Robert Poynton

He uses a participative method based on improvisational theatre to create a rich learning environment and give participants an experience of key ideas and themes in leadership.

Robert uses an embodied, experiential approach, drawing on the methodology of improvisational theatre to explore how to respond effectively to complexity, change and other key ideas and themes in leadership. He also focuses on the use of narrative and story for communication and sense making. 

Robert has been part of the teaching team on the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme since 2002, acting as Programme Director in May 2018. He has worked on many custom programmes for different clients and on the Executive MBA Programme.

In 2017, Robert was a contributor to the Skoll World Forum in Oxford. His own clients include Chanel, Natura Bissé, the BBC and PwC. He also leads creative retreats in Spain, where he lives – such as the ‘Praxis Reading Retreats’ for the Oxford Praxis Forum (a research centre of Green Templeton College). 

He studied psychology and philosophy at New College, Oxford. 

Robert has authored two books on improvisation: Everything’s an Offer and Do Improvise. His most recent book, about our relationship with time, was published in 2019, and is entitled Do – Pause.