Steamrolling and getting steamrolled: Three exercises for both sides

About this episode

This episode explores the concept of steamrolling in improv, discussing its causes and providing practical exercises for both those who steamroll and those who get steamrolled.

Steamrolling is one of those improv topics where everyone wants to talk about the people doing it to them, and almost nobody wants to consider whether they might be doing it themselves. This episode covers both sides. It starts with what steamrolling actually looks like in a scene (and it probably has less to do with how much someone talks than you think), then gets into the reasons it happens, including some ADHD-specific patterns like verbal processing and dopamine-seeking that can lead to steamrolling without even realising it. There's also a nervous system layer here, because steamrolling can function as a fight response to uncertainty, and getting steamrolled can trigger a freeze or shutdown that makes the whole dynamic worse. The second half of the episode gets practical. If you're being steamrolled, there are in-scene tools you can try, like pointed questions and well-timed interrupts, and there are exercises to practise both of those with a scene partner. There's also a solo exercise for building the skill of shifting your character mid-scene. And if you're the one steamrolling, there's some homework about building curiosity toward your scene partners and tracking whether…

People in this episode

Host: Jen deHaan

Topics covered

• steamrolling
• improv exercises
• ADHD patterns
• nervous system response
• scene dynamics
• communication skills

Keywords

• steamrolling
• improv
• ADHD
• communication
• scene control
• nervous system
• exercises

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