#10 Alan Alda: Improvisation and Empathy
Unless I'm willing to be changed by you--I'm probably not really listening.
For 11 years, Alan Alda and the TV series M.A.S.H brought the wisecracking Dr. ‘Hawkeye’ Pierce into our living rooms and he continued as a prolific actor and director in film, television and the stage. But for the past 30 years he has also pursued a passion for improving the communication between science and medical personnel with the public, and encouraging better listening and empathy in general.
It was a lifelong passion for science that led Alda to accept an offer to host the PBS show “Scientific American Frontiers’ in 1993. He didn’t just want to introduce the episode, he wanted to talk with scientists as part of the filming. He had no interview experience, but thought his acting background would guide him. As the cameras began to roll, he found himself blundering through an interview with a scientist about solar panels and he describes his self reflections in his book, “If I Understood You, Would I have Have This Look on My Face?”
“In fact, I hadn’t been listening in three different ways. When I’d told him he had made the panel with parts off the shelf, I was paying more attention to my own assumptions than I was to him. When I didn’t read his face, I wasn’t listening to his body language. And when my questions didn’t spring from what he was saying, I was disconnected from him. I was alone. How could the conversation have been anything but strained when I had shut myself up in my own head?” 1
He was disheartened by the disconnect. Where was the improvisational ability to observe and respond he could do on stage? Why did scientists have such a hard time talking to non-experts about their research? He then began an effort to figure out what makes communication work, and how to make it work better, and that quest expanded well beyond the show.
Most of the improvisation that audiences are exposed to is comedy improv, but Alda had also trained in workshops with Paul Sills, one of the founders of Second City, the very successful improv group. Sills’ mother, Viola Spolin had done elemental work creating a kind of rigorous improvisation training that slowly built up an actors’ ability to connect with other actors spontaneously. It was not about comedy, it was developing a fundamental theater skill of relating that could lead to deeper, more affecting performance.
At every session of the training, Paul Sills would open his mother’s book, “Improvisation for the Theater” and lead Alda and the others through games and exercises. Alda found the experience slowly transform his acting. The games would connect the players to each other. One player would take an action and it was immediately sensed and responded to by the other player, which created a spontaneous response in the first player. Alda began to understand acting in a new way from this formalized practice of ‘relating’ as a responsive whole body listening to each other.
“You don’t say your next line simply because it’s in the script. You say it because the other person has behaved in a way that makes you say it. Relating to them allows them to have an effect on you—to change you, in a way. And that’s why you respond the way you do.” 2
From his own stage background and training in improvisation, Alda began to wonder if the same improv training and ‘games’ would help scientists be aware of what was happening in the mind of another person, a key to relating and to effective communication.
“Communication doesn’t take place because you tell somebody something. It takes place when you observe them closely and track their ability to follow you.” 3
He arranged a very successful weekend improvisation workshop with a group of engineers. He was on to something, but he knew permanent changes would require more than a weekend.
Reflection on the process also led Alda to retool his own listening skills into a human exchange and not just an acting technique. He began to approach his interactions with the scientists, not as an interview, but as a conversation. “ …I came to the conclusion that, even in life, unless I’m responding with my whole self—unless, in fact, I’m willing to be changed by you—I’m probably not really listening.” 4
Alda also realized that he had the most difficulty with the interviews when he thought he knew more than he really did about their work. He stopped reading their research papers and showed up with just a ‘curious ignorance.’ The scientist could evaluate what Alda knew and start from there explaining it to him in a conversation. The scientists were glad to see he wanted to understand, and like in the improv games, they became more responsive. They moved away from lecture voices and styling into warm exchanges that audiences could recognize as genuine human interactions. As Alda observed the scientists relate more effectively when they built personal connection rather than relying on their fallback lecture style, he also realized that the same relationship skills were fundamental to how all of us communicate to one another.
From these experiences on”Scientific American Frontiers” and consultations with many experts in the fields, Alda helped to found Stony Brook University’s Alda Center for Communicating Science, in 2009. The Center uses improvisational theater training to help scientists improve their communication skills and explain their work in ways that lay people can understand. The program has successfully expanded to help physicians and medical staff communicate more effectively and coordinates with other institutions. The programs, focusing on human connection and communication, have helped with over 20,000 scientists, doctors and medical personnel become more effective in listening and empathy. Can I just add that I am certain ‘Hawkeye’ Pierce would approve!
One of the fundraisers auctioned ‘Hawkeye’s dogtags and boots from the M.A.S.H. set.
In his campaign to help people relate and communicate better Alda also uses social media and a weekly podcast called “Clear + Vivid with Alan Alda” in its sixth season. He has written three books, a play, and given speeches around the world.
I checked, I don’t think he is on substack —YET.
Next week in Part 2 of this post, I’ll elaborate on some of the ‘games’ used by Alda to train scientists and medical personnel as they develop skills in empathic observation, listening and relating and some of his own practices to improve his empathic listening so you can give them a try if you like.
Thank you stopping here and reading, I know you have many options and only so much time. Your ‘Likes’, comments, subscriptions and encouragement mean so much to me, as I figure out how to do this in a way that is meaningful and useful to each of you.
You are part of a growing community thinking a lot about listening, empathy and learning from one another. I hope you start to notice sounds you didn’t notice before and tune in to conversations and the world around you in new ways. Share your insights and experiences with all of us in the comments. Be kind.
Thank you for listening,
Leslie Rasmussen
Alda, Alan, “If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look on My Face”, (2017), p. 4.
Ibid, p.10.
Ibid, p. 17.
Ibid, p 10-11.
Fascinating, Leslie. All sorts of ideas to ponder. I've admired Alan Alda for several reasons but I did not know of this particular aspect of his life. Each time you post I pause to think further - often pondering how I can share this with others in everyday interactions to increase our positive communication in these often chaotic times. Thank you, friend.
Awesome, Leslie. Theater matters! Teaches better communication and how to understand your own feelings so you can better empathize with others. Also, Alan Alda was really lovely when he was at Lincoln Center Theater with his play, QED.