3 more tips to improve your improv classes and performances on zoom

My 3rd in the series about how to take advantage of the technology and make it part of the improv experience.
These three tips are easy and will guide you to more success with your improv on Zoom. To be fair, these tips will also help you with your zoom meetings.
If you haven't yet looked at my other improv videos you can see them at www.Improvgames.com
So much gratitude to everyone at BATS Improv in San Francisco. www.Improv.org A company I co-founded and am still active as a performer and coach.
There are two small mistakes in this video. Can you find them?
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Thank you again...and Play on!
William

[@jim-bobwilliams9848]

Really enjoying this series! Well done!

[@ImprovGames]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@mganapoler]

Another tip is for audio. Invest in a good mike that can be omni or bi-directional. These can cost as little as fifty bucks. Select this mike as your default and make sure it's plugged in. It's important to be heard as well as seen.

[@ImprovGames]

Thanks Martin!

[@shawnkinley1894]

Thanks for sharing the tips. Lots of discoveries going on. If you are playing a small voice scene, see the "creature" by looking directly into the lens. If you are hitting someone, move your hand/fist to completely obscure your lens And have the person being hit fall back. Kisses and romances. Move faces close to the lens. Have a person supply music in the back of some scenes as you would from a sound improviser.

[@ImprovGames]

Thank you Shawn. Good tips. We've also been playing with handing props back and forth between players. Both players have a newspaper...one player moves the newspaper to the camera and the other player moves back with their newspaper. So many discoveries. Thank you again.

[@BillChott]

Thanks so much. Using numbers as labels helps to revive some group games I dismissed because I felt they wouldn't translate via Zoom. Love it!

[@ImprovGames]

Thank you for the comment. It is a game changer. Have you made other discoveries? Play on!

[@guidomateri8543]

Thanks for sharing, William. Here is my tip: there is the possibility to switch camera too, if you have more than one camera; if you don’t, you may use your phone as a camera (there are many apps that allow you so).

[@ImprovGames]

OMG - Guido. Thank you for this. Now I have to find one of those apps and experiment with how to use it for a performance or class. Have you used it for a class or performance?

[@guidomateri8543]

Not yet (just during a workshop I used it for moving some puppets). But it’s a nice possibility to be explored ;-)

[@BetterWithImprov]

I did not know about stabilizing the connection. Thanks, William! Regarding Virtual Backgrounds, you can use .mp4 videos for moving backgrounds. They offer a good selection on Canva.com for free. You can Google search them as well. Have fun trying that.

[@ImprovGames]

Thanks Keith. I have resisted moving backgrounds because I find them distracting.....except when I'm in a fun location (IRL). And ...I'll take a look at Canva...I have used them for the Thumbnails.

[@JuTrWolff]

Thank you so much for these! So helpful

[@ImprovGames]

Glad you like them! I'm working on another video with a few more things that are possible.

[@B2000Z]

I was surprised you can create 'breakout rooms' for pairs or threes.

[@ImprovGames]

Yes for classes. I've been thinking about a long form format that allows the audience to follow characters into a breakout room or stay in the main room. Hmmm...