Alan AldaReseñas

During his time as the host of the TV show Scientific American Frontiers, Alan Alda became interested in the question of science communication. How could he communicate better with the scientists he was interviewing, and how could they better communicate their ideas to others? From there, he started thinking about the importance of good, effective communication in all sorts of other areas, too: doctors communicating to patients, bosses communicating with employees, and so on. He became convinced that the key to improving communications lay in a simple word: empathy. Understanding one's audience, paying attention to their responses, anticipating their needs, engaging with their emotions, and establishing a sense of connection with them. He also feels that his own experiences as an actor, and especially his experiences with improv, can bring a lot of useful skills to those attempting to improve their ability to communicate, and has set up an organization to share those skills with others.

Most of Alda's points here seem reasonable, even commonsense. I may wonder if he's overhyping the benefits of improv exercises a little bit, but I'm entirely willing to believe he's seen good results from it, and that's pretty cool. He practices what he preaches here, too, writing very clearly with lots of personal anecdotes and accessible stories. And I appreciate that, in presenting both his own anecdotal experiences and the results of actual scientific studies, he does try to be appropriately clear about which is which.

So, in summary: Alda seems like a good guy, has some good ideas about a subject I agree is important, seems to be accomplishing something with them, and explains them in easy-to-understand ways. And yet, I'm still afraid I can't say that this book did all that much for me. Maybe it's partly that so much of it seems a bit... obvious. But mostly I think it's that this is one of those books that really, really could and should just have been a long magazine article. He did not remotely need two hundred pages to get his points across, and the whole thing leaves me with the strong and slightly disappointed suspicion that it's only this long because that's what's necessary to get published.½

Well written and on point. There are no frills here, just a straight forward story told in a folksy style. I feel I know the writer as well as one can know someone they spent eight years with once a week.

(audio) Very philosophical. Essays of his speeches over the years and his thoughts on life.

(2007)(audio)Very good collection of essays by Alda that reflect his philosophy of ?his? life both personal & celebrity. His reading of the book enhances this as it IS Alan Alda after all and that voice is perfect for an audio book.(PW) Following his 11-year run on TV's M*A*S*H, Alda has continually transformed himself professionally through a diverse array of successful projects. Yet his status as America's quintessential nice guy still follows him at every turn, rendering Alda a hot ticket for college commencement addresses and other high-profile events. With his characteristic modesty and charm, Alda reflects on his public words to find introspective insights about the important questions of life. Early in the recording, his interjections of new parenthetical comments as he recites the texts of older speeches is slightly choppy. Yet when he tackles meatier questions and more sober situations, especially his role as a eulogist at the funerals for close friends Ossie Davis and Peter Jennings, Alda hits his stride by baring his soul instead of shooting from the hip. Alda's phenomenal gift as a storyteller shines through, even when the style in which he organizes his material may not perfectly suit the audio format.

Very interesting and entertaining look at the dynamics of communication. Alan Alda brings the subject to life in the audio version.

I heard Alan Alda on the radio, talking about this book, and it sounded interesting so I picked it up at the library. And, it is interesting, but not interesting enough to read all the way through. I got about halfway and then stopped. I enjoyed the concepts he discusses here--communication, relating, empathy, etc.--and the way he describes learning to use acting techniques, particularly improv, to improve (and teach others how to improve) general communication skills. The text is very straightforward and clear, not a lot of jargon or technical language. It would be ironic if there were, since a big chunk of the book is about making esoteric topics understandable to laymen. I think this is a successful exercise, and I'm sure it will be useful to people who want to explore these ideas. Alda is clearly a smart, thoughtful guy, which I have suspected ever since I watched him on MASH throughout my childhood.

I used to immediately smile when I saw Alan Alda talk on my television set. Whether on MASH or, later, on Scientific American Frontiers, I could sense that this man was just smart, down-to-earth and funny....and he still is.

It is all the more amazing to me that he went from being a character on MASH to the science-loving host of one of the best shows on Public Television. MASH was a show that I watched over and over and over, from when it first aired on TV to the days of syndication and Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce was always my favorite character. I saw Scientific American Frontiers only a few times a year starting in 1990 when it first aired and only when I came home for the Christmas holiday from South Korea.

This book, is about communication, understanding and empathy and about ways to make a connection between yourself and your audience, something that not only scientists have trouble with, but people like you and me too.

