Saturday, September 29, 2012

How I Communicate: Through the Eyes of Others


How I evaluated myself and how others evaluated me, when it comes to communication, verbal aggressiveness, and listening skills, were similar and different. We all concluded that my verbal aggressiveness was moderate. I was surprised to see that I evaluated myself as people-oriented when it came to listening skills because I would have thought that I’d be time-oriented. Sadly, it perturbs me when someone goes on and on about one thing and doesn’t get to the point. I find myself zoning out and thinking about other things when people do this in conversations with me. If I know the person enough, I’ll cue them to get to the point, but if I don’t know them that well I try to help them with their story.

The other result that surprised me is that others viewed me as being calm when I talk in front of others. My friend even said that he thought I enjoyed talking in front of people, when in fact I hate it. I get entirely too nervous. My heart beats faster, I start to sweat, and I worry about what I am saying so much that I feel that I talk 100 mph! However, others think I speak significantly well in front of others. I must cover my nervousness up pretty well!

4 comments:

  1. Hi Arica, this assignment made me realize how much people have a perception of us. Just like your friend said he thought you were a pro at public speaking, which is a marvellous thing. Our perception can lead of in our personal and professional lives.

    Thanks for Sharing!
    Andrea C

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  2. Arica,
    I had a coworker say the same thing about my public speaking, but I feel just like you each time- a nervous wreck! But I love it, at them same time. I find the more prepared I am, once I get started, I feel at ease. That is until I make a joke and no one laughs, or someone asks a question I wasn't prepared for! I think it's interesting how differently people perceive us versus how we perceive ourselves.

    Laurie

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  3. Arica,
    I enjoyed reading your post this week. It is a little hard for me to read because of the color scheme but all in all I think that we were all suprised of how we scored. I felt that my scores reflected a true summary of my communication. I also think that it was so amazing that the people I chose to take the inventories felt the same way. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. HI Arica:

    I appreciate your honesty a great deal lol. I was told the same thing. People think that I enjoy speaking in front of people as well. But it does make me nervous. And I feel you on being "time-oriented". I feel like people are literally robbing me when they talk about something over and over again before getting to the point. "We cannot get back lost time and please do not waste my time!" Sadly some people do not understand that. But anyway. I enjoyed reading your post!

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