Communication in Culture

When communicating sometimes I find myself changing my personality depending upon the person or group of people I am talking to. When I am speaking with my family or friends I am very direct. I speak to people telling them my full opinion. When I am communicating with parents I have to say negetive things in a positive way. I have to be careful in the way that I say things.  I've also found that my tone and body language change when I am upset. I recently had to communicate with a sales associate at a car rental office. I spoke calmly, without yelling, but the tone in my voice communicated that I was upset. I know I showed that I was upset because the manager was walking by and stopped to see what had happened. When angry I know that cursing and yelling will get nothing accomplished. You have to get your point across without losing your cool.  Everytime you communicate with someone I believe the way you communicate changes even if it is just a little bit to fit the type of person you are talking to.

Communication Skills: Language, Nonverbal, Listening

I was asked to watch a show that I don't normally watch and look at it once without sound and then again with sound. I decided to watch a show called the middle. When the show began it has random pictures of people climbing things. Then a lady walked in a room with a  torch. I thought that it meant she had climbed like the people in the pictures. She was talking to man whose faced looked confused as the woman talked to him. A girl came in the room and talked to the woman and the man. She seemed very excited, because she had a large smile on her face and started jumping up and down. The show then showed which seemed like flashbacks of the girl at school. The girl then went into the the school attendance office (there was a sign on the door) she talked to the lady behind the counter. As she talked you noticed that she was getting upset. Her smile left her face and she shook her hand up and down. When I turned the sound on I found on that the pictures at the beginning were comparing the great moments to overcoming the hurdle of the last week of school to start summer. The woman bought a torch as a sign of summer. The girl was excited when she came into the room because she was to receive the perfect attendance award from school. The flashback showed how the girl went to school no matter how she was feeling. When the girl went to the schools attendance office she found that the school had her absent on one day so she would not receive the attendance award.

Watching a show with no sound was very interesting. I never noticed how much people move their hands when they talk. A persons face and body movements tell you a lot about how they feel. I found that I was guessing correctly about the feelings of the people in the TV show. A persons body language can really help you understand how they are feeling.

What is Communication?

Having good communication is an essestial part of any job. I expecially learned this from working at the parking office at Louisiana State University. Students, faculty, and visitors would come to this office to get parking passes, pay for tickets, and get their car out of impound. When a person is involved in this type of work they have to be able to have good communication skills. A person that demonstarted excellent communication skills was my superivor Mrs. Debeorah. She showed me how to let a person vent if they come to the office upset. You let the person get out what they have to say first. Once the person has expressed what they want to say, you then restate what they told you. "What you are telling me is...... Is that corret?" Once you know what the person wants you can proceed in helping them. An important rule of communication is to remain open minded and calm. Sometimes when a person is feeling a certain way they can come off as harsh or mean, but you have to put yourself in their shoes and think about what you would want done. Staying calm is essential because nothing happens when everyone is shouting at each other.
When I talk to parents or anyother adult I keep these skills in mind. They really do help you make the best of any situation. Using these skills also shows parents that I am here not help not to destory what they are trying to do. I want them to know that if we work together we will get better results.