Mediation may be viewed as performance art, in which every case has improvisational aspects. Here are key rules.
1. Don’t deny offers and ideas:
2. Say yes, and!:
3. Avoid questions:
4. Be aware of status:
5. Listen:
6. Spontaneity:
7. Make the other guy look good:
8. Tell a story:
9. Look beyond the words:
10. Don’t waffle:
11. Don’t try to be funny:
12. Make the active choice:
13. Enter and exit with purpose:
14. Create a game within a scene:
15. Allow ideas to form in the progress of the scene:
16. Understand pattern development:
Summary: Improvisation in traditional theater has relied on conflict to create drama. Improvisation in non-traditional theater requires agreement. Conflict for its own sake stops the action. Agreement allows the action to proceed, though it may take two or more opposing paths. What is fundamental is the relationship between the opposing characters.
