Introduction
What stood out to me the most in the entire lessons and discussions is the way communication is a complex that is composed of different but related parts. In fact what still intrigues me is the way all these parts, though different but work together to complete the communication process. Thus I have been able to learn the basic communication skills as well as the most important communication processes.
I am able to draw the above lessons because I also went through the same processes. For instance, when I was young at about six years, I was so much fancied with drawing and painting that I couldn’t stop thinking of it. I only later got to learn that crave for drawing came from my elder brother who was an artist and a gifted painter. Thus my early crave for drawing and painting was prompted by the communication in the family.
Through the lessons I realized that many times we get involved in circumstances where we are tempted to put our interests’ firsts. Usually in these situations we assume that others also have feelings and can be offended in the process. In long run our insensitivity results to offence to others and this is a type of selfishness. Thus our perceptions and the conflicts we create through communication are very crucial in ensuring the continuity of our relationships.
I have experienced this sense of neutrality where I got glued to the TV to watch a live game at the expense of my girl friend. In the process, instead of enjoying the lunch before us, I got lost in the game to the extent that she could bear any more. When she attracted my attention by closing my eyes with her hands, a glass of water before spilt over her but I still didn’t cared. After the game, she requested that I drop her home, and lack of my empathy has cost me a beautiful relationship.
Learning how and why we speak in different ways has been fundamental to me. It has given me the chance to tell why I have some of the thoughts as well as how to interpret them. In deed it has enabled me to know how much influence I have in the communication process. Also, understanding and appreciating different languages can enhance communication within different cultures and organizations.
Through the experiment with my cousin and one of my best Arabic friend I was able to confirm my influence in communication. I got to know that through listening and asking constructive questions that I can contribute in the conversation. Also, it was key in this experiment that paraphrasing someone’s ideas during the conversation can help in eliminating a preoccupation and pre-perceptions which is one of the biggest obstacles in good communication.
In summary, there are quite a number of things that we should put into consideration to ensure good communication. We should draw lessons from our self concepts and use them to develop our personalities, improve our sublime communication, understand our stereotypes, improve our perception, listening skills and relationships. Better still, we should learn how to handle situations without putting our interests’ firsts. And lastly we should know our influence in a conversation.
Work Cited
Wood, Julia T. Communication Mosaics: An Introduction to the Field of Communication. 2006. Wordsworth: Cengage Learning. (pdf)
