Alan Alda on Communicating and Relating to Others
\u201cMy whole life has been a big improvisation \u2014 I follow my nose.\u201d Improvisation has played a big role in Alan Alda\u2019s career in more ways than one. From his early theatrical work to founding the Alda Center for Communicating Science to his latest book \u2014\xa0If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face?\xa0The one, the only Alan Alda is On Brand this week (as Alan jokes, \u201cI only brought one of me!\u201d).\nAbout Alan Alda\nAlan Alda has earned international recognition as an actor, writer, and director. He has won seven Emmy Awards, received three Tony nominations, is an inductee of the Television Hall of Fame, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in\xa0The Aviator. Alda played Hawkeye Pierce on the classic television series\xa0M*A*S*H, and his films include\xa0Crimes and Misdemeanors,\xa0Everyone Says I Love You,\xa0Manhattan Murder Mystery,\xa0Bridge of Spies, and many more.\nAlda is an active member of the science community, having hosted the award-winning series\xa0Scientific American Frontiers\xa0for eleven years and founded the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University. Alda is the author of three bestselling books,\xa0If I Understood You, Would I Have this Look on My Face?,\xa0Never Have Your Dog Stuffed: And Other Things I\u2019ve Learned\xa0and\xa0Things I Overheard While Talking To Myself.\nEpisode Highlights\nAvoiding lecture mode.\xa0\u201cI\u2019ve interviewed hundreds of scientists.\u201d However, Alda found that often, when explaining their work they go into \u201clecture mode.\u201d That\u2019s where you need to focus on relating instead of just communicating.\nOn relating vs. communicating.\xa0\u201cRelating is everything. Communication is developing the best possible way to say something. But is the audience getting it? Do they understand what they need to understand? It\u2019s not-relating vs. relating.\u201d\nOrder matters.\xa0\u201cStart with a story that matters to your audience.\u201d This might not be the order that you would first think of to tell your story in.\nWhy you should care about empathy.\xa0After talking with Alan, I\u2019m inclined to stop using the word \u2018target\u2019 in reference to an audience. Instead, think of them as a communications partner. \u201cEmpathy means including the other person in your presentation. You need to practice over and over.\u201d Not just your presentation but empathy, reading the other person. \u201cIt\u2019s not about you. It\u2019s about them. Focus on what the other person needs. That\u2019s what a good salesman does.\u201d\nTo learn more,\xa0go to\xa0alanalda.com\xa0and the\xa0Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science.\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices