Point of View Post-It Notes
Point of View Post-It Notes is a scene exercise in which performers receive sticky notes with written character perspectives, attitudes, or emotional stances that they must embody throughout an improvised scene. The exercise separates point of view from plot, training performers to let a strong perspective drive their choices rather than relying on narrative invention.
Structure
Setup
The facilitator prepares sticky notes in advance, each bearing a short point-of-view statement: "Everything reminds me of my childhood," "I am secretly terrified," "I think I am better than everyone here," "I just want to be liked." Each performer receives one note before a scene begins. They read it privately.
Progression
Two or three performers begin a scene from a simple suggestion. Each performer filters every line and reaction through the point of view written on their note. The performer whose note reads "I think I am better than everyone here" finds ways to condescend, correct, and position themselves above the other characters without ever stating the attitude directly.
The scene runs for three to five minutes. Afterward, the audience guesses each performer's point of view. The facilitator reveals the notes and leads a discussion about how each perspective shaped the scene.
Variations
A rotation version gives performers new notes mid-scene, forcing an immediate shift in perspective. Another variation provides two notes per performer: one public attitude and one private contradiction, creating layered characters with visible tension between surface behavior and inner life.
How to Teach It
Objectives
Point of View Post-It Notes teaches performers to play from a consistent internal perspective rather than inventing plot points. The exercise demonstrates that strong scenes emerge from characters who want different things and see the world differently, not from clever premises.
How to Explain It
"You are going to receive a sticky note with a point of view written on it. This is how your character sees the world. Everything you say and do in the scene should come from this perspective. Do not announce it. Let the audience discover it through your behavior."
Scaffolding
Begin with bold, easily playable perspectives: extreme emotions, clear attitudes, obvious wants. As performers gain skill, introduce subtler and more contradictory viewpoints that require more nuanced performance.
Common Pitfalls
The most frequent issue is performers who state their point of view directly rather than embodying it. "I am so scared right now" is telling. Finding reasons to avoid every suggestion the scene partner makes is showing.
A second issue is performers who abandon their point of view when the scene gets interesting. Remind them that the constraint is not a limitation but a source of material. The most interesting moments come from filtering unexpected situations through a fixed perspective.
Worth Reading
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Related Exercises
Point of View
Point of View is a scene exercise in which players perform or re-perform the same event from the perspective of different characters, revealing how subjective experience shapes what each participant notices, values, and remembers. The exercise trains character consistency, empathy, and the improv principle that every scene contains multiple valid truths simultaneously -- none of which is objectively correct.
Group Scene Point of View
Group Scene Point of View is a scene exercise in which a large group performs a single scene, with each player contributing from a consistent character perspective. Rather than multiple characters pursuing separate agendas, all participants inhabit roles within the same shared reality and must maintain their individual points of view while serving the scene collectively. The exercise develops the ability to hold a consistent character perspective across a complex group environment.
Performance of an Audience
Performance of an Audience is an applied improvisation exercise that explores the reciprocal relationship between performer and spectator. Participants experience both roles, discovering how the quality of attention an audience gives shapes the performer's experience and how conscious, engaged witnessing differs from passive spectating. The exercise builds awareness that presence and attention are active contributions to any group interaction.
Pointing Story
Pointing Story is an applied improvisation exercise from Joseph A. Keefe's Improv Yourself in which a partner reads a news story aloud, omitting each noun. They point to the other player, who must instantly supply a replacement word. The resulting story becomes a surreal, often comic narrative that trains rapid association and the willingness to contribute without planning.
Portrait
Portrait is an applied improvisation exercise from The Applied Improvisation Mindset in which one participant poses while others describe what they observe. The exercise develops skills of attention, descriptive precision, and the ability to notice details without projecting assumptions onto another person.
Empathy
Empathy is a category of applied improv exercises designed to develop perspective-taking and emotional understanding of others' experiences, viewpoints, and situations. The exercises use improvisational role-play, embodiment, and listening structures to move participants beyond intellectual acknowledgment of another person's experience toward felt, experiential understanding. They are used in organizational, educational, and therapeutic settings to build the capacity for genuine human connection across difference.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Point of View Post-It Notes. Retrieved September 28, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/point-of-view-post-it-notes
The Improv Archive. "Point of View Post-It Notes." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/point-of-view-post-it-notes.
The Improv Archive. "Point of View Post-It Notes." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/point-of-view-post-it-notes. Accessed September 28, 2026.
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