I’m thrilled to announce that I’ll be working with the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science (http://centerforcommunicatingscience.org/)!
I heard about them in early May. Apparently, about 5 years, Alan Alda, started teaching improv to scientists. It was the only acting training he’d ever taken! It had helped him be relaxed and personable in front of the camera. He wanted to know whether it would work for scientists, too… and it does!
A whole program has developed around this. They are based in SUNY, Stony Brook (Long Island). Both the Journalism and the Theatre departments are involves. The SUNY SB head of journalism, Howie Schneider, is the co-chair of the Center. The journalism folks teach a course called, “Distilling Your Message”, which takes place after the theatre folks run the improv workshops. The result is that scientists walk away feeling much more relaxed, and expressing themselves in a personal and passionate way. That’s just what we need in these times of turbulent environmental change – scientists to whom you really want to listen!
I won’t teach in Stony Brook as much as I will go out to other corporations and institutions who request these workshops. It’s a real honor to be brought onto the team!
(In case you’re wondering, in the process of getting to know them, yes, I did meet Alan Alda. He is a really sweet man, a gentleman, and a wonderful storyteller!)