Who Am I as a Communicator?

This week’s assignment taught me different ways in which I perceive and make sense of my world. Such perceptions have a significant impact on how I communicate and relate to others. The evaluations appeared to very similar. My daughters and mine were very close in scores across all three categories. My co-worker on the other hand scored me differently on the communication and verbal aggressiveness scale. She rated me with lower scores which reflects that I have more self-concept and self-esteem that what I perceive. O’Hair and Weimann (2009), elaborates on self-esteem as essentially a set of attitudes that people hold about their own emotions, thoughts, abilities, skills, behavior and belief that fluctuate according to the situation or context. My attitude toward public speaking is I’m too shy and I have a lack of self-esteem.

Through the evaluations I confirmed that I do not like large group public speaking, but I am good at listening and face-to-face symbolic language.

My assessments in the three categories confirmed prior knowledge of my communication skills. On the communication anxiety inventory I scored moderate, which indicates I am concerned with some communication contexts. Based on the mid-point level my anxiety was situational. I agree with this information because I have a fear of public speaking. It makes a difference in what situation I’m in; including, situations such as the cultural context of the audience, the relationships, and the age and gender. I speak in a different tone and manner if I’m speaking to the ladies group at church than at the faculty meetings at work. For the listening styles profile I’m described as a people-oriented listener. I am empathetic and concerned with others emotions. This listening style may impede my ability to make competent judgments, because I believe anything someone tells me or I trust open-heartedly of others. On the verbal aggressiveness scale I scored in the moderate range. This means I’m considerate of others conversations and I can agree to disagree and not attack the person’s view.
One thing that surprised me is that others do not sense my shyness as much I do public speaking.

Any communication skill one can learn will benefit the person professionally.