Sub⋅lin⋅gual

adj -situated under the tongue, or on the underside of the tongue. With the gravitas of timeless wisdom, an ancient proverb offers "The Teacher" a rubric for life: “Where words are many, sin is not absent, but the person who holds their tongue is wise”. The student of master-teaching soon discovers that the best teachers teach by everything they do and are careful to use words only when necessary. Sociological research consistently reveals that approximately 85% of communication is nonverbal.

Unfortunately there are teachers (and more than a few subs) who equate education with excessive verbiage (my propensity ....in case you couldn't tell). I suspect that some of us may stumble into this pitfall more out of our own insecurities (lack of prep, disruptions, interruptions, etc., etc.). It's easier to "appear" prepared by simply adding more words rather than owning our lack of preparation that would have helped avoid this occupational pitfall. I was recently reminded of how clarity trumps babble when effective communication is the goal. Most probably know

that President Lincoln's famed "Gettysburg Address" (arguably the greatest Presidential speech ever delivered) was only 272 words in length. But did you know that Edward Everett (speaker just before Lincoln) spoke for over two hours and did so totally from memory? Thirteen thousand words in length! Ancient rhetoricians referred to these marathon orations as "the grand style". I'm convinced that many of us (perhaps unknowingly) are guilty of employing this counterproductive style still today (in the era of "text messaging" & "sound bytes"!) The only thing "grand" about unnecessary gab is the irreplaceable enormity of time that is wasted with students.

Not long ago I attended a sizable (over 4K in attendance) education conference where the guest speaker, John Maxwell said, “Educators tend to take things that are simple and make them complex while communicators take things that are complex and make them simple.” The laughs across the five thousand seat auditorium was only validation of just how true that statement was -though I must admit not all in attendance were laughing. We've all had teachers who couldn't communicate to save their lives and yet, some of us have also known competent communicators who couldn't teach others a lesson with any lasting substance. The best teachers know what high-octane learning looks like when it's driven with the combination of studious preparation and the art of communication.

We might be able to impress people an abundance of words, but real impact takes place when educators authentically commit to being communicators. Teachers who master the art of “economizing words” (saying more with less rather than less with more) will not only see the compounding fruits of their labor but will also enjoy the much more satisfying, savory sweetness that only such fruit can offer.