Dakota Bailey

Dr. David Pack

COMM 1010
Myself as a Communicator
I’m very interested in learning and improving my communication skills. It’s a wonderful
subject since humans are very social creatures. Almost to be majoring in Communication only
shows me that there is so much connection that hasn’t been met yet. Through this assignment I
would like to reflect on my communication skills and to just learn more about myself. We all
come from different backgrounds and we come with our own strength/weaknesses. The goal is to
find what it’s like to have a conversation with me.

I would always hear out another person belief. Whether it’s personal, religious, political,
etc. Making quick judgment would immediately cut off the conversation and may prevent a
connection between each other. For example, I would go out with my friends and they would
have their other friends to meet me. It’s an exciting thing and showing a positive appearance
could make things run smoother. Because, if you meet somebody for the first time and they give
you nothing but negativity. It may affect the way you think of them on the bat. I wouldn’t change
my personality to fit other people views. I like to be calm and have a funny personality. Being
appropriate with friends, family and co-workers. Over time people beliefs can always reshape
themselves over time. It’s the things you interact with around your environment growing up.

To be honest I would happily listen in on other people beliefs and I can appreciate that
they are passionate about it. I’m very comfortable with my beliefs. When it comes to politics, I
don’t think much of it, because I feel that I’m not involved in it. There are goals that I’m striving
for which is my education. Where I don’t view news and I get to hear about it with other people
sharing about it. It’s not that there no trust in the media, or I dislike people views, it’s just I don’t
feel involved. But when ever I get a chance to listen to another person, it can be interesting to
learn. When ever somebody is talking to me, I would bring my full attention. Because if I was
needing to talk to somebody, I would want them to have their attention in return. It’s appropriate
and polite to the other person.

Another reason if you’re not giving them your attention, you may miss something
important. There’s the noise of not paying attention and the message that they’re sending won’t
be understood. For example, in a classroom lecture, I wouldn’t want to spend to much of my
time taking notes. Because it can become a distraction where the teacher is giving a lesson for
you to remember and you can miss their body language along with it. Which can be another
benefit for me to remember things easier, especially when I need to recover that information four
weeks down the road on an exam.
 With nonverbal behavior, I would practice that to keep the person engaged or feel
comfortable. For example, during a conversation I would do supple hand gestures with my hands
opened, to bring their attention. It also gives a professional look when I do that during meetings
at my office job when discussing my numbers that week. Another behavior I would do is making
enough eye contact. To show that I’m interested, and it’s shows that I’m taking that conversation
very seriously. During this practice, there will be small head nods to also show that I understand
what there trying to tell me. To be honest when I’m on the phone with my customers I would
catch myself waving my hands around towards the screen. I make nods towards the screen and
when I need to record notes on my pad, I keep looking up to the screen like I’m talking to the
person right in front of me. I become so engaged because what we’re talking about is serious.
I’m a debt collector for Discover Card and most of the job is listening to the customer. What I
learn from communication for example is acknowledging the person, it helped me so much in
connecting with people. That’s why I found majoring in communication very important, because
it can be engaged in lots of jobs.

My communication strength would be listening, because it’s very important in receiving

the other speaker message. Keeping an open mind and not making quick judgment can make a
potential connection. There’s a weakness in non-verbal behavior where I do have a habit of
crossing my arms whether I’m at my desk at work or in the car with my friends. Of course, not
when I’m the one driving. Some co-workers would ask me if everything alright, because it does
give a negative vibe. With my friends in the car they would also ask me if I’m doing alright. I
would reassure them that I’m doing fine, because I feel comfortable crossing my arms when I’m
just sitting there. Another weakness is that I limit my connections online. I preferred just
Facebook and my phone number for text/calls. My friends or new people I meet would
recommend me to get snap chat, twitter, etc. I would always decline getting any of that, because
it seems that it will take time that I already don’t have much of. Even with Facebook, I don’t post
things like I did when I was younger. But whenever their messages send to me on Facebook or
my phone from family/friends. I will always be there to respond as soon as possible, because it’s
polite and shows that their message is important.

I would like to talk about outdoor activities to make a connection with new people.
Because most of my time when I’m not doing work, homework, or hanging out with friends. I
would be out fishing all around Utah. It can be with my family and it would have the other
person to share an outdoor experience, even if they don’t fish themselves. If there wasn’t so
much connection to somebody that doesn’t favor outdoor much, I could talk about video games.
This can be a great connection with people around my age and there so much to talk about in the
gaming community. If both outdoors and video games don’t work, sports are a fun thing to go
over. Especially if it’s basketball or college football (Utah Utes). I would listen about there
sports and not make negative remarks about a team they favor. I would be polite and
acknowledge the stories that they like to share with me. I would make positive comments to what
there sharing, and compliments can be told. With family I would be funny and like to give
support. In the working field, if there given advice to improve my performance, I would
welcome the advice and reflect upon it. Because, I want to further improve myself. Bettering my
communication with the people I know now and the ones in the future.