Any information transmitted from one participant to another, whether intentional or not. In improv and in life, signals are always being sent — there is no "off" state.
Signals travel through multiple channels simultaneously:
- Verbal — the words spoken
- Tonal — how the words are delivered (pitch, pace, volume)
- Physical — posture, gesture, facial expression, eye contact, movement
- Spatial — where you are on stage relative to your partner and the environment
- Temporal — when you respond (immediacy vs. delay)
A signal is congruent when all channels are aligned: the words, tone, body, and timing all say the same thing. Congruent signals read as truthful. A signal is incongruent when channels contradict each other — saying "I'm fine" with a clenched jaw, or acting angry while winking at the audience. Incongruence is not always noise — it can be the content of the scene. A character lying sends an incongruent signal on purpose: the words say one thing, the body says another, and the audience reads both layers. The performer is congruent (honestly playing the lie); the character is not.
Signals are also the mechanism through which status is read and assigned. A tilt of the head, a pause before responding, eye contact held or broken — these are status transactions conducted through signal channels, usually below conscious awareness.
The quality of a scene depends not on the brilliance of individual signals but on the signal-to-noise ratio of the entire interaction. Congruent signals build shared reality. Distorted signals erode it.
Key property: signals are observer-interpreted. What you intend to signal and what your partner receives may differ. You cannot control reception, only transmission. This is why clarity (Be Honest) and simplicity (Be Simple) are structural necessities, not aesthetic preferences.