[MUSIC PLAYING]
CHRISTINE O'CONNELL:
Hi, everyone.
My name is Christine O'Connell.
I am an ocean and
environmental scientist,
and ever since I was a
little girl, I loved science.
From the second I
walked outside, I just
wanted to know how the world
worked-- until I got to college
and I studied science
and I ended up
getting really
disillusioned, because I
saw the work that I was doing.
I saw this really amazing cool
stuff happening around me.
And it ended up
eventually on a sheet
of paper next to lots of other
sheets of paper in a paper
journal on a shelf
with thousands
of other journals behind a door
and the walls in the confines
of a library.
There weren't electronic
journals then.
I don't even think
Google existed yet.
And it was really disheartening,
because the only people
that ever read that
one article were
other scientists--
15 other scientists
doing the exact same thing.
So I was young and
idealistic, and I didn't think
I was making a difference.
So I decided to
leave science and go
into environmental
advocacy and organizing
and policy for many years
and make a difference.
But I ended up getting
disillusioned with that
after a few years,
too, because I
saw policies being made that
didn't reflect the science.
And it was really frustrating.
I didn't understand
what the disconnect was.
So I thought, OK.
I'm going to go back to school.
I'm going to get my
Ph.D. In science.
And I'm going to
try and strengthen
those connections between
science, society, and policy.
Fast forward eight years
later-- as I was finishing up
my dissertation,
I got this e-mail
that went around from the
actor Alan Alda from "Mash."
And he wanted to do this
experiment with scientists
to help make us
better communicators.
And I thought to myself, OK.
This is what I want to do.
I want to strengthen
these connections.
I'll volunteer for this.
And not knowing what I was
getting myself into-- I
was with 12 other scientists.
And we ended up in a
room unlike this one--
or much like this one-- with
cameras around and microphones.
And I thought, what the
heck did I get myself into?
This is not what I signed
up for-- with Alan Alda
on the stage in front of us.
And he brought us up on stage.
And one of the first
things he had us doing
was throwing around
imaginary balls.
I want you all to put
your hand out for a second
and picture a tennis
ball in your hand.
Picture the weight of it.
Really see it.
Feel it.
Is it green?
Is it-- does it have
scratches on it?
Feel how heavy it is.
Maybe toss it up in
the air and catch it.
Maybe toss it around to
someone in the audience--
someone in the row around you.
I see lots of people getting hit
in the head with tennis balls.
But as you can imagine, me
and the 12 other scientists
up on stage-- we
were doing this.
And it was kind of fun.
It pushed us way out
of our comfort zone.
But I thought,
what the heck does
this have to do with making me
a better science communicator?
I went back, though,
week after week--
and doing these different
improv exercises.
And they did these
before and after videos
and we watched them.
And the difference was
striking for all of us
in how we improved in
talking about our science
just from doing
improv exercises.
And what was most
striking to me is
I thought I was a good
communicator beforehand.
I had taught this.
I had done this for a living
before I went back and got
my Ph.D. And my eight
years in grad school
had trained it all out of me.
And I don't think that's
something unique to science.
I think anybody that
studies something
so deeply-- whether you're
an engineer, whether you're
an artist, whether you're
in business-- you forget
what it's like not to know.
And a couple of economists
turn this phrase
a couple decades ago called
the curse of knowledge.
And you forget what it's
like not to know the jargon,
not to know the back story,
not to know why it's important.
And that's what improv
helped me reconnect
with-- that idea of empathy.
And this is what we
do at the Alda Center.
We teach improv.
We teach scientists how
to distill their message.
We work with doctors.
We work with engineers.
We work with scientists from
all different disciplines
and all different levels.
We've trained probably
tens of thousands
of scientists around the
country-- around the world
by now-- on these two pieces.
And it's being
empathetic-- really
opening up to your
audience-- thinking
about what are they
thinking right now?
What are they feeling right now?
What's their background?
And being clear
in how you say it,
like [? Presad ?] said before.
Bring your emotion back to your
work in how you talk about it
and express it, being
clear, using vivid imagery,
using analogies, metaphors,
narratives, storytelling.
And we're finding
amazing results.
Scientists aren't just becoming
better communicators now.
They're becoming
stronger scientists.
And this is one of the pieces
that really holds true for me
in this work-- is I do this
because I think communication
is at the base of science.
If you actually think back
to the scientific method--
think back to your
middle school classes--
when you learn the
scientific method.
What's the last step?
Does anybody remember in
the scientific method?
AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]
CHRISTINE O'CONNELL: Conclusion.
Reporting.
Often I hear publication.
Actually the last
step is dissemination.
It's communication itself.
And there's a reason for that.
Because science is this
living, breathing thing.
We have to learn from what
came before us to build on it.
We have to understand
that to build on it
and come up with a new
idea just like any field.
Any field that is going
to grow and innovate,
you need to be able to
communicate and understand
each other.
And if you're just
talking-- if you're just
putting publications out
there and not communicating--
if the other person
is not getting it,
it's not communication.
They have to get it for
it to be communication.
And that's your job.
And it's a shift in thinking.
It's your job to
make that happen.
And that's what this idea
of improvisation teaches
and what empathy
teaches us-- to think
about our audience
in a different way.
And one of the ways
we've done that is we've
created this contest
called the Flame Challenge.
The Flame Challenge-- has
anybody heard of it here?
Oh, good.
The Flame Challenge is a contest
for 11-year-olds and scientists
around the world.
And it's intended
for scientists.
