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Have you ever had that moment when talking to a patient, when you realized that the phrase you just uttered, which you\u2019ve uttered a hundred times before, came out rote and scripted?\xa0 Maybe some phrase you learned from a prominent podcast or VitalTalk?\xa0 And in response, the family or patient looked at you like you were from another planet?\xa0 Yeah, I\u2019ve been there too.

Josh Briscoe, our guests on today\u2019s podcast, argues that you\u2019ve entered the Uncanny Valley.\xa0 In robotics, the Uncanny Valley is that strange almost-human-but-not-quite territory in which humanoid appearing robots repulse us with their close yet still \u201coff\u201d appearance.\xa0 Coming off as rote and scripted during a serious illness conversation can have a similar off-putting impact on patients and families.\xa0 Today we talk with Josh about how to anticipate and avoid the uncanny valley.\xa0 And talk about times when we\u2019ve fallen into it.\xa0\xa0

Key message: Listen to the music.\xa0 All the time. ;)

Links:

-Uncanny Valley post on Josh\u2019s fantastic substack Notes from a Family Meeting

-Anticipatory corpse book mentioned several times on the podcast

-GeriPal post about teaching using YouTube (some links are old and don\u2019t work, but you get the idea, I recently gave a spontaneous talk to the palliative care fellows and was able to find the video snippets)

-Ira Byock\u2019s 4 things that matter most

-@AlexSmithMD