Member since September 2021
The most impactful thing a speaker can do, is to facilitate an experience, and help participants to draw a correlation between the experience, what they learned and how they will apply it in their life. Because of this, each talk involves both interaction with the audience and personal reflection time.
In her interactive workshops and keynote addresses, Caitlin quickly quells the, “I could never do improv!” fear and makes accessible, the principles professional actors use, to be better communicators, teammates, and leaders.
Disarming and energetic, Caitlin opens up the most skeptical attendees, allowing them to learn through applying the Improv Approach, and even crack a smile along the way.
Caitlin Drago’s mission is to create cultures of empathy, creativity, and trust, beginning with how people communicate and connect.
She is an LA-based actor turned upstate NY-based certified leadership coach, trainer, facilitator, and author of Approaching Improv – Communication and Connection in Business and Beyond. Acting taught her to be present, self-aware, empathetic and to prioritize connection with others. Improv taught her to listen, trust her gut and deal with the unexpected in a positive and creative way. She currently works with leaders and teams to help them to listen to one another, communicate and connect, using improvisation as a platform for interactive learning.
Caitlin spent ten years studying improv at places like the nationally accredited Upright Citizen’s Brigade and has spent the last nine years working with leaders and their teams across industries, including, but not limited to higher education, hospitality, tech, marketing, healthcare and real estate. She’s been featured in Medium’s Authority Magazine, Rochester’s Democrat and Chronicle, a variety of podcasts and has spoken at various conferences, including the Talent Development Think Tank, the International TWA Conference, CNY SHRM, and DisruptHR Rochester.
Past clients include:
Gartner
Rochester Regional Health System
Starbucks
Fee Brothers
Signature Topics:
The Improv Approach to Communication & Connection
Improving Performance by Loving Your People
Follow the Fear - Speaking Up, Speaking Out and Owning Your Expertise
Improvising Through Difficult Conversations
Improv is such a powerful vehicle for both allowing people to notice their own tendencies when listening (or not listening) and empowering them to do better, which enables more empathetic communication, creative conversations and the building of trust. This is why, baked into every talk, is an interactive element to allow for this type of learning. I love hearing someone say, "I could never do IMPROV!" and then (with just the right amount of structure and support) promptly prove themselves wrong.
I once was working with a group of mostly engineers, yes engineers can and will do improv! Though the focus had been on interpersonal communication and company culture, at the end of the session, when reflecting on what they'd learned, one participant said, "I think you may have saved my marriage!"
After graduating with a degree in acting, I spent the duration of my 20s working and studying in Los Angeles. It was there that I fell in love with improvisation and the freedom and creativity that it fostered within the acting medium. The best part being, that one is encouraged to take risks, while feeling safe and supported by a team that they fully trust!
As I was nearing my 30s, and somehow not yet starring in a critically acclaimed sitcom, I decided it was time to move on. Understanding that we are all improvising every moment of every day, I wanted to bring that level of connection and collaboration to those outside of the acting profession. Now, back in my home state of New York, I work across industries, from small businesses to global organizations. I love seeing people learn to listen to one another, respect and value others’ ideas and build together toward a common goal.
Format: 45-60 minute keynote or workshop
This program is perfect for:
Leaders and teams looking to improve communication, collaboration and connection across their organization.
The audience will leave with:
-The foundational principles of improv, and how they can be implemented to make you a better communicator & collaborator.
-An understanding of common communication mistakes most people aren’t aware they’re making and how to solve them.
-Tools to increase your empathy and understanding, even when dealing with difficult people and situations.
We all like to think of ourselves as active listeners, open to considering another’s perspective to successfully collaborate toward shared goals. Why, then, do we often find ourselves struggling to effectively communicate? Why do we struggle to hear and be heard, despite that being precisely what we desire?
What if there was a simple, yet flexible, format through which we could improve not only our listening skills, but our ability to successfully ask for and get what we want? Perhaps it could even invoke our creativity and imagination and improve our relationships along the way.
Enter stage right: The Improv Approach.
The Improv Approach takes the principles of improv comedy and applies them to everyday interactions, empowering you to navigate even difficult conversations that might typically prove anything but mutually satisfying.
Format: 45 Minute Keynote, 1-hour workshop
This program is perfect for:
Customer service representatives
Customer service team leads & managers
The audience will leave with:
-Insights on how to use the basic principles of improvisation to facilitate collaborative conversations with your customers.
-An awareness of common communication mistakes most people aren’t aware are crushing your customer service and how to solve them.
-Tools to better communicate with your customers, allowing both parties to feel heard and respected.
