Scan barcode
jcoker10's review against another edition
4.0
Great fun and very helpful, especially as a scientist. Alda distills the key strategies for communicating better with humor and fun, and he makes a strong case that we should all think about it, and each other, a lot more often.
annettefunnycello's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty good. Do yourself a favour and get the audiobook version -- Alda narrates it and his voice is welcome in my car any day, plus he's a slow talker so turning the speed up a bit works well. The lessons are limited yet VERY VALUABLE, and repeated with many examples so I got the message. It's a good message: I'm not communicating unless my listener is engaged and listening -- it's my job to communicate in a way that engages the listener. Good clinical skill, teaching skill, life skill. It's all about empathy -- meet the other where the other is at. I finished this is one four-hour drive.
reenie83's review against another edition
5.0
I was caught off guard by this book. I like Alan Alda but didn’t know much about him besides his acting. I loved how interested he was with communication and all the work and research he put into learning more about it and sharing all that knowledge with others. I may not be good at putting those concepts into practice but I was so drawn into listening to Alan talk about it all.
angelofmusic317's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
jenmangler's review against another edition
3.0
It feels important, now more than ever, that we be able to communicate with each other effectively. This book helped me think about successful communication in a new way. I appreciate Alda's curiosity more than anything else. It's infectious.
avesmaria's review against another edition
3.0
Introduced some interesting ideas that ties into some of what I’ve read about child development in a really cool way. Yet, no bibliography or citations or footnotes in this book that’s supposedly about science. Some reviewers mentioned (and I agree) that it isn’t particularly factually rigorous in that sense. The overall shape of the book gets fractured a little by having a billion small chapters. But it is a fun read. Alda is a talented storyteller.
droggjr's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. Although Alan Alda wrote it, this book could have been written by anyone. He barely mentioned himself. It was written well and very enjoyable.
megstro's review against another edition
4.0
I just really wish that Alan Alda had a seminar for communicating history to teenagers—partly because I’m all about self-improvement, but also because I want Alan Alda to be my grandfather. As a corollary, I want my actual grandfather (whom I adore, and who is a scientist who cannot communicate) to go to one of Alan Alda’s seminars.