It is very good and I enjoyed reading it because Alan Alda writes like he speaks which, for me, allowed me to hear his voice in my head every time I picked up the book. I found it enlightening and I especially enjoyed the chapters on how beneficial improvisational stage-acting techniques were in educating people how to communicate better with one another.

I picked up more than I couple of things that I felt I could use to get over some of my social phobias and overall it was just a really good book.

I would like to thank the author and Random House Publishing for sending me this complimentary edition for a good read and a fair review.

Oh my goodness, I LOVED this book. I could enjoy another 200 pages of things he learned. There is so much to think about in this book. There were things that made me laugh out loud and things that made me cry. This book is a series of speeches that he has given and him talking about them. I highly recommend this book and think we can all get things from his insight.

An understandable, enjoyable book about why some of us are mystified when somebody talks science (yay - it's their fault, not ours), techniques and attitudes that make us better explainers and better listeners. I wanted to start the book again as soon as I finished it, but I have so many other books waiting patiently in line to get into the nonfiction variety pack.

This autobiography of the author's unusual life is not a memoir of show-business ups and downs. It is a moving and funny story of a boy growing into a man who then realizes he has only just begun to grow.

So. I totally loved this book. And if you are a fan of Alan Alda - whether through M*A*S*H or his stage work or his hosting work on PBS or whatever - you will probably love this book too. It had me alternating between laughing and crying and doing both at the same time. His writing style is rather brilliant and intelligent and sharp while still being humorous and easy to relate to - so like his most famous character, Hawkeye. Also, I adore the photos he included in the middle of the book; he was such a cute kid! I can't wait to pick up his second non-fiction book as soon as possible.

I first heard about this book at a conference where we did improv exercises as a way to foster collaboration. I admit, I hadn't realized who the author was until I actually looked up the book. So I walked into it from a professional point of view as opposed to a popular fan point of view.

I loved this so much. Alda has a conversational way of writing that is engaging and easy to read. He showcases the exact things he is talking about by using prolific stories to make his point and using the storytelling arc over the entire book. He talks a lot about empathy - which I really appreciated as it's something I've been saying is vital to good communication my entire career but I hadn't felt like other people really got it the same way. So maybe part of the five star rating is just me finally feeling vindicated.

I had been asked to give a training last week on communication and I had already planned to incorporate improv exercises into it before reading Alda's book. But this book cemented that. And I saw first hand how improv helped my group actualize the communication principles I had just taught them, while making them laugh and have fun.

Not really sure what to make of this. Felt there could be more exercises in the book that would make this applicable on a daily basis.

Not really sure what to make of this. Felt there could be more exercises in the book that would make this applicable on a daily basis.

L'insolita studente di moda Betsy Hopper e il puritano banchiere Dylan Walsh desiderano sposarsi ed avere un ricevimento per pochi intimi. Le famiglie dei due fidanzati, però, entrano in competizione e cercano di organizzare un matrimonio fastoso. (fonte: Wikipedia)

A collection of speeches he has given and some background behind why he was put into positions to give the speeches. Most have the feel of speeches given by guest speakers at High School and College Graduations. The idealistic, you have the world ahead of you, the future is yours, and here’s a little inspiration for you going forward type speeches. Not bad I guess but nothing earth shattering. Alan Alda himself makes the Audiobook.

Beacon of Hope
Review of the Audible Original audiobook (April 7, 2020), an excerpted preview of "Soldiers of Science" (expected late 2020)

Alan Alda's interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci was recorded in 2019 so it was well before the current COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, their discussion was about the work of the National Institute of Health (NIH) in general and especially about Fauci's 38 years of work related to the AIDS crisis and its eventual almost complete solution through the so-called "cocktail" of anti-viral medications.

Dr. Fauci has since become a household name through his media presence during the current COVID-19 pandemic and it is even more reassuring to hear his story of researching past infectious diseases and their cures which provides a signal of hope for us at this time.

Soldiers of Science is a planned future late-2020 non-fiction release by Alan Alda and Kate Rope which presumably will also document other medical and science researchers. Let us hope it will have a section on the possible future cure of COVID-19 as well.

Soldiers of Science: An Interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci is available as a free Audiobook to everyone at Audible.

