Communicator

         The two people that I chose to evaluate my communication style were my mother, Paula, and my significant other Vidal. Both of them completed all three quizzes, but there were a few questions on the communication anxiety quiz that they did not know, so they asked me. Coincidently enough they had the same scoring for each of the questionnaires. The one that was different was verbal aggressiveness scale was significant, where I scored as moderate.  I learned from their perspectives that I can be verbally aggressive and argumentative. That has resulted in them feeling attacked and be personally hurt or offended by my words, actions, and behavior. My mother stated that I sometimes talk to her like she is in the military. In what she described as by being assertive when I tell her things or when I want her to do something. With my significate other I do not always argue in a healthy manner. I often let things build and then blowup about a variety of issues.This week's assignment helped to shed light on some areas of communications that I need to work on improving.

Communicating Differently

Over the last few weeks of this course, it has made me take a hard look at how I communicate with people both personally and professionally. I believe that I do communicate differently with people based on the situation and circumstances of the individual. For example, I communicate a certain way with my family and friends that I would not communicate with my boss at work. I can only think of a few instances where I would communicate differently with a person or group based on their culture and that would be based on military missions or tasks. The military is very mindful of other countries and people’s cultures. Ensuring that we do not offend or discriminate against them. With every mission, we go through a culture briefing and are given pamphlets of information to be mindful of at all times. As a result, making it easier to communicate with people.

TV Show- Communication

 I chose to watch the show 9-1-1, and it is a show that covers the lives and careers of emergency responders that go out every day to save the lives within their community. During the episode, there is a scene where a police officer(woman) walks up to fireman and proceeds to have a conversation him. They are smiling and talking with one another. Then all of a sudden, she grabs him and slams him up against the firetruck and kisses him passionately. Based off of this situation, I believe that these two characters are in a romantic relationship. The nonverbal communication between them displayed constant eye contact while talking, complemented by a huge smile on each of their faces when they saw one another and while communicating with one another. The passion in the kiss was only something you would see between two lovers. When I turned on the volume, the police officer was walking up to him talking about how was turned on by him.

In another scene, a fireman comes home and notices that the is an opened bottle of wine on his counter and a half-empty glass. As he continues to walk through his apartment, he notices clothes thrown on a bed and sees steam coming from his bathroom. He begins to get undressed as he walks into the bathroom to get in the shower. As he pulls the curtain back, he realizes it is not who he thinks it is. They both attempt to cover themselves in surprise to see each other naked. In this scene, I can assume that the fireman thought that based on the items left out that his significate other was there in the apartment when he arrived home. Based on the reaction of both people when he pulled back the shower curtain, they were both embarrassed, ashamed, and shocked. I assume that the two are not in an intimate relationship, and they are friends or related. When I turned on the volume, I learned that they are bother and sister. He explained to her that he thought that she was his girlfriend that had snuck into the house to surprise him. My perception of their nonverbal cues and behaviors were correct for this situation. I would have seen the show previously I could have known who the people were in both scenes.

Overall, watching television without any volume made me pay more attention to nonverbal communication cues and body language of all the characters in the show. I think I will try this practice again while watching other shows.

Communication

       According to O’Hair, Wiemann, Mullin, and Teven (2018) competent communication is defined as effective and appropriate for a given situation, in which communication continually evaluate and reassess their communication process.” When I think of a person that demonstrates competent communication I think of a former boss and her name is Maddie. Whenever she spoke or briefed, she communicated in a way that was clear and concise. She was always aware of her audience so that she did not use unfamiliar language or acronyms. She was also empathic to other people’s situation and willing to listen and help whenever she could. She was always fair, and always sided with what was right ethically and morally. Always came around with a good positive attitude that made everyone feel welcome which made working for her and with her enjoyable.
     Based on her communication skills and behaviors I do strive to model her communication abilities. I know that I can be an introvert at times but as I have come out of my shell as a leader. Working with Maddie showed me how to be conscious of my words because words matter and can take on different contexts.

Reference:

O'Hair, D., Wiemann, M., Mullin, D. I., & Teven, J. (2018). Real communication: An introduction (4th. ed). New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.