My Communication Skills
These are my results
from my self-assessments:
|
Public
Speaking Anxiety
|
|
|
Moderate
|
My score indicated that I
feel somewhat concerned about a number of communication contexts, but
probably not all. This is “situational”
anxiety.
|
|
Verbal Aggressiveness
|
|
|
Moderate
|
My score indicated that I
maintain a good balance between respect and consideration for others’
viewpoints, and the ability to argue fairly by attacking the facts of apposition
rather than the person holding that position.
|
|
Listening
Style Profile
|
|
|
People-oriented
|
My score indicated that I am
empathetic and concerned with the emotions of others. This listening style helps me to build
relationships, but it can interfere with proper judgment because I tend to be
very trusting of others.
|
I have discovered
that my self-concept has morphed over the years as I have aged, gained
knowledge and experience, and interacted with others socially and
professionally. What do I mean by
this? Think about the definition for self-concept:
“one’s awareness and understanding of who one is, as interpreted and influenced
by one’s thoughts, actions, abilities, values, goals, and ideals” (O’Hair et
al, 2015, p. 47). If I had taken these
self-assessments ten years ago when I was a teacher, my scores would have been
a lot different.
My public speaking
anxiety would have been high, and my verbal aggressiveness would have been low
to none. Now that I have acquired more
knowledge in early childhood special education and improved my communication and
presentation skills as an early childhood special education specialist, I am
more comfortable interacting and communicating with other educators and
professionals. I have discovered that I
am more comfortable presenting to groups of early childhood educators than I am
to a room full of administrators. This
is where I become more anxious and self-conscious about my abilities,
knowledge, and competence. I am aware of
my level of anxiety even though others claim that they are not cognizant of my anxiety
since I appear calm and at ease.
In our text, we
learned that our self-concept shapes our communication with others (O’Hair et
al, 2015, p. 47). I find this true with
my listening style. I tend to be
empathetic towards others. Listening is
my preferred style of communication. Carrying
on a casual conversation is not a strength of mine. I prefer to listen, ask probing questions,
and allow the other person, or persons, speak. The listening style assessment profiled me as
being an empathetic listener, in which I agree.
It, also, stated that my listening style may interfere with my judgement
and that I tend to be very trusting of others.
This I disagree and so do my peers.
As an empathetic listener, I am curious about others and want to learn
from them and about them.
Reference:
O’Hair, D., Wiemann,
M., Mullin, D.I., & Teven, J. (2015). Real
communication. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
I find it interesting that you feel that your profiles would have been different had you taken this years ago. I wonder how much we really change as we grow and have experiences, or do we just adapt. I think that the more experiences you have the more confident you are in what you are discussing, therefore the nervousness of it all goes away. Do you think if you have to stand and speak about something that you aren't very familiar with would that nervous energy return?
ReplyDeleteHello Donna,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that your verbal aggressiveness ten years ago would have been low to none which reminded me so much of my current self. Do you think that the most experiences that you gained interacting with parents, co-workers, and the community made you more comfortable expressing your thoughts and ideas? When I communicate with others on a professional level I try my best not to offend anyone which sometimes impacts my ability to get my point across. My friend and family consider me to be a good listener. I think being a good listener is great if your able to get your point across too. Furthermore, having a people orientated listening style is a great asset for professionals in the field of early childhood.
Public speaking, in particular in front of a large group of adults, is something I try to avoid. However, put me in front of a group of children or in a small group of my peers, I will have no problem speaking. Why do you think speaking with administrators still makes you nervous even with your years of experience of public speaking? How did you get over your feeling of anxiety when speaking to other educators and professionals?
ReplyDeleteTrisha,
DeleteI think administrators continue to make me nervous because I have never been a school administrator, so I do not feel connected with them. I have built relationships and some friendships with some principals and special education directors that I see on a regular basis.
I feel that I can relate to teachers and other professionals because I taught 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds with and without disabilities. I have been in the trenches and can relate to their needs professionally. At the beginning of my training sessions, I let my participants know that I am hear to train and share my knowledge and experience, but I also want to learn from them. I establish that trainings are not only for learning but networking and building connections with other early childhood educators. This helps set the atmosphere of the learning environment to a casual but professional setting.
Donna,
ReplyDeleteI agree with you as we are getting older, gaining more knowledge, and more education, we are better communicators. Great score! You shred, we learned that our self-concept shapes our communication with others (O’Hair et al., 2015, p. 47). I believed that is correct; if I have taken the test as you mentioned a few years ago I will have been that worse listener and communicators for one reason in my culture we get so excited and interrupt others. Another issue could be my emotions, and non-verbal communication will have change any communication. I guess I can say as I am getting older, I am getting wiser.