Favorite Family Quote

"You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them."
-Desmond Tutu

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Communication and Culture

Do you find yourself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures? Yes, I find myself communicating differently with people from different groups and cultures. I notice that when I am around different children and people of another age group and culture, every message that I tailor to them, is said differently. If yes, in what ways do you communicate differently? The ways that I communicate differently with the different groups and cultures is by making sure that I say what needs to be said to each of them in a way that they can relate to me. For example, if I am talking to friends I would sometimes use slang words, but if I am talking to people that are in a professional field, I would talk to them more on a professional/business level. Based on what you have learned this week, share at least three strategies you could use to help you communicate more effectively with the people or groups you have identified. Three strategies you could use to help me communicate more effectively with the people or groups you have identified is to make sure use the Platinum Rule which states, “Do to others as they themselves would like to be treated,” (Beebe, Beebe, & Raymond 2011 p.1). Secondly, I would make sure that I use both my verbal and nonverbal cues as ways of communicating. The last strategy that I could use to help me communicate more effectively with the people or groups I have identified is making sure that I listen and hear what they are saying. Reference Beebe, S. A., Beebe, S. J., & Redmond, M. V. (2011). Interpersonal communication: Relating to others (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Saturday, January 18, 2014

Communication Skills: Language, Nonverbal, Listening

T.V Show Watched Meet the Browns What do you think the characters' relationships are based on the ways in which they are communicating? As I watched the show there were quite a few characters that I saw, but there were two in particular that I really paid attention to. Based on the ways that the woman and the man were communicating with each other, my guess was that they were nothing more than just colleagues. What are they feeling and expressing based on the nonverbal behavior you are observing? Based on the nonverbal behavior that I observed, the feelings of the two characters seemed to be happy and mutual. Their facial expressions had smiles on them and their gestures and posture around each other were very relaxed and comfortable. Sound turned on What assumptions did you make about the characters and plot based on the ways in which you interpreted the communication you observed? The assumptions that I made about the characters were that they were nothing more than just colleagues. I figured they were just colleagues because of where the setting took place, which was in a classroom. After watching the television show with the sound on, I learned that they were more than just colleagues; they were actually in a relationship with one another (boyfriend and girlfriend). Would your assumptions have been more correct if you had been watching a show you know well? I believe that my assumptions would have been more correct if I had been watching a show that I knew well. I felt like I missed some of the gestures somewhere in the show when they were interacting with one another. Write about your experience in your blog, including what you learned about communication from this experience and insights or "aha" moments you believe would be helpful to your colleagues. When I was watching the television show, it was kind of interesting for me trying to figure out what the relationship was between the two characters while the sound was off. I thought that it would have been much easier to figure out what they may have been talking about while I watched the show. I learned that after watching television shows you can’t just assume that people may just be colleagues just because of the way that they interact with one another. As I turned the sound on, I was shocked to find out that they were in a relationship because their gestures and facial expressions didn’t give it away. I guess they didn't want to really show any type of gestures that would show that they were in a relationship because of the setting that they were in, that would put their jobs in jeopardy.