“Yes, and …”

Exercise 5 · A short improv drill — another way to accept offers

At a glance

Time	~6 minutes (two short rounds)
Group size	Any. Works in pairs.
Format	Pairs, same topic, two contrasting rounds
Materials	A timer
You will need to	Hold students to the opening words (“No, but …” / “Yes, and …”)

Why this exercise

“Yes, and …” is another case of accepting offers (Exercise 1): you receive what your partner puts into the space and build on it — only now in words rather than gesture. An offer is any idea a partner adds; to accept it is to take it in and add to it (“Yes, and”), rather than to block it (“No, but”).

Run back-to-back, the two rounds make the difference unmistakable: blocking kills the shared idea, while accepting-and-building lets it grow into something neither partner could have planned alone.

How to run it

Same topic, two versions. The topic: plan a celebration for the end of this course together — no budget limits, no constraints. Speakers use only declarative sentences and do not ask questions.

Round A (2 min) — “No, but …” Every response must begin with these words. “Let’s rent a boat.” — “No, but the weather’s unreliable.” — “No, but a picnic is cheaper.”
Round B (3–5 min) — “Yes, and …” Same pair, same topic. “Let’s rent a boat.” — “Yes, and we could invite the whole cohort.” — “Yes, and someone should bring music.” Importantly, do not negate your partner with “No, but,” “Yes, but,” etc. Build on what you just heard.

Alternative. Have each student make a real declarative sentence (e.g., “the light in the corner is flickering,” “I sit on the left side of the class”). Start with one student’s sentence using only “Yes, and …” — allow yourself to be foolish, but be as fast as possible: say “Yes, and …,” then give the turn to the other side.

Debrief

A few minutes, in plenary. Ask:

How did the room sound and feel different under “No, but” versus “Yes, and”?
As the speaker, what happened to your ideas when your partner blocked them? When they built on them?
Where in your work do you default to “No, but” — and what would “Yes, and” open up?

Teaching adaptations

Large lecture (100+): Runs at adjacent seats with no rotation. The drill is loud and energizing — a good note to end a large session on.
Online (synchronous): Two volunteers can model each round first in the main room, then send everyone to breakout pairs.
By course type: In negotiation, debrief “Yes, and” as a route to integrative, expand-the-pie options; in teams / innovation, tie it to building on others’ ideas rather than evaluating them first.

What the research says

The “Yes, and / No, but” contrast has been studied directly: Seppänen, Makkonen, and Tiippana (2025) had pairs run “Yes, and” (acceptance) versus “Yes, but” (rejection) exchanges and measured participants’ physiology and self-reported stress, isolating the effect of that single two-word move. “Yes, and …” is only one component of a larger improvisational approach, whose broader benefits are better documented: introducing improv techniques to the management classroom (Moshavi, 2001), and links between improv training and divergent thinking, uncertainty tolerance, and well-being (Felsman, Gunawardena, & Seifert, 2020), as well as reduced social anxiety (Felsman, Seifert, & Himle, 2019).

References

Felsman, P., Gunawardena, S., & Seifert, C. M. (2020). Improv experience promotes divergent thinking, uncertainty tolerance, and affective well-being. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 35, 100632. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2020.100632
Felsman, P., Seifert, C. M., & Himle, J. A. (2019). The use of improvisational theater training to reduce social anxiety in adolescents. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 63, 111–117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aip.2018.12.001
Moshavi, D. (2001). “Yes and…”: Introducing improvisational theatre techniques to the management classroom. Journal of Management Education, 25(4), 437–449. https://doi.org/10.1177/105256290102500408
Seppänen, S., Makkonen, T., & Tiippana, K. M. (2025). The psychophysiology of “Yes, and” vs. “Yes, but”: The effect of acceptance, rejection and repetition during improvised dialogue [Preprint]. OSF. https://osf.io/fa9dh