Alan Alda is a joy to listen to and he's a good writer. This book, despite its fun title, is a serious tome-focused on getting across how important it is to communicate clearly and effectively. Examples are cited, and exercises and games are detailed to help you do exactly that.

Focusing on the other person in a conversation, (not just waiting for your turn to speak), and noting their facial expressions and body language are key. According to Alda, if you are not willing to be changed by a person/conversation then you are NOT really open and listening.

It turns out that empathy is really important in effective communication. One of the exercises in this book mentions watching a person's face during a conversation and specifically noting and NAMING, (silently), the emotions you see on their face. This will sometimes tell you what they are going to say or do next. It tells you if they're understanding what you're saying, or if instead they are bored or confused. At times and with practice, it will sometimes seem to people that you can read minds, but what you're really doing is truly LISTENING.

Because Alan Alda has such a warm, comfortable style I learned a lot from what in less capable hands could have been a very boring book. It also might be due to the fact that Alda is an extremely effective communicator. I have already started to put some of these games and exercises into practice and I believe they have already helped me in certain areas of my life. If you are open, (read: WILLING TO BE CHANGED), then I highly recommend this book!

*I borrowed this audiobook from my awesome public library. Libraries RULE!*

Autobiography. About his life with a mom who was crazy and a dad who did burlesque. Joe never really liked Alan Alda as an actor. Still does not like him.

Communication is important to our society as a whole. In this book, Alan Alda discusses the virtues of clearly getting your point across. To cultivate such an ability, Alda recommends certain exercises and games with others. From the person making a proposal to a Dentist explaining a procedure, we all must sometimes talk to people that might not understand our technical jargon or another specialized language. Alda covers all of this and more in this book, which has a rather long name.

Most of Alan Alda's interest in this stemmed from his passion for science. At one time, Alda was the host of a show called Scientific American Frontiers. He would go and talk to scientists about the science that they were conducting. However, Alda found that it made the segments dry and boring. So instead, Alda attempted to come to each interview with a fresh view, as though he knew nothing about it. Then he would get the scientist to open up and show his or her humanity. It would also enable the scientist to relate to the layman about their topic of inquiry; why should the public care about solar panels or any other scientific thing? Doing so really helped out with the quality of the show.

As far as a book goes, it is really well done. It has twenty-one chapters but they tend to be short. If you are like me and have the time, you can probably breeze through it in about a day or less.

Well, it was interesting. It wasn’t nearly as funny as I expected, but it had its moments. Unfortunately, those moments were surrounded by misery. Catholic boarding school at age 6, polio, dead dogs...mental illness (his mother), and the struggle of making it as an actor. So much focus on these things, but little on his actual family, his loving wife, his daughters, his brother. MASH was there, but not as much as I expected? Enough to counterbalance the gloom? I don’t know. He is an interesting man.

Unsurprising to find the writer version is different from any of the characters we’ve seen him play. The real Alda is an interesting character with a personal lifestory that includes an early life in the wings, a crazy mother and the not uncommon early difficulties making a living at his art. An easy enjoyable read.

A good-but-not-great read—I may adjust my attitude a bit when I review the almost-20 bookmarks I made for myself.

My ears really perked up toward the end, when he was discussing a study involving a 6-month-old girl named Nora. I'm almost positive that he's referring to a study that I just saw in the upcoming documentary “No Small Matter,“ about the importance of high-quality early childhood education experiences. I love it when that happens!

Being an introvert, I would have never thought of taking an acting class before, but now there is a definite lean toward improv. I am not sure there are too many new ideas in this book. It wasn't anything earth shattering, but it was amusing and educational. I enjoyed all of the real life examples. Communication requires efforts from both parties, but it has me wondering if I am doing all I can to place myself in someone else's shoes. I would like to see how well these techniques would work in the corrections environment in which I work. Inmates are often lousy communicators.

Being an introvert, I would have never thought of taking an acting class before, but now there is a definite lean toward improv. I am not sure there are too many new ideas in this book. It wasn't anything earth shattering, but it was amusing and educational. I enjoyed all of the real life examples. Communication requires efforts from both parties, but it has me wondering if I am doing all I can to place myself in someone else's shoes. I would like to see how well these techniques would work in the corrections environment in which I work. Inmates are often lousy communicators.