How do you sound to your students?

Linda Glassburn, Assistant Professor

Cuyahoga Community College

Cleveland, OH

What is a great communicator?

• Are you?

– Prepared

– Committed

– Interesting

• Do you?

– Make students comfortable

Prepared• Assess the knowledge, interests

and needs of your listeners.

• Review the lecture

• Prepare an outline

• Use your own material

• Be prepared

Committed

• Be yourself

• Be your best

• Be persuasive

• Show your commitment

• Be committed

Interesting

• Imagination

• Don’t be boring

• Style versus substance

• Think creatively

• Be interesting, you must be committed

Make students comfortable

• Appear comfortable

• Be positive

• Stay clear of bad news

• Accept students for who they are

• Be comfortable

Do you use fillers when speaking?

• Do you use the word “OK” after every sentence?

• Do you use “ah’s and um’s” in your lecture?

• Do you use proper grammar during your lecture?

Example of fillers

The Course Technology 2009 Conference – ah- is in Las Vegas – ah- and this is – ah- my first time in Vegas. I always – ah- look forward to attending the conference – ah- during my spring break. – um- I wish all of you – um- a wonderful time. – ok-

Impromptu speaking

• Will improve your speaking skills

• Make you aware of when its time for a break

• Make you ready to respond to any comment

• Get your student’s attention

A Great Communicator

• Practice the way you present information to the students.

• Try different introductions.

• Exaggerate the message.

• Force students to use a specific vocabulary word during each class.

The word of the day

Philomath \FIL-uh-math\, noun:A lover of learning; a scholar. • It is precisely for the Philomath's that universities ought to

cater. --Aldous Huxley, Proper Studies

• "It's nothing to laugh about," he says. "Strange things happen in this country--things that philosophers and other Philomath's had never dreamed of." --Tomek Tryzna, Miss Nobody

Philomath is from the Greek philomathes, "loving knowledge," from philos, "loving, fond" + mathein, "to learn, to understand."

Prepare yourself

• Opening

• Body

• Use the “word” Philomath

• Closing

Speaking Roles• Grammarian

– Count the “uh’s”, “um’s” and “ok’s”– Note that the word of the day is used

• Timer– Times each speaker for 2 minutes – raising hand when

there is 30 seconds left for the speaker to close• Speaker

– Speaks impromptu for 2 minutes on a selected topic• Evaluator

– Evaluates the speaker (up to 2 minutes) with a short summary, noting the positives and a statement for improvement

Topics of the day• Funniest class moment• Favorite vacation• Best class taught• Why you selected to become a

professor?• Something that you wish to share

with us

Conclusion

• Be aware of how you sound to your students.– Ask a peer to evaluate your lecture

• Practice impromptu speaking to improve your professional lectures.– Attend Toastmasters or Dale Carnegie training

• Be the professional speaker.

Internet Resources

• Dale Carnegie Training– www.dalecarnegie.com– Select, Search locations, select a state or zip code

• Toastmasters International– www.toastmasters.org– Select, find a location near you, enter United

States, state or zip code• American Communication Association

– http://www.americancomm.org• National Speakers Association

– http://www.nsaspeaker.org

Book Resources

• Genderspeak: Men, Women, and the Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense. Suzette Haden Elgin, Ph.D. John Wiley & Sons Inc., 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 0012. 1993.  ISBN: 0471580163

• How to Read a Person Like A Book, Gerald Nierenberg. Original 1971.   Pocket Books; Reissue edition (December 1982) ISBN: 0671735578

• Speaking Your Mind in 101 Difficult Situations. Don Gabor, Simon & Schuster, New York. 1994 ISBN: 0671795058

• That's Not What I Meant! How conversational style makes or breaks relationships. Deborah Tannen. Ballantine Books; Reprint edition (January 1991) ISBN: 0345340906

Book Resources

• How to Win Friends & Influence People, Dale Carnegie, Simon & Schuster, New York. 1982 ISBN: 0671723650

• When I say no, I feel guilty (bestseller on Assertiveness Training). Manuel J. Smith. Bantam/Non-Fiction; Reissue edition (February 1, 1975) ISBN: 0553263900

• Will the Real Me Please Stand Up?: 25 Guidelines for Good Communication.  John Powell, Thomas More Publishing; Reprint edition (June 1995) ISBN: 88347316X

• You Just Don't Understand: Women and Men in Conversation. Deborah Tannen. Original 1990.  Quill; (July 24, 2001) ISBN: 0060959622