Let’s be honest: traditional role-plays can’t do the job
What are we talking about?
In traditional role-plays the participants are given, or devise, a scenario depicting a situation they might have to handle in real life.
The participants then act out the scenario by taking turns playing the various characters in it. They usually do this in small groups with the teacher going from group to group to see how they’re going. In some cases, the groups also act out the scenario in front of the whole group.
They’re not realistic; and that’s just for starters
Unfortunately, traditional role-plays have some problems; in fact, six major ones. And they’re serious. So serious that they’re often of little value and, in some cases, probably none at all.
Of course, not every traditional role-play will have every one of the problems. However, most suffer from enough of them to defeat the purpose of running the role-plays in the first place. And just in case you’re wondering, the problems are not due to poor teaching. They’re due to the very nature of the role-plays themselves.
Many teachers, trainers and other educators – and of course plenty of participants – know traditional role-plays aren’t up to the job. But the question on their lips is: what to do instead?
FREE Reports
Mark has written two reports on the Problems with traditional Role-Plays and how we can do better.
One is for Teachers and one is for Trainers. To get your free copy, please contact Mark.
A better option
Agent-Provocateur Role-Plays and Real Life Rehearsals

The problems with traditional role-plays make them of little or no value. So what can we do?
Fortunately there’s a solution and it’s called Real Life Rehearsals. Its purpose is the same as traditional role-plays but this is where the similarity ends. Real Life Rehearsals avoids the problems of traditional role-plays. And it has three important parts which traditional role-pays lack.
The three parts are:
- Real Life Scenarios™.
- The Agent Provocateur Obstacle Course™; and
- Agent Provocateur Role-Plays®.
Real Life Rehearsals® can be used to teach any social communication skill you like
Real Life Rehearsals helps people develop a set of realistic and personalised strategies for dealing with a specific difficult conversation, situation or person. It actively involves participants in developing a repertoire of strategies — ones that are realistic and fit their needs.
The strategies are then ‘mentally road-tested’. And then participants personalise their preferred strategies. And of course, it them helps them develop their communication skills in a simulated real-world environment.
Real Life Rehearsals has have been tried and tested
Mark has used advanced role-play techniques for close o 40 years. He’s used them with a wide variety of groups and a wide variety of topics. Mark has used them, for example, with:
- Primary/Elementary school children (how to tell someone that their behaviour is unacceptable);
- Secondary/High school students (how to say no to a drink yet maintain prestige among friends and peers, how to refuse a lift with a drunk driver and how to handle a gruelling job interview);
- College students (how to handle a ‘shout’, ’round’ and other group drinking situations and how to negotiate safe sex);
- Managers (how to handle and deliver a performance review and how to handle a difficult staff member);
- Police (how to handle intoxicated people); and
- Staff from professional organisations and from the government, private and welfare sector (how to handle difficult customers; and how to gain cooperation from an annoying co-worker).
When Staff Are Engaged and Productive
Problems are solved, resistance dissolves, and blockages cease to exist. It happens when staff are fully aligned and (more or less) singing from the same song sheet.
But Sometimes Things Don’t Go According to Plan
Cohesive teams can fracture, and harmony might unravel.
It can impact one or more of these areas:
- It hurts the business overall.
- It creates friction and distrust amongst work colleagues.
- It affects customers – they sense that something is not quite right.
- It affects lenders and shareholders.
- It may impact the wider community.
This is why it’s vital to nip any problems in the bud – before they get out of hand.
Have a confidential chat with Mark – he is happy to help.