Works with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or your own local model: paste this prompt and your AI will co-facilitate this exercise with you.

Help me prepare and run the exercise below. First ask for my participant count, time, setting, access needs and intended result. Check these against the stated limits. Use the supplied rules and materials. Explain any proposed changes before using them, and label them as adaptations. Do not invent source claims or require personal disclosure. Give me one step at a time when I say start. I manage the people, physical activity and clock; do not claim to observe the room. Ask me what happened before choosing a next step.

Reference revision: 4f4fe1f6962e50ed70300c5e214164c37aab4e57a6338627f0ff98e4362b0d74

# Tertiary Moves Drill

Two actors start a baseline scene while offstage players watch for an entry point. One offstage player makes a brief supporting entrance, and two more players follow in sequence to heighten the exact same entrance pattern.

**Time:** 15 minutes. UWT suggested duration to fit an introduction, two full scene rounds, and a brief debrief.
**People:** 5 to 16. Whole group with 2 primary players on stage, 1 chosen primary mover from the wings, and 2 supporting heighteners.

## Choose this exercise

**Purpose:** Practice identifying and reinforcing a specific pattern of entrance to support a scene without derailing its core focus.
**Use it when:** Use during improv or communication training when participants struggle with chaotic walk-ons or want to practice disciplined scene support.
**Skip it when:** Skip when participants need foundational work on two-person agreement, or when a group is uncomfortable with fast, spontaneous entrances.

## Materials and tools

- Whiteboard or chart paper and dry-erase marker (optional, to display tertiary move types)

## Before participants arrive

1. Clear an open central playing space. Designate offstage 'wings' on both sides where waiting participants stand or sit in ready positions.

## Say this to open

Two players will start a regular scene in the center. Everyone on the wings is looking for an opportunity to support, not hijack, the scene. One wing player will make a tertiary move, like a quick walk-on, a cut-to, or an environmental addition. Once that first move happens, at least two more players must enter using heightened versions of that exact same move type. Let us watch how a clear pattern builds.

## How to run it

### 1. Introduce move types and role rules (3 minutes)

Explain the roles: two primary players establish a simple two-person scene. Players on the wings watch for a specific trigger to enter. Define three common tertiary move types: Walk-on (brief character enters to deliver a specific line or service, then leaves), Cut-to (briefly establishing a related side scene or flashback), and Environmental Add-on (entering briefly as an object, atmosphere, or bystander). State the rule: subsequent entries must match and heighten the type chosen by the first wing player.

### 2. Run first drill round (5 minutes)

Ask two volunteers to take the stage and begin a simple scene based on an everyday location prompt. Direct the wing players to watch. When a player on the wings spots an opportunity, they perform one tertiary move and exit or step aside. Immediately, two other wing players enter one after the other, each heightening that same mechanic. Call 'scene' after the third tertiary entrance completes.

### 3. Run second drill round with new cast (5 minutes)

Rotate two new participants into the primary roles. Give a fresh neutral suggestion. Prompt the wings to select a different style of tertiary move this time. Ensure at least two follow-up players jump in to heighten the pattern. Call 'scene' after the pattern lands.

### 4. Whole-group debrief (2 minutes)

Gather the group to reflect on pattern clarity, trigger recognition, and the experience of supporting from the wings. Take two or three quick contributions from the floor.


## Debrief questions

- What made it easy or hard to recognize the exact type of move the first player introduced?
- How did the primary players experience the entries: as interruptions or as momentum?
- What trigger in the dialogue or action showed you it was time to step in?

**Finished output:** Two completed scene drills where an offstage entrance pattern was initiated, matched, and heightened three times.

## Remote

Run in gallery view. The two primary players keep cameras and microphones on. Wing players keep cameras and microphones off. To make a tertiary move, a wing player turns on their camera and microphone, performs their brief addition, and turns them off. Subsequent heighteners mirror this sequence.

## Hybrid

Seat in-person players facing the camera so remote participants can see the entire stage. Remote participants can serve as primary actors or make audio-visual walk-ons by speaking over the room speakers and spotlighting their video feed.

## Access and participation choices

- Participants may choose to act as offstage pattern observers and note down patterns rather than performing physical entrances.
- Physical walk-ons can be done verbally from a seated wing position without requiring rapid physical movement.

## If the session gets stuck

**The first entrant stays on stage too long and takes over the primary storyline.**

Remind players that tertiary moves are quick hits: deliver the line or action that fits the pattern, then step right back to the wings.

**Subsequent players introduce completely different move types, mixing walk-ons with tag-outs.**

Pause briefly and ask the group: 'What move type did player one use?' Reset and have player two mirror and heighten that specific type.


## Terms used here

- Tertiary Move: A secondary or supporting entrance made by an offstage player to heighten an ongoing scene without becoming the main character.
- Walk-on: A brief stage entrance where a player enters, delivers a specific supporting contribution, and immediately leaves.
- Heightening: Taking an established game, joke, or pattern and making it more specific, urgent, or extreme.

## Sources and adaptation

Observed in Improv Does Best (improvdoesbest.com, 2013).

Retained the core drill rules, good-faith mantra, and three-entrant heightening requirement from Improv Does Best. UWT added explicit move definitions, standard round timing, step-by-step facilitation structure, and hybrid adaptation instructions.

[Improv Does Best](https://improvdoesbest.com/2013/10/17/tertiary-moves-drill-exercise/)

Current run sheet: https://unitedwetransform.com/exercises/tertiary-moves-drill-exercise/