Who Am I As A communicator?????

This week’s blog assignment stemmed from an online sentences in the way I felt I communicated publicly, as well as how I communicate in one on one situations.

I am a person that hesitates when it comes to public speaking, I get nervous and find myself talking extremely too fast! What surprised was that my closest friend and co-worker assessed me as the kind of person that was comfortable speaking in front of large crowds, and felt as though I shut down during small group meetings. I, on the other hand disagree, I am always a nervous wreck when speaking in front of crowds and would rather speak one on one, or even in a small group.

What I learned from this activity was that, my feelings, and level of comfort towards communicating publicly, is definitely masked through my determination of getting through any presentations, or opportunities I have to do so. The way my family and co- workers view my level of comfort, is as if I come across as being the type of person that communicate clearly, and effective.

As a professional in the early child hood field, I not only communicate with my children, but with my families as well during school readiness meetings, and family night. In order to get over my fear of public speaking, I feel as though practicing in small groups more would be helpful, as well as practicing relaxation techniques, and really working with myself to find out what really makes me nervous speaking in front of large groups. Is it the people in general? Or the fact that I am afraid to fail, although I know I am fully prepared, and knowledgeable about the topic?

 

 

I Heard It Through the Grapevine!!!!

Being such a people person, and also working within the early childhood profession, I have had so many experiences in communicating.

I currently work in a center that is predominately white, myself being one of two black women. My co-teacher, who is also black, and best friend of many years seem to communicate with one another in a way that is different from the way we talk to our Center Manager, and all other admin staff.

However, I feel as though I remain consistent and not “loose” who I am, just to make someone else feel as though I do not fit in. What helps me gain the respect from my colleagues and families I serve is my personality, my direct eye contact, my nonverbal cues which allows the other person in which I am communicating with understand , I am in fact paying attention.

I often ask my friend why she “code switches”, and suddenly verbalizes as if she was running for office, she is very unaware that she does this, I have noticed other colleagues pick up on it.

 

Learning about communication skills” Good Times!

The show I chose to observe appeared to be an African American family standing in a room with a couch and 1 chair. The room the individuals are standing in is also joined with what appears to be the kitchen area. There are 2 older women, and an older man, along with a teenage boy, a younger and a teenage girl.

There is a conversation going on between the teenage boy and the older couple. The two other children are sitting on the floor smiling up at the three involved in what appears to be a positive conversation. Through the door brings a very attractive African American woman who walks in with no invitation, she communicates something, claps her hands and greets the older women already present with a side hug, As she stops laughing and hugging, both women look at one another, and give each other what appears to be a longer heart felt hug.

The show I am discussing is called; “Good Times”. This particular episode was one where the family (mother, father, and three children) were getting evicted due to nonpayment of rent. Through the laughs and smiles displayed, one would assume the conversation was joyous, and possibly a happily family enjoying each other’s’ company, when all along the family was in jeopardy of losing their home.

The women that entered was a longtime friend of the mother, she made a joke as she always does when she enters the family’s home. The look in the mother’s eyes displayed sadness, in which time the two (neighbor and mom) gave one another a hug.

“If others tell us something we make assumptions, and if they don't tell us something we make assumptions to fulfill our need to know and to replace the need to communicate. Even if we hear something and we don't understand we make assumptions about what it means and then believe the assumptions. We make all sorts of assumptions because we don't have the courage to ask questions.”
― Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom    

http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=good+times+images&qpvt=good+times+images&FORM=IGRE#view=detail&id=BF05A1146866B78A1B732C2A56EA6ADFD6197338&selectedIndex=0

Communication is not always straight forward.

 

The show I watched seemed to be based on 7 people who were close, but only two males lived together. They appeared happy by the smiles on their faces, and very involved, as they all 6 sat together to play some sort of board game.

In this sitcom, there appears to be four women and three males, each have a partner, but 1. Watching the show without sound was quite nerve racing, because I had to assume the plot, however, it became really interesting when I turned the sound up.

The show was called; “The Bid Bang Theory”. Apparently all the cast members are some type of geniuses, and there are three couples. And one male who cannot seem to find love. The group is not always happy, in fact the two males living together, drive each other nuts on a daily basis.

The point of the story is that, although each of the members are different, with different talents, they all share a commonality of friendship and togetherness.