It's intended as a way to
help scientists practice
communicating complex ideas
to 11-year-olds, and not
only to explain what
they are, but to get
them excited about it.
And it started when
Alan Alda was 11,
and he wanted to know how a
flame worked, what a flame was.
And he went and asked his
teacher, what's a flame?
And she said to
him, it's oxidation.
You can see that
wouldn't satisfy
a little 11-year-old mind.
And he challenged scientists
to go out there and come up
with an answer to this question.
And since then we've had five.
This year is, what is sound?
And the great thing
about this contest
is what started out as
a contest for scientists
and explaining and
exciting kids about this
has turned into a great
learning tool for kids.
We just had the worldwide
assembly on Tuesday, actually,
where we brought
in seven schools
from around the world to
discuss the question with Alan
and the finalists-- we have
three video and three written
finalists-- about
what they liked
and what they didn't like.
And one of my favorites was
this little 9-year-old boy
from England.
And he said, I like parts of it.
I like this one part, but it
was really confusing for me.
I didn't understand it.
But you know, I'm only nine.
I'm not 11.
He meant it.
And that's the point, right?
Everybody is different.
You can have one answer
prepared in your mind,
but a 9-year-old is going to be
different from an 11-year-old.
And every nine-year-old
is going to be different.
And you have to know in the
moment, are they getting it?
Are they with me?
And this is where
improv comes in-- is
taking care of your audience.
Taking care of the person.
Getting the focus off yourself
and instead of thinking,
what am I doing?
How am I doing?
Do I sound silly?
Are they getting it?
And putting the focus
on your audience,
and it makes all the difference.
I want to try an exercise.
It's going to be a
little interactive
since it's after lunch.
And it's part of
knowing your audience,
because I know you're probably
all a little tired right now.
Right?
Maybe drifting off.
You want to pay attention.
So everybody stand up
and grab a partner.
Try and stay around your seats.
Grab a partner.
Face each other.
Take a look at each other.
OK.
Now decide between
you who's person A
and who's person B. I'm
going to grab the two of you
and bring you up here.
Person A is themselves.
Person B is going to
be your mirror image.
OK?
Why don't you stand right there?
When I say go,
you're going to move.
If you're a person
A, if I go like this,
person B is going
to go like this.
If I hop to the side, you're
going to hop to the side.
Remember-- your goal is to be
the mirror image of person A.
Ready?
Go.
All right.
Stop for a second.
I want you to refocus
and pay attention
to-- what's your name?
Erica and Susie?
Pay attention to
Erica and Susie.
Ready?
Go.
Can you tell who's leading
and who's following?
Who's leading?
Oh, can you move to
the center of it?
Who was leading here?
AUDIENCE: Susie.
CHRISTINE O'CONNELL: Susie.
How did you know that?
AUDIENCE: [INAUDIBLE]
CHRISTINE O'CONNELL:
She was first.
And what else?
AUDIENCE: She followed her.
CHRISTINE O'CONNELL:
She was following.
She was lagging behind, right?
So this is-- your goal
is to be a mirror.
You don't want to see that lag.
You don't want to see your
audience lagging behind you.
So what could she do
differently to help her?
AUDIENCE: Talk.
CHRISTINE O'CONNELL: What
can Susie do differently?
You can't talk.
What can Susie do
differently to help Erica?
AUDIENCE: Slow down.
CHRISTINE O'CONNELL: Slow down.
Yes.
Slow down.
Slower.
What else can she do?
AUDIENCE: Do things simpler.
CHRISTINE O'CONNELL:
Simpler movements.
Right.
This isn't a contest to
trick your partner, right?
You don't want to jump to
the side and flip around.
You want simpler,
slower movements.
OK.
What else?
AUDIENCE: Patterns.
CHRISTINE O'CONNELL: Patterns.
Sure.
Be repetitive.
That's great.
What else can she do?
AUDIENCE: Work with the
audience. [INAUDIBLE]
CHRISTINE O'CONNELL: Yes.
Yes and body language.
Eye contact.
I know it's weird.
Most of you have just met the
person you're sitting next to,
and I know it's weird to ask you
to look into each other's eyes.
But look into each other's eyes.
You should keep
that eye contact.
Your focus should not be on what
movement am I going to do next.
Your focus should be
on are they getting it?
And if they're not, what
do I need to do differently
to help them get it?
It should be about
helping the other person.
So let's try it again.
And put your focus
on helping her.
And if she's not with
you, think about what
you can do differently to
help her stay with you.
Remember-- there's no race here.
You can go as slow as possible.
Mirror image.
Slow it down even more.
Ah.
Good.
Good.
Give them a hand.
OK.
Thank you.
You can sit.
OK.
You can all sit now.
But those are exactly the
points to keep in mind
when you're communicating.
Slower, simpler movements.
It's not about tricking the
person you're talking to.
It's not about showing
how clever you are
and how far behind
they are, although that
might be your goal, which
is why knowing your goal
is important here.
But if you actually
want them to get it,
your focus should be on
them and taking care of them
and helping them to get it.
And practicing these exercises
really helps you to get there.
And again, it comes back to that
idea of empathy and clarity,
being very clear in
your goal and being
very clear in your
audience and what
you want to help them achieve.
And being empathetic
as to where they are.
And if they're not with you--
if your audience isn't with you
and you're giving
a talk and you see
people nodding or falling asleep
or just looking spaced out,
they're not with you.
What do you need to do
differently to get them there?
With that, thank you very much.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
