One of the best professors I ever had was a man whose name I unfortunately can’t remember.
It was a long, long time ago before the Internet, even before desktop computers. It was my first semester in graduate school at The Ohio State University. The course topic was communication theory. It met for three hours each Monday night.
On the first night of the course the professor, a handsome 40-ish guy dressed in business casual, entered the small classroom and sat on a stool in the front
of the room. There were about 25 of us. And for the next two and a half hours he talked, mesmerizing each and every one of us with information about the basics of, importance of, stories about, and research into communication theory. He never moved from the stool, never wrote on a board, never held anything in his hands and did not bring anything to class. Yet not a single person in the class that night came away with anything but awe…at both his knowledge and his ability to impart that knowledge in an almost hypnotic way.
Even years and years and years later I have never forgotten that night and the15 subsequent nights of that course.
He was a great teacher. He connected with the subject matter and with the students. He was involved. Yet he did not pace around the room, did not stand up, did not raise his voice in incredible enthusiasm. But he connected.
Every teacher is a performer. But every teacher has to find her own way to perform and to connect. She doesn’t necessarily have to be an evangelist seeking to convert the unconverted. She just has to use the skills she has to bond student to subject.
It does still involve passion and enthusiasm, but driven forward by a style that is the professor’s own. The unknown professor above had a speaking style that was quiet. But it was not a monotone delivery. It was sincere and it was intelligent and it was incredibly interesting…to listen to and to watch. There was amazing intensity in him for his subject and that intensity spread to every student in the course.
Setting a high standard for yourself is the first quality of a great professor. Finding those characteristics and ways to connect that are purely personal to you as a presenter of ideas and information can make you an even greater teacher.
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