Michael Pacchione

Michael Giancarlo Pacchione has a dramatic name. 

Seemingly influenced by his moniker, Mike communicates intensely, drawing comparisons between prison dodgeball and public speaking.

Mike reflects fondly on teaching at Portland State and recommends it for graduate students. The classroom training helped him understand deadlines and organization, while teaching public speaking translated well to his current position as a student employment advisor at the Art Institute of Portland. Working with Portland State students helped Mike fine-tune his sensitivity to different communication styles, and helped him create a classroom conducive to learning. 

“Something I loved about teaching public speaking was that you get to see students wrestle with fear,” he says. And then, without even knowing it, the fear turns to success. “You get to see them make progress.”

As a student employment advisor Mike encourages students to take a public speaking approach when interviewing for internships. That means “think like an employer to understand your audience.”

“This may sound crazy, but, I actually teach the resume material using some of the public speaking organizational tools. Interviewing is like a speech: you make an argument about why you should be hired.”

While at Portland State Mike examined cell phone influence on friendships. The idea stemmed from an experience walking home from class one night. Mike only had limited minutes and most of his close friends lived on the east coast. After scrolling through his phone, Mike decided to call his friend Rob, but stopped cold when he realized Rob was on a different calling plan.

Mike wondered whether telephone plans influenced who gets called. “One thing that was interesting was the very concept that I was walking home and I felt like I had time to kill… so I wanted to call someone.”

Researchers call this “nowhere time.” This cell phone sage waxes on philosophical about the applied implications of his research. Mike supposes that people may talk on the phone to avoid the stresses of life.

To help avoid stress, Mike advises graduate students to figure out their research area as soon as possible, and above all, make sure that is something that suits your passions.

“Choose a topic that interests you. I think you’d probably want to kill yourself if you don’t.”

Story and Photo By Melissa Shavlik