Let Me "Edutain" You

The Teaching Company is one of the most innovative enterprises in the delivery of educational products that I am aware of.  I purchased my first products from them in 1992 --- their series on the Great Minds of Western Civilization, which is now in its 3rd and expanded edition.

So you can imagine how thrilled I was when last year a representative from the The Teaching Company contacted me to visit my class and see if I would be interested in being considered to develop a course in economics.  A representative came to two of my graduate seminar lectures and we arranged for a sample lecture to be taped yesterday (September 7th) at their studio.  For my lecture I focused on "What We Have Learned Since the Collapse of Communism".

I have had a few brushes with prime time viewing --- I was interviewed for the Stossel show once and I was interviewed for over 6 hours for the PBS series "The Commanding Heights" and even was taped in a discussion with Daniel Yergen on the theoretical reasons why socialism failed.  But in both instances I ended up on the cutting room floor.  So my TV experience has been limited to either local cable TV --- e.g., Joe Salerno and I were on Murray Sabrin's "Your Money Up in Smoke" cable access show which was an absolutely hilarious experience and just last year I was on GMU TV --- or getting caught on C-SPAN every once in a while. But not on network news (when I was supposed to be on ABC News in NYC when the August 1991 Coup occurred) or Public TV.

Why?  Well self-criticism must set in and I think I have reasons, and I tell all my students that they should focus on if they want to be effective communicators in this day and age:

• Articulate --- I am not very eloquent in my speech, they should be;
• Symmetric --- I don't know if I am symmetrical or not, but I think there must be some asymmetry there that doesn't translate well on camera;
• Tall and lean --- there are returns to height and being in good shape;
• Dress --- having good taste and a sense of appropriate attire is valued.

I don't know what the outcome of my taping from yesterday will be. I hope I get the chance to develop a course for The Teaching Company. But I am not sure I took care of my articulation problems nor whatever asymmetries might appear in my physical appearance that would make me a better communicator in the TV age.  We will see.