Most folks don’t contact customer service on their best day. How then, does one communicate effectively with someone who is starting from a place of frustration? What if you had tools in your toolbelt to not only diffuse the situation, but to also allow the conversation to turn from frustration to collaboration? In this interactive keynote or workshop, we will do just that!
Format: 60 minute workshop
This program is perfect for:
Professional who are looking to improve their ability to have productive conversations, especially when it comes to tough conversations.
The audience will leave with:
-A basic understanding of improvisation and it's connection to effective communication.
-Having had an opportunity to use improv-based principles to have more productive and collaborative conversations, especially when the situation involves conflict.
-A personal development plan, defining how they will put lessons learned into practice in their professional and/or personal lives.
In this interactive workshop, participants will gain tools to have more productive conversations when working through challenges with colleagues. We will focus on active listening, being present, and focusing on a common goal, so that we can collaborate with our colleagues to come to a creative solution.
Format: 90-minute keynote, 90-minute workshop
This program is perfect for:
Folks who must be able to communicate effectively with people who have different communication styles than them.
CEOs
Managers
Team leads
Independent contributors
The audience will leave with:
-An understanding of the four DISC styles, what their primary style might be and how to identify these preferred communication styles in others.
-How to adapt one’s own style to better communicate with others.
Insights on how to use the basic principles of improvisation to facilitate collaborative conversations with others.
-An awareness of common communication mistakes most people aren’t aware are crushing your communication and how to solve them.
Self-awareness via the DISC is great, and the way that we take full advantage of the knowledge gained, is by learning how to adapt our own style to better communicate with others. We will not only learn about these styles and how to identify communication preferences in others, but we’ll also build on the basic principles of improvisation so that we can be better communicators in the “unscripted” moments of life.
Format: 45-60 minute keynote
This program is perfect for:
CEOs
Managers
Team leads
Individual contributors
The audience will leave with:
-Insights on how to use the basic principles of improvisation to facilitate creative and collaborative conversations with you teams.
-An awareness of common communication mistakes most people aren’t aware are crushing creativity and how to solve them.
-A new approach to engaging with your people in an authentic way, to bring out the best in them.
What gets in the way of creativity? Fear. When we are afraid, anything can be perceived as a threat and our creative brain goes offline to make space for our survival brain. This keynote provides tools to foster a space where folks can feel safe, access their creativity and better collaborate with one another. Let’s learn, grow and laugh along the way!
Format: 45-60 Minute Keynote
This program is perfect for:
CEOs
Managers
Team leads
The audience will leave with:
-Tree tips on how to create high-functioning and innovative teams.
-A new approach to engage with your people in an authentic way, to bring out the best in them.
-An awareness of common communication mistakes most people aren’t aware are crushing your culture and how to solve them.
-Ideas for how to create a loving culture of communication and collaboration.
Empathy, creativity and trust, these are all present within successful teams, and in healthy, loving relationships. So, what if love is, in fact, the key to productivity, retention and innovation? This loving environment does not happen on its own, we create it together, whether in the same physical space or not.
This is a transition to an environment where creativity, compassion, love and empathy drive teams, rather than ego. When we apply the improv approach to our organizations, we see an increase in productive conflict, we see colleagues helping one another freely, we see curiosity over judgement and we see teams of people who feel free to make mistakes without fearing the consequences of their failure. This results in improved productivity, retention and a positive (and might we add loving) workplace culture.
I once was working with a group of mostly engineers, yes engineers can and will do improv! Though the focus had been on interpersonal communication and company culture, at the end of the session, when reflecting on what they'd learned, one participant said, "I think you may have saved my marriage!"
After graduating with a degree in acting, I spent the duration of my 20s working and studying in Los Angeles. It was there that I fell in love with improvisation and the freedom and creativity that it fostered within the acting medium. The best part being, that one is encouraged to take risks, while feeling safe and supported by a team that they fully trust!
As I was nearing my 30s, and somehow not yet starring in a critically acclaimed sitcom, I decided it was time to move on. Understanding that we are all improvising every moment of every day, I wanted to bring that level of connection and collaboration to those outside of the acting profession. Now, back in my home state of New York, I work across industries, from small businesses to global organizations. I love seeing people learn to listen to one another, respect and value others’ ideas and build together toward a common goal.
Format: 45-60 minute keynote or workshop
This program is perfect for:
Leaders and teams looking to improve communication, collaboration and connection across their organization.
The audience will leave with:
-The foundational principles of improv, and how they can be implemented to make you a better communicator & collaborator.
