Whether it is in my home country (India) or in the US, one thought that has often occurred to me when it comes to teaching has been the “power of expression” of the teacher. It plays such an important role when one has to transfer knowledge from himself/herself to a wider audience.

I have often seen that it is not the most knowledgeable teacher that becomes most popular amongst the students but the teacher who can best “explain” oneself. Moreover, I have also felt that teachers/researchers who know the most or have done a lot of work in their respective field are not very comfortable talking about their own work in front of the “uninitiated”. It is in these respects that I feel that the “power of expression” becomes so important.

In lieu with this thought, when I attended the class on “Communicating Science”, I re-realized how learning to better communicate with others will not only help the “others” but will also help oneself. The fact that in order to bring money in the form of projects/grants requires being able to explain one’s work to the “lay” man/woman and make him/her interested enough to invest in it clearly summarizes the importance of the “power of expression”.  To conclude, in the current academic environment of higher education, I feel that being able to express one’s work is as much important or (more often) more important, than being able to do the work in the first place.