After evaluating my own communication style and seeing how others view my communication style it was interesting to me how well they new me. I was not really surprised but I did not think that the scores would be within a point of my own. I feel at times that we are not communicating well but maybe it's being able to see that and to adjust how we communicate is what makes us good communicators. The only one that I scored differently by a few points was in the verbal aggressiveness scale because I sometimes get impatient with people that I know really well who I feel should know better and this was from a friend who says that when I am pushed she has seen me do this but not very often.
Two insights that I gained this week about communication are:
1. That how we view ourselves can influence our perception of others. We tend to assume what others are like us because they may attend the same church or they live in the same community.
2. That how we feel about ourselves can also influence how we communicate with others. Will we have the confidence to talk with others about a particular subject that they may not realize we know about or will we miss an opportunity to share what we know because we have a low self-esteem.
I think that professionally realizing that how I view myself can influence my communication with families will help me to be able to be more aware of how I should and should not come across to them. In my personal life I just need to remember to have the patience to listen better and communicate more openly because my fiends and family are going to be accepting of who I am as a communicator and not be afraid to tell me where to improve.
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The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right
place but to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment. ~Dorothy
Nevill
Julie,
ReplyDeleteI have learned that people perceive my communication differently than I do. This can help me improve my communication style and it can help me understand how to communicate better with others.
I am impatient as well. I scored poorly on that but I know now how I can strength that area. I will drift away if the topic does not interest me. It's good to recognize your weakness and find ways to improve them.
ReplyDeleteJulie,
ReplyDeleteFirst, the quote that you provided is awesome. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Secondly, there are always things that we can improve. The good thing is that people that we trust and communicate on a daily basis really tell us how things are. I plan to listen to them and make the necessary improvements not only for others but for myself.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Julie. Your quote is heart catching. I appreciate it and please permit me to use it in the future. Communication is an art and we all must cultivate the appropriate skills to improve how we communicate in our every day dealings especially as professional working with children and their families.
Impatience is common when we expect so much from people and we forget that they are different from us. I used to be very aggressive and impatient as well but learnt recently that we are different with different identities and experiences that have shaped who we are, so I decided to slow down and meet people where they are and we climb up slowly. I must confess it is not easy though. With this course, I am also learning that how we feel affect our communication with others, so I am working on my feelings so that I can develop patience, confidence and listening ear to be able to resond better to others.
Julie,
ReplyDeleteI agree that how we feel about ourselves definitely plays a part in how we communicate with others. This can also change day by day. Our emotions and feelings control what and how we communicate with everybody, no matter how comfortable we may feel around them.