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Believe it or not one of our former teachers is starring in the movie
The Matrix. His name is Jeremy Ball; he hails from Australia and has a
small scene in the movie.
I learned "presence" from Jeremy. About ten years ago, when
my husband decided to run for public office, he held his first campaign
kick-off party. About 400 people were invited, and our Little America
staff was there to show our support. After the initial speeches, I had
to introduce our staff to the audience.
I was somewhat nervous and spoke
Japanese as best as I could. No one really paid any attention to me since
it appeared they were more interested in the food than in what I had to
say. I then introduced my staff, and there was polite applause as each
teacher said a few words. When Jeremy's turn came, he stood tall at the
mike with his feet apart, his hands clasped behind his back and his chest
stuck out. He then breathed in slowly and made a hissing sound as if he
were going to say something great. There was a hushed silence as everyone
(all 400 people) waited to see what he was going to say and what he was
going to do.
He had the complete hall in the palm of his hand. All he said was his
name, where he was from and a friendly "yoroshiku." But the
audience was enthralled with him. After he finished, everyone went back
to chattering and eating. But that incident made a terrific impression
on me. How did he do that? He did it with "presence." He looked
at his audience, assessed it, addressed it and won it over.
It doesn't surprise me that Jeremy was able to land himself a part in
a major motion picture. He always captivated his audience here in Fukuoka
when he was teaching. All the students adored him. When he walked into
a classroom, there was a pause and then silence; and as if he were a conductor
about to lift his baton to alert the musicians, he looked at the class
and then began. He could always hold everyone's interest, even if he hadn't
been prepared for class.
I urge you to think about and develop your own sense of presence and use
it to your advantage to captivate and win over your students. And please
see The Matrix and look for Jeremy Ball!
Helene Jarmol Uchida
Helene Jarmol Uchida is a veteran teacher with teaching, curriculum
development and teacher training experience in the U.S., Greece and Japan.
She is the director of the Fukuoka-based
Little America English Schools
and lectures at Fukuoka Kyoiku Daigaku. She holds the
LATEM seminars every year
in cities throughout Japan and is also the author of 'The Challenge Book',
an interactive English book and CD especially created for Japanese
elementary school students.
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