What if the best leaders are really just skilled improvisers? In this episode, Jude speaks with Kirsten Henning about how the same skills that make a great scene partner - adaptability, empathy, and knowing when to step back - are exactly what it takes to lead a team.

*Connect with Kirsten - Website, LinkedIn

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

Improv IRL goes live! Jude takes the podcast to the stage at the Global Improvisation Initiative conference in Portland, OR. She is joined by applied improvisers Bobbi Block, Nicola Pauling, and Brad Robertson for a lively mix of improv games and real conversation about what it means to activate the possible.

*Connect with the guests!

Bobbi Block - Website, Yes and Nature Collaborative, Tongue & Groove Spontaneous Theater

Nicola Pauling - Website, Performance Coaching, LinkedIn

Brad Robertson - On Your Feet, LinkedIn

Study about morbid curosity: Pandemic practice: Horror fans and morbidly curious individuals are more psychologically resilient during the COVID-19 pandemic

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

How do we get better at feeling (and expressing) the full range of human emotion? In this episode, Jude speaks with psychiatrist Dr. Elaina DellaCava about using improv for personal development. They explore how improv lowers our defenses, strengthens emotional awareness, and helps us navigate big life transitions with more grace and joy.

*Connect with Elaina: Instagram, LinkedIn, Improvolution, Improv for Mental Health Workshop

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

How do we build trust with a room full of strangers? In this episode, Jude speaks with playwright Jack Canfora about what real creative collaboration requires, including the willingness to accept feedback and let go of being right. Together, they explore how truly listening to each other (and to the moment) can lead to transformative art.

*Connect with Jack - LinkedIn, Instagram. Listen to The Murderer Killings. Current production: The Vienna Lessons

Learn more: Collaboration Without Character? Improv Shows The Cracks by Mary Crossan

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

How do you find solidarity in a room full of strangers? In this episode, Jude speaks with Shari Hazlett, creator of the Social Justice Improv Project, about the surprising overlap between improv and activism. Together, they explore how sharing personal stories can move people from fear and apathy to empowerment and solution.

*Connect with Shari - Instagram, LinkedIn, Living Radio

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

What happens when the plan falls apart? In this episode, Jude speaks with Paul Z. Jackson about the complexity of life, and the psychological muscles we need when it refuses to cooperate. Together, they explore how improv can help us respond with more creativity and resilience when uncertainty throws everything off course.

*Connect with Paul - Website, LinkedIn, Book: Easy, Book: 58½ Ways to Improvise in Training

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

What happens when people don't feel safe enough to speak up? In this episode, Jude speaks with Melissa Dinwiddie, author of Innovation at Work, about psychological safety, perfectionism, and the hidden costs of staying silent in collaborative spaces. Together, they explore how creating improv-inspired microexperiments can help teams build trust, encourage honest feedback, and create the conditions for innovation to thrive.

*Connect with Melissa - Website, LinkedIn, Book: Innovation at Work

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

How do you respond when everything changes in an instant? In this episode, Jude speaks with Mary Tyszkiewicz about her model called Heroic Improv. Together, the explore how improvisational skills can help people think clearly, adapt quickly, and work together during crises and disasters.

*Connect with Mary - Heroic Improv (booking workshops, in-person and virtual), LinkedIn

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

How do you stay grounded when things feel uncertain? In this episode, Jude speaks with Joel Veenstra, Department of Drama Chair at UC Irvine, about how improv helps us navigate tension, embrace discomfort, and let go of needing to control outcomes. Together, they explore how building tolerance for uncertainty can deepen presence, collaboration, and connection in all walks of life.

*Connect with Joel - LinkedIn, UC Irvine, Global Improvisation Initiative, BOOK: Working Together in Theatre: Collaboration and Leadership by Robert Cohen and Joel Veenstra

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn

How do you stay emotionally grounded in high stress moments? In this episode, Jude speaks with Justin Drogos and Jonathan Webb from Northwestern University. Together, they explore how improv builds emotional regulation, teaching clinicians not just what they feel, but how to express it with the right intensity in complex, real-world situations.

*Connect with Jonathan - LinkedIn, The Laughing Academy House Team, Cutthroat Improv (FB) / Cutthroat Improv (IG)

*Connect with Justin - LinkedIn

• Northwestern Physical Therapy & Human Movement Sciences - Instagram, Facebook, website

This podcast is brought to you by Lifestage. Lifestage designs and facilitates experiential workshops, classes, and presentations for professional and personal development. For more information, visit lifestage.me.

*Connect with Jude - Substack, Instagram, LinkedIn