Training to Imagine by Kat Koppett
Stylus Publishing (2001)

Review – Cathy McNally

I adore “Training to Imagine.” My copy has been nearly dog-eared, underlined and highlighted to death! I have probably read it five times. It’s a fantastic introduction to the concepts behind improv in training and Kat goes through the trouble of extracting the principles of improv (trust, spontaneity, listening, etc) and spelling out the connection between them and workplace goals and values. Games are listed alphabetically in easy to follow format with lots of variations and tips to make the game adaptable to different learning purposes. Each game is followed by suggested debrief questions that really work. And to make the book even more usable, a chart in the back organizes games by objective and teaching value. If I could just make one change I would love to learn more about how Kat gets shy or challenging groups to do some of the more advanced games. Maybe in the a future edition – or even better, another book - she’ll give us some tips on really working her games with different types of groups.

Whenever I do an improv based training session, I depend heavily on what I learned in Training in Imagine. And of course I always give Kat credit. Speaking of giving credit, Kat always lists the source of the games she uses, an admirable and all too uncommon practice.

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