Goal
To understand how mirroring impacts our conversation with other people.
Level of Difficulty:
Beginner
Participants:
Pairs of Two
Instructions:
Break up into pairs of two. The entire group should be given a common topic to discuss in their pairs. This should be a simple, agreeable, topic such as “what interested you in this workshop” or “what are you doing this weekend”.
The point is, we don’t focus on the conversation.
As we hold our conversation with our partner, we should conciously seek to mirror each other’s body language. How is our conversation partner sitting? Where are their arms? Are they open or closed with their language?
Conversations should last 3-5 minutes. During that time, pay attention to who, if anyone, is leading the conversation. Who, if anyone, is leading the body language?
Practical Application:
I call this Conversational Ouija because on a long enough conversation, it is difficult to tell who first started a particular body movement. This is because our conversations feed off one another. How does our conversation shift as we understand more about how we and our partners are positioned?
Collaborative Improv 