Some general impressions on the live session:

Today we heard from Alan Alda, in his role as a science communicator, and Mariette DiChristina, Editor-in-Chief for Scientific American. Out of the gate:

"The human connection that comes about best through improv exercises is the fundamental element in communication. If you are not concerned with what is going on inside their head you are only worried about the message you are crafting. And if all you have is a message and you don't have connection ... you might as well not have a message." Alan Alda.

This comment hit me today listening to the opening session of our science blogging course. All too often I'm more interested in the message I'm crafting. Trying to find a way to be more persuasive, I rarely hold in my head an idea of what my audience is thinking, at least when it comes to writing. When teaching I have a pretty good idea of what my students are thinking, because I can see them responding to me and I can change my approach to help their understanding. But when I am writing, I am more concerned with what I am trying to say instead of being concerned with how the reader is responding to it. I'm intrigued by the notion that improv courses might improve this.

Mariette DiCristina spoke about the role of storytelling in Scientific American. Since its inception, the magazine has been about the personal trials of scientific research. What are the points of tension and drama? What were the mistakes? My favorite quote "In science, when people fail they fail forward." Once again, these storytelling techniques I employ in my classroom rarely make it into my writing.

Alan mentioned Marie Curie's dissertation as having incredible clarity and elements of story telling. "I did this, then this happened, and this other part was hard." I made a note to myself to go read it.