For this assignment I choose my husband of 28
years, and a colleague that I have know just over four years to evaluate my
communication skills. What I found interesting was the lack of
variation from my personal and professional life in each of the
evaluations. However, my evaluators scored my Communication Anxiety
Inventory as low, which I scored it as mild. My husband believes I look
comfortable when I communicate in any situation. My co-worker said a
similar thing, “You’re the go to person when we need some to speak in the
center, and you do it well”, she shared.
The truth is I do feel anxious when I need
to speak to a group of any size, especially large groups. What
worked really well for me in the past was my astigmatism. I wore glass for many years. When I
took them off I could only see the notes that I was speaking from, and none of
the audience. This worked great until I had Lasik surgery. I broke
into a sweat the first time I spoke to a group with my corrected vision.
I was pleased to learn that both my husband and my colleague
placed me in the moderate range for Verbal Aggressiveness. I too like to
think I strike a good balance but I sometimes worry that I back away to avoid
confrontation. All and all I agree with their assessment, I am people
orientated, can value others opinions without losing my own, and apparently look
really confident when communicating. And that confidence is in spite of
the fact that I can now SEE the audience.
Jackie,
ReplyDeleteI like your example of how you would take your glasses off when speaking in public. Great way to "avoid" looking at the audience. I always say "whatever works!" My friends and co-workers say the same thing about me--I appear to be in control and confident when speaking in public when in fact I'm secretly freaking out!
Jodi
Hi Jacqueline,
ReplyDeleteWe chose the same category of people to evaluate our communication skills, and the results were also similar to mine. I think this is because we can manage our anxiety well when we are communicating so that they do not recognize it. My husband is a quiet person and he says that I look so comfortable when I communicate with others especially with many people at a crowd like a party, for example. This is what he thinks he cannot do it successfully. In fact, I sometimes do not feel comfortable talking at a party with so many strangers, but I always try to cope with it.
Jackie,
ReplyDeleteI also focus on my notes when I speak to others. I too get anxious when I speak in groups. I have learned that my communication style does vary. This can be good because I change my communication based on the context of the situation and the people I am speaking to.
Jackie I have a fear of speaking in large crowds as well. Though I have done many small group presentations and training's I still get very nervous. My current role has placed me in situations that allows me to work on this but I still get anxious, just takes me less time to settle into the presentations.
ReplyDelete