I clipped these improv rules a while back from
http://improvencyclopedia.org/references//5_Basic_Improv_Rules.html

Seems to me that they can apply anywhere where people are in
discussion.  Imagine how differences of opinion would play out on BEE-L
if we adopted them.
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5 Basic Improv Rules

Here is another set of Rules that makes rounds on the internet (see our
comment about Rules of Improv though). We are not aware of the source of
this set of rules - if you do by all means let us know.

1) Don't Deny

Denial is the number one reason most scenes go bad. Any time you refuse
an Offer made by your partner your scene will almost instantly come to a
grinding halt. Example: Player A) "Hi, my name is Jim. Welcome to my
store." Player B) "This isn't a store, it's an airplane. And you're not
Jim, you're an antelope."

2) Don't ask open ended Questions

Open ended questions (like "Who are you?") are scene killers because
they force your partner to stop whatever they are doing and come up with
an answer. When you ask your partner and open ended question, you put
the burden of coming up with something "interesting" on your partner -
so you are no longer doing a scene together but forcing one person has
to do more work than you are willing to do.

3) You don't have to be funny.

The hidden riddle of improv is that the harder you try not to be funny
the more funny your scene is going to be. Why? Because it's the very
best kind of improv scene you can do is an "interesting" scene, not
necessarily a "funny" one. When you do an interesting scene, a very
surprising thing happens -- the funny comes out all by it's self.

The best ways to go are to stick to your character, stick to the story
that is being told, and to stay within the reality of the scene you are
playing.

4) You can look good if you make your partner look good.

When you are in a scene, the better you make your partner look the
better the scene is going to be and, as a direct result, the better you
are going to look. All too often, I've seen players enter a scene and I
can just tell they have some really great idea about the character they
are going to play or an idea they want to do. This is wonderful, but
guess what? Your partner probably has absolutely no idea what's cooking
in your evil little mind, and so has no idea how to react. And no matter
how brilliant your idea might be, it's practically worthless if the
scene as a whole goes bad.

5) Tell a story.
Storytelling is probably the easiest rule to remember but the hardest
one to do. The real magic of improv is when we see the players take
totally random suggestions (like a plumber and a cab driver selling
shoes in a leper colony ) and somehow "make it work". If all these
unrelated elements are going to come together then it's going to happen
in the course of an interesting tale. So that's just what the players
are going to try and do, tell us all a story.

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