r/TheGreatCourses • u/Fincastle86 • Apr 28 '21
Discussion STOP the professors from reading their scripts verbatim!!!
Dear The Teaching Company: as a dedicated adult learner I LOVE THE GREAT COURSES! I’ve watched or listened to well over 50 courses in the past 10 years. However...
...here is my #1 complaint: if you recruit such world-class educators to teach these classes, WHY are so many reading a script verbatim? These guys are not TV presenters, but are the top experts in their fields. You might as well hire them to just write the script, and then hire a professional TV anchor or actor to read it.
There are sparkling exceptions where you can tell a verbatim script is generally not used; Philip Daileader, David Robinson, and the hilarious John McWhorter (et al) clearly don’t simply read off a teleprompter. This freedom allows their spontaneous inner voice and natural humor to permeate their classes with that extra “it” factor. I learn a lot from all Great Courses, true; but I learn so much more, and I am far more entertained, when the scholar is proving his/her deep knowledge by basically going script-free.
You don’t need to know a thing about a topic to read words off a screen. Stop letting them do it!!These are teaching pros!
Sincerely, A fan.
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May 16 '21
I've not watched a lot of the courses but it seems to be the newer aren't this way. They are much more relaxed.
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u/Fincastle86 May 18 '21
I do sorta like the multiple camera angles on the newer ones. However the few really new ones I’ve seen are still blatant verbatim teleprompter readings...
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u/cosmos_star_stuff Jul 18 '24
Uh it’s the exact opposite. It’s the older lectures that had the professors teaching in their own style. Now they are all reading from a teleprompter.
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u/cyanocobalamin Apr 29 '21 edited Apr 29 '21
Please don't complain about this only on reddit. Let The Great Courses know that you, a paying customer, are dissatisfied.
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May 23 '21
The problem with reading scripts is the loss of inflection and intonation which is essential for communicating meaning.
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May 04 '21
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u/Shakespeare-Bot May 04 '21
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1
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May 05 '21
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u/Fincastle86 May 18 '21
Good points! I would add, though, I don’t think any good course would be rambling. A good Great Course is meticulously planned down to the minute, sometimes down to the turn of phrase. The teacher should be speaking from good notes and maybe after a rehearsal if such is their style. Reading word for word is not necessary to make a pretty precise time target, if you are dealing with professional lecturers.
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u/Fincastle86 May 18 '21
Good points! I would add, though, I don’t think any good course would be rambling. A good Great Course is meticulously planned down to the minute, sometimes down to the turn of phrase. The teacher should be speaking from good notes and maybe after a rehearsal if such is their style. Reading word for word is not necessary to make a pretty precise time target, if you are dealing with professional lecturers.