Chris Sams delights in using improvisational theater technique as a trainer-facilitator and 1:1 leadership coach.

For more than 15 years, Chris has taught people and led sessions for participants, helping folks to gain comfort and confidence when stepping into the unknown, the uncertain, or the unexpected.

Chris teaches a range of skills: leadership, communication, adaptability, creativity, change management, presence, storytelling, collaboration, teamwork, team building, and on-the-spot thinking.

During his tenure as a corporate trainer and facilitator, Chris has led more than 400 workplace improv workshops and departmental events for more than 250 companies and corporate teams, including Google, Apple, LinkedIn, McKinsey & Co., Deloitte, ZS Associates, Genentech, UC-Berkeley Haas Center for Executive Education, UCSF, Facebook, Microsoft, Salesforce, Kaiser Permanente, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Virgin America, Alaska Airlines, BAVC, Dropbox, Airbnb, Fastly, and more. Chris served for eight years as Director of BATS Improv's On-The-Go and @Work corporate engagement programs.   

Additionally, he has coached improvisation for adults at all levels, from foundational elements of improv principles and basics to advanced performance classes for actors in the Bay Area and beyond.  In the BATS School of Improv, he has taught more than 700 individual class sessions on improvisation for the stage.

As a coach, Chris serves as a member of SNP Communication’s Global Faculty. As a consultant and contractor, he’s supported other improv training companies such as Improv Consultants and Nerd Improv.

As a performer, Chris loves doing corporate improv programming for summits, conferences, retreats, off-sites, corporate parties, events, and virtual programming events. Chris has performed with a variety of Bay Area improv companies, including 12 BATS Improv student Cave Match performance troupes, Un-Scripted Theatre Company, and Dead Beat Poet Society’s Comedy Rap Live. Most recently, Chris has directed and hosted a popular online game show format, The Blank Show, for BATS Improv Main Stage Company.

Chris has been active with the Applied Improvisation Network since 2002, serving on the world conference steering committee in 2012. 

In a former life, Chris was the San Francisco Food Bank’s Volunteer Services Manager and a consultant for the Sierra Club on the 2005 Sierra Summit. Chris is a Benjamin N. Duke Leadership Scholar graduate of Duke University.