Who am I as a Communicator?

For my blog this week, I had to think about the similarities and differences between how I evaluated myself as a communicator and how 2 others evaluated me. Therefore for this experiment I chose one of my sons, someone that knows me very well, and a co-worker that I know but do not have a very close relationship with. However what surprised me the most was that my son, and a co-worker who I chose to evaluate me said that I like to talk in small groups and in large crowds. I found this very interesting because I myself feel somewhat intimidated by others whom I think have a strong sense of confidence when I have to follow them in communicating important information.

Furthermore through doing the assessments this week on communicating as a communicator I learned that we may see ourselves as communicating in one manner or method, but others may view us as communicating in a completely different style. Another insight I had was that others view me as showing confidence when speaking to others. I found this interesting as well because I feel if my co-worker, and my son see this strong ability in me to speak with others I feel this is encouraging and will help me be more open when communicating with other staff and the families I work with as an early childhood professional.   

 

“Communicating Differently”

 Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures?

In answering this question I had to put it to the test to see if I really did or did not communicate differently when interacting with colleagues from work, my neighbors or even my family. The outcome gave me a greater insight of how unknowingly without thinking I really did communicate with others differently based on who they were as people in a particular environment or situation, but not by culture or race.  

In communicating differently with the school director I communicated more professionally as an employer to employee relationship. When I communicate with co-workers, and some colleagues and seeing that the center is a small environment, and that we have become very close I communicated with them on a more casual level. On the other hand the wonderful lady that does all our cooking is from India. When communicating with her I use a more simple clear language and I speak more slowly because she is still learning the meaning of some of the English language spoken even though she can communicate in English. Also some of my neighbors in my community are somewhat older. When communicating with them and other neighbors my interactions are simply, hi, bye or how are you doing today? Our conversations are never very long unless we have time to sit, and even then our communication is only about what’s going on in our neighborhood or health problems they may have. But when talking with my family we talk about everything, and even all at once. I communicate personal information about myself that I would not normally talk about with my co-workers, neighbors or my director.

Therefore based on what I have learned this week about effective communication, and the new strategies I could use to help me communicate more effectively, I believe may help me overall become a better communicator.  I believe when communicating with the lady that does the cooking for us, I could take more time in explaining words that she does not understand of the English language which I believe would help her in comprehending the English language more easily, and when communicating with others. When communicating with the older neighbors in my neighborhood I could communicate with them on a more of a peer level. I believe when people get older, and we as adults ourselves begin to talk to them more slowly like they do not understand on an adult level, which is not true for all older adults. And last the strategy for effectively communicating with my family members is simple, just listen when others are speaking.

Communication Skills, and Styles

 

First watching the TV show with no sound

First of all the TV show I watched was called, “Baby Daddy”. I watch it on Netflix so I could view it as much as I needed. I had never seen this show before therefore I had no presumptions about the TV show itself. However watching the show with the sound off I thought the three guys were maybe friends. Then when the baby appeared I thought it could have been one of the men’s. As the show continued a female appeared I assume that the baby could have been hers, therefore having had a relationship with one of the men.  When two of the men first entered the apartment the one man (#1) has his hands out as to say, this is my place come on in. The second man (#2) is shaking his head as to say the place is not so bad. However as this is occurring another man (#3) comes in carrying a large suitcase with a frown on his face as he throws it down and makes a gesture at man # 2. Nonetheless based on all three men after looking at the door as if someone was there, their expressions showed confusion and a look of surprise when man # 1 open the door and they saw a baby left at their door. One man even waving his hands as to say, it’s not mind. Then they looked at the door again in a happy way I think, thinking it was the mother of the baby. Then after answering the door man #1, and the women embraced and this made me think maybe she was the child’s mother. But when the women saw the baby she too looked surprised, and puzzled to see the baby but she still walks over, pauses and then picks up the baby, and comforts the baby. So at this point I do not know if the baby is hers or not.

Now, watching the show with the sound turned on.

 

 When watching the show with the sound turned on I assumed before that the men had some type of close relationship when watching the program with no sound. However the two of the men were brothers, and the third was a best friend. Man # 1 who shares the apartment with his best friend, man #3 was inviting his brother, man # 2, to move in with them for a while. Also the father of the baby was man # 1. The women that appeared at the door was a childhood friend of the two brothers, not the baby’s mother.

 

I do believe if this had been a show I watched more regularly I would have been more familiar with the program, and if watching the show on a regular basics I would have known what I was looking for in their non- verbal communication, and more familiar with the overall program itself.

Through this experience I learned that I was trying to read the characters lips to see what they were talking about when watching the TV show with the sound off. On the other hand after watching the TV show with the sound on, I saw I had misinterpreted many parts of the characters conversation. I also learned that through hand gestures, and facial expressions you cannot always know or tell what someone is thinking or saying. Therefore I think verbal communication is more easily understood than non-verbal communication. For that reason we have to be more aware of how we voice our opinions on a person’s body movements, gestures, and facial expressions through non-verbal communication.   

Finally the TV show looks pretty good and I plan to watch more episodes since this was the first one I ever saw which was the pilot, S1 E1, and they have three seasons of shows to watch. I can’t believe I missed what appears to be such a good show.

 

“Demonstrating Competent Communication”

 

The person who I feel that demonstrate competent communication would have to be my oldest brother. I feel my brother when communicating any type of information or just telling us something that happen to him or someone else he would always do it with confidence, and clear speech. He could hold our attention even if what he was saying took a long time to get to the ending. I also believe this skill in effective communication is what helped my brother be a successful salesman in selling cars. Also his appearance, and being well groomed made people want to listen to him. He also took time to listen to us and others without interrupting with his opinion. In addition he always made eye contact with whoever he was talking with giving them his undivided attention.

 

Therefore I would be honored in displaying the effective communicating skills as those of my brother. I believe a simple skill such as listening, but hard to do some times is one of the most effective skills in communicating. Listening make people understand that you care about what they are saying, and I also believe it allows for the other person to take note of listening to what you have to say as well.

 

But the one skill I find hard to do is to keep eye contact with the people I am talking with. However I have found myself developing this skill of making, and keeping eye contact through working with children, and their families. Also keeping myself mindful of this is what I should do when talking with children’s parents.