will share a prompt, exercise idea, or relevant resource in the club's Discord channel to keep participants thinking between meetings. You will also use off-weeks to plan upcoming sessions.

The group caps at 10 participants. If the group grows beyond what one person can handle, we will recruit a co-facilitator.

Essential skills:

• Comfort facilitating group activities where things do not go as planned
• Willingness to try improv exercises yourself, not just direct them
• Ability to read a room and adjust exercises based on group energy and comfort level
• Comfort with politically and emotionally charged subject matter

NOT required:

• Formal improv training or performance experience
• Expertise in conflict resolution or mediation

Operative must provide:

• An account with the digital platform that will host the club meetings
• Preparation of exercises and prompts for each session
• Between-session engagement in the Discord channel on off-weeks
• Promotion and participant recruitment for the club

MFU will provide:

• An interest form on the MFU website to help identify the best times for the meetings
• A scheduling app on the MFU website that allows people to sign up for the club
• A channel on the MFU Discord server for meetings and between-session discussion
• A paid Braver Angels account, if needed, for access to their depolarization workshop materials
• Help locating improv exercises and conversation resources, if needed
• Promotion and participant recruitment for the club

You are welcome to use these sources to help you get started:

• Braver Angels runs structured workshops designed to help people communicate across political divides. Their exercises and frameworks are a strong foundation for session planning. MFU can provide a paid account if needed.
• SessionLab's improv games collection includes exercises organized by group size and purpose, with clear facilitation instructions. Many work well in virtual settings.
• TeamBuilding.com's virtual improv games covers exercises specifically adapted for video calls, including workarounds for lag and limited body language.
• UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center publishes research-backed strategies for navigating political conversations with family and other close relationships.

For general questions, you can message your handler through your dashboard, contact @Owlett on Discord, or email info@myflyinguniversity.org.

If you have an idea for a different approach to all or part of this mission, please feel free to reach out before you get started!