Assignment: Who Am I as a Communicator?

This week we completed three evaluations; the communication anxiety inventory, the listening styles profile and the verbal aggressiveness scale. We were also asked to have two other people complete them for us so I asked my boyfriend and a coworker. I surprised me that all the scores were so similar. First, I scored a 57 on the communication anxiety inventory. My boyfriend and my coworker scored me at a 59 and 55 which are still in the moderate category. “47-59: Moderate. Your score indicates that you feel somewhat concerned about a number of communication contexts, but probably not all. This mid-point level of communication anxiety is what we call “situational.” This kind of surprised me because I avoid speaking in public and in most cases I won’t speak up at group meetings. I prefer talking to one or two people at a time. This is even the case with children. I get nervous at the thought of leading a circle time activity, but don’t mind leading a small group activity with the children. According to these evaluations, people know I don’t like public speaking, but they don’t notice my nervousness. Feeling more comfortable speaking up in group situations and or leading activities where all the children are focusing on me is one of my communication goals.

For the listening styles profile, I scored highest in group one which means that I am a “People-oriented listener. You are empathetic and concerned with the emotions of others. This listening style helps you to build relationships, but it can interfere with proper judgment because you tend to be very trusting of others.” The others who evaluated me got the same result. I agree with this because I am empathetic and prefer to listen than talk.

Finally, on the verbal aggressiveness scale, my score was 40. The other scores I got were 30 and 33 which all fall under the category of low verbal aggressiveness. I don’t like arguments and I try to avoid them especially in professional situations. Sometimes it can’t be helped which can be very uncomfortable for me. There are times when it is helpful or necessary to be more verbally aggressive. I’m talking about being more assertive than aggressive. The evaluation implied that being verbally aggressive was related to attacking someone’s character or damaging their self concept which I almost never will participate in.

From this week’s discussion, I learned that I am hesitant to make assumptions about people from a first impression. In this case it was a photograph. It was impossible for me to choose what books, TV shows or activities the woman enjoyed. However, if her appearance were different, I might have been able to make a guess. This will help me professionally because I will take time to get to know children instead of making assumptions. Communication involves so much more than language. It involves body language, tone of voice, eye contact, the way we dress, our hairstyle and the way we carry ourselves. A good communicator keeps these things in mind and adapts them based on the situation.