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Evaluating Communication
This week’s assignment has added some very important revelation
about who I am as a communicator. On completion of the three assessments, I was
surprised that my colleague and family members were in total agreement with the
results of my own evaluation.
Overall my colleague and family members think that
communication does not seem to be something I worry a great deal about because
I seem to maintain a good balance between respect and consideration for others’
viewpoints. However, despite this flexibility in balancing communication
without being too aggressive, they believe that this may work against me. Why?
This is so because they believe that I need to balance my empathetic nature
with getting all the details/information before making decisions to trust
people wholeheartedly. I have often thought that it was important to give people
the benefit of the doubt in building relationships. I do not believe that I am going
to change being empathetic or people oriented. Yet I will use the following two
insights very carefully to advance my communication skills. Firstly, I will ensure
that there are no “potential barriers” blocking my communication channel,
including any “narrow perspectives and stereotyping” of people (O'Hair, D., & Wiemann,
M. (2012, p.44). Secondly, I will also seek to use “the appropriate level of
self-monitoring for the situation and the people involved in being a successful
communicator. By doing this, I can effectively strike the balance for proper
judgment (O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012, p.56). I would also like to
leave the following quotes that I have found useful for my effective
communication:
Jim Rohn quotes
(American Speaker and Author.
He is famous for motivational audio programs for Business and Life.
Anthony Robbins
quotes (American advisor to leaders).
References
Communication quotes. (1999-2013).
Retrieved from http://thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/communication/.com
O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real
communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.
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Saturday, September 28, 2013
Evaluating Communication
Saturday, September 21, 2013
Communicating Effectively
Communicating Effectively
There are several aspects that make our culture and it never
ceases to amaze me how diverse we are in the way we look at and do things. For me, I find
myself communicating differently with people from different groups and
cultures. This has to be so, because as O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M.
(2012, p.4) points out, "communication is a complex and dynamic process." It is “the
process by which individuals use symbols, signs, and behaviors to exchange
information” (2012, p.4). It is this complexity in communication that forms the
basis for clearer understanding between individuals from diverse cultural
background. Thus, I find that I do not
initiate discussions on religion, political affiliations sexual orientations,
body types or race outside of family or good friends. I have made this commitment
from a very early age, because these issues are personal and sensitive and can
result in the breakdown of communication to the point where it damages
relationships forever.
With regard to my fellow co-workers/colleagues,
teachers /professors, my communication with them is largely influenced by my
cultural background. We were trained or socialized to say “yes/no ma’am or sir.”
This kind of communication address is seen as respectful and is not dependent on
whether you like or dislike the individual. Hence, the language used in these
circumstances will be more formal, precise and even more sophisticated. With my
special friends and family members our communication techniques will vary. Our
body language will be more relaxed and we even switched our manner of speaking using
our Creole or Patois (pronounced Pat’wah) to emit laughter and to humor serious
situations.
Based on what I have learnt this
week, I would like to put forward the following three strategies for effective communication
with people of groups:
Firstly, we need to be respectful.
Learning to be respectful is helpful in understanding and embracing others not
only with different point of view but others from different cultural
backgrounds.
Secondly, we need to be sensitive.
Sensitivity awareness will help others to be relaxed and feel more comfortable
to communicate in whatever setting, whether in the classroom or in a staff
meeting /and or parent conference.
Thirdly, though not finally, we
need to be tactful. According to O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012, p.17), “a
successful communicator needs to develop the ability to determine what is appropriate
and what is not in a variety of cultural situations” (2012, p.17). This will help
us to “create and maintain mature
interpersonal relationships, whether professional or personal” states, C. (n. d.)
References
O'Hair,
D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New
York: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Web Therapy
The T.V. show I viewed was “Web
Therapy.” I heard about the show from my daughter who saw Lisa Kudrow being
interviewed on the “The View” sometime ago. Therefore, this is not a show I
would normally watch. The show was Season 1 Episode 1. As the show began, the
therapist, Dr. Fiona Wallace, played by Lisa Kudrow, tried to adjust her webcam
for a session. There was someone in the background with whom she seemed frustrated
as she tried to get his attention to what she was doing but he kept focusing his
attention on various things in her office. She also seemed to be testing the
computer as it seemed she would be conducting her therapy sessions via video
chat.
The “someone” in the background that
she, Dr. Fiona kept on directing, turned out to be Kip Wallace who seemed to be
her first test client. Because they were seated next to each other with their
respective computers/laptops, he tended to look to his left when speaking to
her rather than at his webcam. They seem to be friends/and or business partners.
As the show progressed, the therapist had three other characters, Richard Pratt,
Jerome Sokollof and Gina Spinks. These three characters I assumed were her
clients. Towards the end of the show Kip called back, this time from home it seemed
with a glass of wine in his hand.
The feelings and expressions based on the non –verbal
behavior I was observing ranged from shock to bewilderment, confidence,
embarrassment, frustration and even blushing. For example at the beginning, Kip
seemed to be expressing issues he needed to work out. As the conversation
became intense, (i.e. when something that seemed heavy came up) he turned to
his left instead of looking straight at the camera. Richard’s expression of confusion (jaw
dropping stares and blank expressions, knitted brow) by the advice given to him
by the therapist, had me wondering what was the advice he was being given as he
fidgeted with a stress ball, while she, the therapist, seemed very confident,
relaxed, with right arm /elbow on the back of her chair, (smiling,
gesticulating, and nodding). Gina seemed shocked and confused as she played
with a “slinky” during her session. Smiling a lot while talking and looking doe -eyed
at times, she seemed eager to follow the prescribed ideas as she wrote them down.
Jerome, however, seemed to be an amateur at using the computer as he was not
able to be seen for a while. He was not directly in front of the webcam. Jerome seemed to frustrate the therapist as
his rapid head movements suggested that he was not in agreement with her
advice.
Based on the interpretations of the non-verbal
communications that I have observed, I was wrong about who was the owner of the
business. I could never tell that Fiona and Kip was actually a married couple
for 17 years and that Fiona was using Kip as a test client for her business as
a therapist. I never knew that Gina was not a client but a former co-worker and
an inside informer on the others. It was an eye-opener that Fiona was actually
flirting with Richard and was experiencing pangs of jealousy when she heard that
he was going to propose to his girlfriend. Her blushing and hand gesture (showing
her ring) was misinterpreted by me that it was Richard who was flirting with
her. Personally, if I was watching a show that I knew well, I would have been
more accurate with my assumptions. Why?
I would have been more familiar with the plot and the characters and
would have known more about how they relate to each other over a period of time
to judge or predict more accurately.
I have learnt from this blog assignment
that I cannot hastily judge others based only on their non-verbal cues and as O'Hair,
D., & Wiemann, M. (2012, p.130) states, “that just because we tend to place
more stock in non-verbal communication, doesn’t mean that we are always right”
(2012, p. 130).This was indeed my “aha” moment when I watched the film, “Web Therapy.”
References
O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M.
(2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St.
Martin's.
Web Therapy, http://www.sockshare.com/file/E2D9DE50B3D852B0#
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