More information about Agent Provocateur Role-Plays®
Teachers, in particular, would benefit from also visiting the page How to teach any social skill you like.
Check out what courses Mark is offering on How to use Real Life Rehearsals.
In Agent Provocateur Role-Plays®, participants develop and refine their social communication skills at delivering strategies 'under fire' in a simulated real-world environment. The trainer, teacher or facilitator takes the role of the agent provocateur — someone in a Real Life Scenario™ (see below) with whom the participants need to interact or communicate with. The general process is that the trainer:
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Describes a Real Life Scenario™;
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Invites, or directs, participants to take the role of the person in the scenario who is to deal with a particular situation, is to act in the desired manner, is to deliver certain strategies, is being pressured to drink and is to 'stand their ground' etc;
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Takes the role of the person who is interacting with the participant in the scenario (or scenarios) such as the person who is being difficult, who is the drunk driver, who is sexually harassing the participant, pressuring the participant to drink, etc; and
- Engages each participant, one at a time, in one-on-one role-plays. Here, the participant ‘road-tests’ (trials and practices) their preferred strategies ‘under fire’ and develops their skills at implementing them.
The participants test various strategies ‘under fire’ and refine and modify them as required. The role-plays represent the second stage of the ‘two-stage road-test’. The participants are involved in two main activities. One is watching other participants and learning what works and in what circumstances. As they do so, they prepare for their own role-plays by thinking about how they would handle the different situations. The other is direct involvement in the role-plays and demonstrating, rehearsing and refining their own preferred strategies. The trainer makes each role-play as realistic as possible, and includes ‘twists and turns’, just as in real life. The trainer simulates reality and, in many regards, is part-dramatist and part-educator. This may well mean that the trainer needs to ‘ham it up’ a bit and keeps the participants‘on their toes’ and helps each one to develop an appropriate level of skill by:
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Describing scenarios so that they are engaging;
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Being believable in their role;
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Modifying the scenario, if necessary, while ensuring that it remains a Real Life Scenario™;
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Noting the level of skill of each participant and tailoring each role-play accordingly. (This allows the trainer to apply greater pressure to those participants who have a high level of expertise and less pressure to those who have a lower level. In either case, as the participant increases their level of skill, the trainer increases their level of pressure.);
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Using different techniques to test the skill of each participant;
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Using different obstacles to hinder the success of the strategies used by each participant;
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Varying the length of each individual role-play;
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Not indicating which participant will be next engaged in a role-play; and
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Engaging each participant more than once.
Each role-play with an individual participant is unique. Each participant uses different strategies in different ways, and the trainer poses different obstacles to hinder the strategies used. In this way, each role-play reflects the way that the participant prefers to deal with the situation — what strategies they prefer to use, and how they prefer to respond to particular obstacles to the success of their strategies. After a role-play with a participant, the trainer can give feedback. This must be brief so it does not interfere with the flow of the activity. Feedback should encourage and support the participant, but should also contain suggestions for improvement where they are required.
Delivering Agent Provocateur Role-Plays™ requires skill, energy and passion. Some trainers and teachers already have the skills but may need a bit of help polishing them or may lack the confidence to use them and 'give it a go'. Others don't already have them, but can usually develop the skills and confidence with some guidance, training and practice. Mark is a master of Agent Provocateur Role-Plays® and provides such training in a support and entertaining environment.