Similarities and Differences in Communication

I am a very straight forward communicator that does not like to get interrupted. I was very surprised by the reaction that I got from how others evaluated me. A few similarities that was discovered were the fact that I have to get my point across in the conversation. The differences were the fact that I was told that I can cut someone off in a second, if the conversation is not going the way I want it too. I was so shocked because I didn’t think that I did that. My aunt gave me an example of when we were having a discussion with a family friend about President Obama. He was discussing the presidential debate and how Obama was not coving the basis, and I disagreed. She went on to explain that I was cutting him off and rolling the eyes at his responses. It was very interesting to hear about how I was reacting. I was also told that I don’t let people finish their sentences. Now I knew I could have a strong opinion, but I never knew just how bad I could be.

 The self-concept has incredible power to shape your communication with others (O’Hair and Wiemann, 2012). With that in mind, I gained some insight about my communication. Other people gain a lot of their impression of me through my self-concept. We develop a self-concept by thinking about your strengths and weakness, observing your behavior in a wide variety of situations, witnessing your own reactions to situations, and watching others reactions to you (O’Hair and Wiemann, 2012). I also gained that I have to be willing to listen to what other people say and not think that I am the opinion that matters. The third insight I will discuss is how critical we can be with ourselves. We assess our communication whether it is for our weakness or our strengths; some examples are self-actualization or self-denigration.

 

Reference

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.