What I Like about That
What I Like About That is an applied exercise in which participants respond to each other's contributions by naming a specific thing they genuinely appreciate about what was just said or done, training affirmative listening, specific positive feedback, and the habit of building on rather than redirecting ideas.
Structure
The Setup
Participants sit or stand in a group. One person makes a statement, proposes an idea, or tells a short story.
The Response
The next participant responds with 'What I like about that is...' followed by a specific observation about the contribution. The response names something concrete, not a generic affirmation.
The Chain
Each subsequent participant builds on the previous response or offers their own 'What I like about that is...' to any earlier contribution. The facilitator may redirect if responses become generic.
How to Teach It
Objectives
What I Like About That trains the cognitive habit of seeking value in contributions before evaluating them. Specificity is required: 'I like that' is not the exercise. 'What I like about that is that it reframes the problem as an opportunity' is.
Facilitation Notes
The exercise is most useful when contributions are genuinely challenging to find value in. Pair it with difficult or unusual proposals to stretch the affirmative capacity.
Common Pitfalls
Responses become hollow: 'What I like about that is that it's creative.' Push participants toward specific, earned observations.
In Applied Settings
Innovation and Ideation Workshops
What I Like About That is used to establish an affirmative culture in brainstorming sessions, training participants to find potential before finding problems and preventing premature evaluation of ideas.
Feedback and Review Culture
Organizations use the exercise to build the habit of specific positive feedback as a precursor to constructive criticism, improving the quality and reception of feedback in performance contexts.
Meeting Facilitation
Facilitators use the protocol in meetings to shift the energy from critique-first to build-first, extending the generative phase before analysis begins.
Worth Reading
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Applied Improvisation
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The Applied Improvisation Mindset
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Playing Along
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Yes, And
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Putting Improv to Work
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Related Exercises
What I Like About That Is
What I Like About That Is is an applied affirmation exercise in which participants practice completing the sentence 'What I like about that is...' in response to ideas, proposals, or contributions, training the cognitive and verbal habit of specific positive engagement before evaluation.
Gratitude
Gratitude exercises are structured activities for expressing and receiving appreciation in group settings, drawn from applied improvisation practice. The exercises use improv principles -- specificity, presence, and full acknowledgment of another person -- to make gratitude concrete rather than perfunctory. Participants practice directing genuine, specific appreciation toward named individuals and receiving that appreciation without deflecting or minimizing it. The exercises build positive culture, strengthen interpersonal bonds, and establish relational norms that support collaborative work.
Thank You
Thank You is an applied exercise in which participants practice expressing genuine gratitude to one another in a structured group setting. The exercise builds appreciation habits, strengthens interpersonal connection, and creates psychological safety through the ritual acknowledgment of positive contributions.
Feedback
Feedback is an applied improv exercise in which participants construct conversations and letters one word at a time, practicing the principles of constructive feedback delivery and reception through a collaborative word-at-a-time structure. The constraint removes defensive preparation and forces participants to co-create the feedback conversation in real time, revealing the habits, avoidances, and instincts that govern how feedback is actually given and received in professional settings.
I Like. I Wish. What If?
I Like, I Wish, What If is an applied feedback framework drawn from design thinking practice and used in applied improv contexts as a structured tool for giving constructive, forward-looking feedback on work in progress. Rather than open-ended critique, feedback is organized into three channels: what is working (I Like), what could be developed (I Wish), and generative possibilities (What If). The framework balances appreciation and aspiration, reducing the defensiveness that unstructured feedback often produces.
Identify Reactions
Identify Reactions exercises develop awareness of habitual patterns of response to specific stimuli -- the automatic emotional and behavioral reactions that occur before conscious reflection. Participants notice what triggers a response, what the response consists of physically and emotionally, and what space exists between stimulus and reaction. The exercises draw on mindfulness and applied improv practice to build the capacity to choose a response rather than enact a habitual one.
The Lineage
Explore the schools and structures that influenced or evolved from What I Like about That.
Applied Improvisation (Dudeck & McClure)
How to Reference This Page
The Improv Archive. (2026). What I Like about That. Retrieved September 29, 2026, from https://improvarchive.org/exercises/what-i-like-about-that
The Improv Archive. "What I Like about That." The Improv Archive, 2026. https://improvarchive.org/exercises/what-i-like-about-that.
The Improv Archive. "What I Like about That." The Improv Archive, 2026, https://improvarchive.org/exercises/what-i-like-about-that. Accessed September 29, 2026.
The Improv Archive is a systemically maintained repository. The archive itself acts as the corporate author.