Week 4 Blog Assignment: Myself as A Communicator

I evaluated myself as a communicator and surprisingly I found myself to have good eye contact, tone of voice would change depending who I was talking to, and what the subject was about. I did notice I use my hands a whole lot when I’m talking and I have never really paid attention to how much I use my hands when I’m speaking. And when I asked my son to evaluate me he said I used my hands so much that after a while he caught himself just focusing on my hands rather than making eye contact with me. This surprised me a whole lot because there have been times I say to myself after I have spoken to someone “They never made eye contact with me” but now I’m starting to wonder if they were focused on my hands. I have learned so much about communication and this week I learned how people can look at someone and have so many different perceptions about the person. I am now aware how perceptions are important when it comes to communication.

Who demonstrates competent communication?

This weeks blog I was asked to think of someone who demonstrates competent communication within a particular context. After thinking about it I had so many people come to mind, but the one who sticks out is my best friend Nichole. Nichole is always so confident when she speaks. She is such a great communicator with everyone especially when she is talking to large groups. Nichole is always the first one to give her opinion to others without worrying about what they will think or say to her. Her vocabulary is so intellectual, and she can speak in front of people so comfortably without getting nervous. When having to give speeches, or having to speak to people about something she will speak to everyone professionally, making eye contact to her audience, but most importantly she is calm and clear. Although her and I both are educated, and love to voice our opinions it seems I’m the one who starts getting nervous when it’s my turn to speak to others. I get so nervous to speak in front of large audiences, and start forgetting what I wanted to say or forget my speech. I wish I had Nichole’s confidence to stand in front of others and speak so comfortably making eye contact to my audience, and being able to communicate so professionally. I see how her being confident in herself helps her be able to voice her mind with communication. I too would love to be able to do this without getting nervous, stuttering, looking down when communicating to others, but most importantly I want to have her confidence.