Who Am I as a Communicator?

During my communication evaluation this week, the one thing that surprised me the most was the evaluation done by my classmate. All of her evaluations communication, verbal, and listening was lower than my sister and I.

This week I gained insights about communication that I never really thought about. I now know that as I interact with others, I can get impressions from them that reveal how they evaluate me as a communicator (O Hair & Wiemann, 2012).

In the future, I will try to improve my communication skills because I know this will be a great step in my professional and personal life.

Communicating Across Cultures

                                      

As I think about the cultural diversity I see in my colleagues at school, and in my neighborhood, I do find myself communicating differently with people from different groups.

In my online classes I find myself communicating with different nationalities of people. We all share different stories about our families and culture.

In the neighborhood I live in there is a diverse mixture of cultures, Caucasians, Hispanics, and African Americans. Most of the families have young children that play together. The older adults seen to communicate well. I have learned the simple expressions and greetings in other languages.

Media Communication

The TV show I watched was I Love Lucy, the episode of the chocolate factory.

With the sound turned off, I think the characters' relationships based on the ways in which they are communicating is strong and friendly.

 Based on the nonverbal behavior I observed which was facial expression, the characters was feeling and expressing uneasiness, doubtfulness, slowness and ashamed.

With the sound turned on, the assumptions I made about the characters and plot based on the ways in which I interpreted the communication I observed was true. The characters appeared to be slow and not knowing what they were doing. I think my assumptions would have been just as accurate if I had been watching a show that I was familiar with.

From this experience I have learned that one’s assumptions about nonverbal communication is just as accurate as it would be about verbal communication. 

Demonstrating Competent Communication

Oprah Winfrey is an excellent communicator. Since she was a little girl reciting Bible passages in church, she has been comfortable in front of an audience. On television, she is able to talk to millions of people and have each person feel as if she is talking directly to him or her. Winfrey is also intelligent and well read, with a strong business sense. She is sincere, determined, and inspirational. Winfrey has a charismatic style of leadership that enables her to connect with people. She is spontaneous and expressive, and has a fearless ability to self-disclose. Because she has “been in the struggle” and survived, she is seen as a role model. Winfrey has overcome many obstacles in her life and encourages others to overcome their struggles, as well. Her message is a message of hope. 
Yes I would want to model some of my own communication behaviors after Oprah Winfrey because he is such an excellence communicator.

Reference

http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/40977_2.pdf)