Looking At Myself As A Communicator

This week was a real eye-opener for me. I enjoyed doing the tests and having to answer brutally honestly about the way that I communicate. I chose my sister and my mother to do the test on me. They were concerned at first on how they should answer and realized that some of the answers they did not know about me – like public speaking. I feel like I had the opportunity to look closer at how I interact with others and how they perceive me. I have always been aware of the importance of a first impression but there is a lot more to communication that follows. I feel that I have gained a lot of insight into myself and how other perceive me. I plan to have a colleague do the test as well, but we have just moved school buildings and my colleagues are so over worked at the moment. I feel that I gained good insight into communication and also how other perceive me as a communicator.

I also realized that first impressions are very important and that is something to take into account when meeting new families. Practicing effective self-monitoring (O'Hair and Wiemann, 2012). 

It surprised me that my sisters scores were all slightly different to my mothers, I realized that I do communicate very differently with her – she is my little sister and I have always treated her more like a daughter than a sister. My goal is to be more confident in communication when it comes to things that I may disagree with or may be a source of conflict. I am always very aware of offending someone or causing bad feelings. I need to find a balanced way to communicate my differences with others without insecurity. I also realized that I am a different communicator with my family to how I am at work. I adapt to the situation and communicate accordingly. Through self-presentation one can present themselves to different audiences (O’Hair&Wiemann, 2012).

         

References

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.