“People are dying because we can’t communicate in ways that allow us to understand one another. That sounds like an exaggeration, but I don’t think it is.” The actor Alan Alda wrote that sentence three years ago, but it’s more relevant today than ever.
While most people know Alda for his memorable television characters such as Hawkeye Pierce in M*A*S*H, Alda’s passion for science communication might make an even longer lasting impact on future generations.
Building relationships to create trust is at the heart of the training method that Alda and his colleagues have taught to 15,000 scientists over the last decade. In the absence of trust, it becomes much harder to persuade people to change behaviors or take actions for the common good such as wearing masks, social distancing, or getting vaccinated to reduce the spread of Covid-19.
This week, just as the first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine were being distributed and administered, I spoke to Laura Lindenfeld, the executive director of the Alan Alda Center for Communicating Science at Stony Brook University. She explained some of the training exercises Alda has created to help scientists explain their work in clear, vivid, and relatable language.
One exercise in particular holds valuable lessons for scientists, government agencies, and healthcare professionals who need to build the public’s trust when it comes to the vaccine and other health measures to end the pandemic.
It’s an incredibly powerful exercise that Alda adapted from theater training: improvisation.
“Improv is not about acting or being on a stage; it’s about being present in the moment,” Lindenfeld explained. “It’s about listening and hearing and empathy.”
Improvisation, as its taught in the Alda Method, follows two principles: listening and relating.
The ‘YES, AND’ System
Business books implore us to be good listeners, but most of us don’t ‘listen’ as well as we think we do. We simply wait for our turn to speak. In improv, an actor has to really pay attention to what the other actor is saying, paying careful attention to their words. The secret is to acknowledge what was said and add to the discussion.
Yes, I hear what you’re saying…and I’m going to build on it.
As Lindenfeld explained the YES, AND technique, I thought about this week’s remarks from U.S. Surgeon General, Jerome Adams.
During the Covid-19 vaccination kickoff on Monday, December 14, Adams said, “Today is a truly an historic day. The development of a Covid-19 vaccine is nothing short of revolutionary.”
Adams then did a version of the YES, AND principle. First he acknowledged that, yes, some communities have lost a degree of trust in the medical establishment. Adams said:
“We know that lack of trust is a major cause of reluctance, especially in communities of color. That lack of trust is not without good reason as the Tuskegee studies occurred within many of our own lifetimes. To truly combat vaccine hesitancy, we must first acknowledge this real history of mistreatment and exploitations of minorities by the medical community and the government.”
Adams then added to the conversation to ease their concerns:
“We need to explain and demonstrate all that has been done to redress these wrongs. The protection and safeguards in place like the HHS Office for Human Research Protections, and independent review boards, and data and safety monitoring boards to make sure tragedies like the Tuskegee syphilis study…never happens again.”
[For more context about the Tuskegee study, this column in the New York Times traces the historical roots of vaccine skepticism]
Adams tackled vaccine skepticism again on Sunday morning’s Face the Nation.
“I’m the United States Surgeon General but make no mistake about it. I’m an African American…I’ve talked about the history of mistreatment of communities of color…We need to recognize that that distrust comes from a real place. This legacy is important to me and helping restore that trust is important.”
You can’t build on a conversation without first hearing what the other person is saying.
Make Your Partner Look Good
Making your partner look good is the second rule of improv that applies to Covid conversations.
“In the world of communication and interpersonal interaction, your job is to make your partner look good—even if you disagree with them,” says Lindenfeld.
In other words, building trust requires relating to people. People relate to you if you can find ways to lift them up and feel valued.
Alan Alda himself demonstrated this concept himself during a recent television interview when a cable television anchor offered a theory for vaccine hesitancy.
“Maybe some people are just stupid,” the host said.
“I certainly don’t think that people are stupid,” Alda fired back. They should be questioning things. Scientists are professional skeptics.”
Alda said that treating people with respect is a bridge to effective communication—and a step toward persuading them to see your point of view.
“No one is going to change their mind about their behavior if we shame them into it,” Alda added.
“Listen to them, find out what they care about, what their objection is and enter into a discussion with them. We have to realize that we are in the same boat as our friends and neighbors who don’t agree with the vaccine or wearing a mask. Don’t just throw them overboard because it’ll only make them want to throw us overboard.”
Alda picked up on this theme on Friday during a virtual summit with Dr. Anthony Fauci on the subject of building trust in science.
Directing his remarks to scientists and healthcare professionals, Alda said, “Remember that a broad audience is not going to have spent their lives studying your subject in the detail that you’ve spent your life studying it. They’re not stupid for not knowing this stuff. They just haven’t directed their attention to the subject.”
Alda says it’s urgent that scientists communicate effectively because “science will save us from this pandemic.” No one can tell 330 million people in America what to do and expect them to just do it. They have to be persuaded to take action in their best interest and for the good of the larger community.