exercise · all tools

Action Syllables

Depth · what it can open○○○1 — informational
Holding · facilitation1 — host
Trust · group readinessany
Disclosure · what is sharednone

Each person says their name one syllable at a time, giving every syllable its own gesture, and the group repeats it back. Each new person adds theirs and the group then runs the whole accumulated sequence from the start, so the names arrive as movement as much as sound.

Practical

Time
min
Group
? · large-group
Settings
in-person
Mechanisms
attention-training, behavioral-rehearsal, somatic-awareness
Change scope
state · repeatable

Instructions

Where
improvencyclopedia.org/games/Action_Syllables.html Improv Encyclopedia, open
Availability
Open online — published at the link, free to read

Source link checked 1 Sep 2026 — reachable

This directory describes and points home; the instructions stay with the people who made them.

Origin

Unattributed; compiled by Improv Encyclopedia — Improvisational theatre

In this directory via Improv Encyclopedia

status: checked · added 2026-08-31