Silence as a Teaching Tool

According to Aldous Huxley, “There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.” The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines perception as a “result of perceiving” or an “observation.” In higher education institutions, student perception is valued because of its potential impact on everything from course evaluations to alumni marketing and, in some cases, public perception of an institution’s credibility. 

Angeline M. Lavin and colleagues reported that students identified faculty preparation as one of the highest ranking traits impacting credibility. Interestingly, the study results suggested that faculty with casual dress attire “may need to be better prepared in order to achieve the same level of credibility as an instructor dressed in business casual or professional attire.” In addition, Leon Korte and collaborators reported that students identified strong communication skills as the faculty trait most important to good teaching.

While adjusting lecture attire is an easy thing to do, becoming stronger communicators presents a different challenge. How course content is communicated to students makes a difference in learning. Many faculty occasionally interject filler words—also known as crutch words—such as “um,” “uh,” “like,” “you know,” “so,” and “right?” This usually happens at a transition to maintain the “conversational floor” while collecting thoughts on what to say next. Unfortunately, some faculty use filler words incessantly and, according to Noah Zandan, they’re distracting and give the impression that faculty are nervous and/or inauthentic. In fact, data suggests that the average speaker uses a filler word every twelve seconds.

The first step in removing filler words from lectures is becoming aware of them. In preparing my PhD students to become strong communicators, several microteaching sessions are incorporated into courses and research defense preparations. Microteaching is a tool that can be modified to meet various academic needs. For PhD students working towards becoming faculty, microteaching consists of having them present short lectures or research defenses to a small group of faculty and/or classmates while someone records the lecture. The student then spends time after class watching the video to identify the type and number of filler words used. Students are often surprised by their frequent use of filler words, because most of them haven’t previously listened to themselves lecture. The process is repeated several times with an informed purpose of minimizing or eliminating filler words. The best replacement for filler words is a simple pause. Rather than filling in a speaking transition, say nothing at all. Rather than ending each point with a rhetorical question, allow silence to fill the space and then move on to the next point.     

Just as Solomon tells us in Proverbs 1:5, “Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance,” faculty can learn to become stronger communicators through an intentional avoidance of filler words. In turn, students are more likely to perceive faculty in a manner that directly increases credibility and improves the learning environment.

Author

Eric Johnson

Eric G. Johnson, DSc, PT, MS-HPEd, NCS, is a Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at Loma Linda University School of Allied Health Professions, USA. He was the 2014 recipient of the Loma Linda University Kinzer-Rice Award for Excellence in University Teaching.