Analyzing the rhetorical skills of a professor…this is something that is hard to do. One of the professors that I have had the honor of learning from this semester severely lacks rhetorical skills. Obviously every professor is going to establish a strong sense of logos. They are, in fact, teaching you about subjects that (most of the time) have facts and statistics to back them up. The departments that I personally feel that this professor in particular is lacking in would most definitely be ethos and pathos.
This professor talks ‘at’ me instead of ‘to’ me and establishes no sense of why we are learning each topic or how it applies to my life. Honestly, he gives me no reason to want to pay attention besides the fact that I would like to learn. There is no passion that can be seen or heard in his words or actions and I couldn’t tell you the last time that I have wanted to hear more of his lecturing.
I feel that, to truly be an effective professor, you must also be a very good rhetorician. It is just like whenever we were giving our speeches. Yes, it is important to establish credibility and logic in your argument, but that is not the sole basis of your talk. Would you rather listen to someone who is droning on and on about a topic, or someone who is genuinely excited to teach you and is clearly passionate about the issue at hand? Exactly. The second answer!
Don’t get me wrong, I dearly love this professor, but I would appreciate it if he would brush up on his rhetorical skills!
I totally understand how you feel! My international politics professor basically throws information at as, and because the information can be dry at times, you absolutely need to do the readings beforehand, so you can at least get a sense of what he’s referring to. I feel that professors who actually take the time to engage the audience through pathos, like with laughter (everyone’s favorite medicine) or setting a serious tone so everyone is on the edge of their seat, would make learning the material easier. I understand that depending on the subject, you can’t do that because some professors don’t want to spend too much time, but there should be a balance between the two. As for credibility, professors have that implied because of their profession. They have suffered through school, just like we are right now, so their experience and education has led them to where they are today, so perhaps we can ask them to take sometime to go back to when they were undergrads and try to put themselves in our shoes and change their teaching methods to accommodate our needs. Perhaps that would ameliorate their teaching methods by connecting on that level.