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.
Structure
Setup
Participants pair up. One partner selects a short news article, press release, or written passage. This partner will read aloud, serving as the Reader. The other partner is the Responder.
Progression
The Reader begins reading the passage aloud but drops every noun, pausing and pointing at the Responder at each gap. The Responder immediately says the first word that comes to mind. The Reader incorporates the word and continues reading without commentary or reaction to the substitution.
The result is a recognizable story structure filled with unexpected content. A news report about city council proceedings might become a story about a penguin debating spaghetti policy. The exercise continues through the entire passage.
Afterward, the pair discusses the experience. The Responder reflects on what it felt like to supply words without time to think. The Reader reflects on the challenge of maintaining flow while incorporating surprises.
Variations
A verb version drops verbs instead of nouns, producing different surreal effects. An advanced version drops both nouns and verbs. A group version has the Reader point at different participants around a circle for each missing word.
How to Teach It
Objectives
Pointing Story develops rapid verbal association, comfort with spontaneity, and the ability to contribute without self-editing. The exercise demonstrates that the brain can generate useful material much faster than the conscious mind believes possible.
How to Explain It
"Your partner is going to read a story out loud, but every noun will be missing. When they point at you, say the first word that pops into your head. Do not try to be clever or funny. Speed is more important than quality."
Scaffolding
Start with passages that have frequent but simple nouns, producing a manageable pace. As pairs gain confidence, use denser passages or increase reading speed to push the Responder past their comfort zone.
Common Pitfalls
The most common issue is Responders who hesitate, trying to think of a good word. Coach them that the first word is always the right word. Hesitation breaks the flow and increases self-consciousness.
A second pitfall is Readers who react to the substituted words with laughter or commentary. The Reader must maintain a neutral, journalistic delivery regardless of what the Responder says. This deadpan quality amplifies the comedy.
In Applied Settings
Pointing Story is used in creativity workshops and communication training to demonstrate how quickly the brain generates associations when given permission to be imperfect. Facilitators use the exercise to lower the barrier to participation in brainstorming sessions, showing that speed and volume of ideas matter more than immediate quality. The exercise also builds comfort with public contribution in group settings.
Skills Developed
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What If is an applied exercise in which participants generate hypothetical scenarios by completing the prompt 'What if...' and then exploring the implications of each scenario seriously, training divergent thinking, assumption challenging, and the capacity to follow speculative threads to useful conclusions.
Last Word Response
Last Word Response is an applied improv listening exercise in which each participant must begin their response with the last word spoken by the previous participant. The constraint enforces genuine end-of-utterance listening by making it physically impossible to begin a response until the previous speaker has completed their sentence. The exercise is used in applied improv to develop active listening skills in workplace and organizational settings.
Here's What I Heard
Here's What I Heard is an applied listening exercise in which one partner speaks briefly about something real -- a current situation, a concern, a recent experience -- and the listener reflects back what they heard in their own words. The speaker then responds to the reflection, noting what the listener captured accurately and what was missed or distorted. The exercise develops active listening, accurate paraphrasing, and the discipline of genuinely receiving another person's communication before responding.
Random Words
Random Words is an applied improvisation exercise from Joseph A. Keefe's Improv Yourself in which partners each place ten dissimilar, unrelated words in a random pattern on paper and then compose an original story, poem, or monologue incorporating all ten words. The exercise builds the creative muscle of forging connections between unrelated concepts under constraint.
Buzzwords, Acronyms, and Jargon
Participants identify and replace workplace jargon with clear language, improving accessibility and understanding in communication.
Alphabet Soup
Alphabet Soup is a verbal exercise in which players contribute to a group story or conversation while each player's contribution must contain a word beginning with the next letter of the alphabet. The game builds verbal flexibility and listening within a shared narrative frame.
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). Pointing Story. Retrieved March 19, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/pointing-story
The Improv Archive. "Pointing Story." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/pointing-story.
The Improv Archive. "Pointing Story." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/pointing-story. Accessed March 19, 2026.
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