-An understanding of common communication mistakes most people aren’t aware they’re making and how to solve them.
-Tools to increase your empathy and understanding, even when dealing with difficult people and situations.
We all like to think of ourselves as active listeners, open to considering another’s perspective to successfully collaborate toward shared goals. Why, then, do we often find ourselves struggling to effectively communicate? Why do we struggle to hear and be heard, despite that being precisely what we desire?
What if there was a simple, yet flexible, format through which we could improve not only our listening skills, but our ability to successfully ask for and get what we want? Perhaps it could even invoke our creativity and imagination and improve our relationships along the way.
Enter stage right: The Improv Approach.
The Improv Approach takes the principles of improv comedy and applies them to everyday interactions, empowering you to navigate even difficult conversations that might typically prove anything but mutually satisfying.
Format: 45 Minute Keynote, 1-hour workshop
This program is perfect for:
Customer service representatives
Customer service team leads & managers
The audience will leave with:
-Insights on how to use the basic principles of improvisation to facilitate collaborative conversations with your customers.
-An awareness of common communication mistakes most people aren’t aware are crushing your customer service and how to solve them.
-Tools to better communicate with your customers, allowing both parties to feel heard and respected.
Most folks don’t contact customer service on their best day. How then, does one communicate effectively with someone who is starting from a place of frustration? What if you had tools in your toolbelt to not only diffuse the situation, but to also allow the conversation to turn from frustration to collaboration? In this interactive keynote or workshop, we will do just that!
Format: 60 minute workshop
This program is perfect for:
Professional who are looking to improve their ability to have productive conversations, especially when it comes to tough conversations.
The audience will leave with:
-A basic understanding of improvisation and it's connection to effective communication.
-Having had an opportunity to use improv-based principles to have more productive and collaborative conversations, especially when the situation involves conflict.
-A personal development plan, defining how they will put lessons learned into practice in their professional and/or personal lives.
In this interactive workshop, participants will gain tools to have more productive conversations when working through challenges with colleagues. We will focus on active listening, being present, and focusing on a common goal, so that we can collaborate with our colleagues to come to a creative solution.
Format: 90-minute keynote, 90-minute workshop
This program is perfect for:
Folks who must be able to communicate effectively with people who have different communication styles than them.
CEOs
Managers
Team leads
Independent contributors
The audience will leave with:
-An understanding of the four DISC styles, what their primary style might be and how to identify these preferred communication styles in others.
-How to adapt one’s own style to better communicate with others.
Insights on how to use the basic principles of improvisation to facilitate collaborative conversations with others.
-An awareness of common communication mistakes most people aren’t aware are crushing your communication and how to solve them.
Self-awareness via the DISC is great, and the way that we take full advantage of the knowledge gained, is by learning how to adapt our own style to better communicate with others. We will not only learn about these styles and how to identify communication preferences in others, but we’ll also build on the basic principles of improvisation so that we can be better communicators in the “unscripted” moments of life.
Format: 45-60 minute keynote
This program is perfect for:
CEOs
Managers
Team leads
Individual contributors
The audience will leave with:
-Insights on how to use the basic principles of improvisation to facilitate creative and collaborative conversations with you teams.
-An awareness of common communication mistakes most people aren’t aware are crushing creativity and how to solve them.
-A new approach to engaging with your people in an authentic way, to bring out the best in them.
What gets in the way of creativity? Fear. When we are afraid, anything can be perceived as a threat and our creative brain goes offline to make space for our survival brain. This keynote provides tools to foster a space where folks can feel safe, access their creativity and better collaborate with one another. Let’s learn, grow and laugh along the way!
Format: 45-60 Minute Keynote
This program is perfect for:
CEOs
Managers
Team leads
The audience will leave with:
-Tree tips on how to create high-functioning and innovative teams.
-A new approach to engage with your people in an authentic way, to bring out the best in them.
-An awareness of common communication mistakes most people aren’t aware are crushing your culture and how to solve them.
-Ideas for how to create a loving culture of communication and collaboration.
Empathy, creativity and trust, these are all present within successful teams, and in healthy, loving relationships. So, what if love is, in fact, the key to productivity, retention and innovation? This loving environment does not happen on its own, we create it together, whether in the same physical space or not.
This is a transition to an environment where creativity, compassion, love and empathy drive teams, rather than ego. When we apply the improv approach to our organizations, we see an increase in productive conflict, we see colleagues helping one another freely, we see curiosity over judgement and we see teams of people who feel free to make mistakes without fearing the consequences of their failure. This results in improved productivity, retention and a positive (and might we add loving) workplace culture.