My piece for NPR's The Academic Minute was selected as one of their best of the year. Yay! https://academicminute.org/best-of-the-academic-minute-in-2025-johanna-smith-california-state-university-san-bernardino-finding-the-courage-to-demand-delight/

What an absolute joy it has been to share, network, and learn from applied improvisors from all over the world! Here we are exploring with puppetry principles and improv. So many ideas and approaches to explore - watch out, students, we will be experimenting!

I had the pleasure of facilitating a workshop for Talent Experience Design at Amazon Entertainment, and I got some lovely feedback: “Participants appreciated how the session helped them loosen up, connect, and feel more open with their peers. One person described it as ‘wonderful’ and said it ‘sets a tone of openness that carries through the rest of the experience.’ … 10% of participants selected it as their single favorite session of the entire two-day summit, which is grea

Aretta Baumgartner and Johanna Smith with their Puppetry session participants, TYA/USA 2026 https://arettabaumgartner.com It's my buddy Dave Saphier from Denver Theatre Center helping me tell secrets! Thanks for the photo Jose Casas!

New keynote available! If you want to be inspired to find innovation everywhere, bring me in to present "Think Like a Puppeteer!" Perfect for anyone who wants to think more creatively using the awesome, puppety power of limits. Includes a walk through some of the innovative (and silly) thinking I've learned from 30 years of solving puppet problems. Also perfect for Theatre students! Email me at johanner@gmail.com to set up your event.

I had the pleasure of facilitating a debate between an AI expert and... AI! It was fun to come up with the idea for this event. More here: https://www.csusb.edu/inside/article/593016/ai-debate-csusb-highlights-promise-pitfalls-and-need-critical-thinking?fbclid=IwY2xjawOG40pleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyCGNhbGxzaXRlAjMwAAEeRx7VcOnVnVM7MdNjgkyAJtdpNe0VGd2A5SFp72CBptkCF_v6FIAiD8Ff-EE_aem_lIYpZUuYf3LYHXu0OsDuIg

I'm busy prepping for this exciting event in Konstanz, Germany next week: https://kilometer1.de/bodensee-startup-school/ ...

I'm beyond excited to be presenting a talk and a workshop at this exciting conference in Bochum, Germany in September. Here's the link to...