TV 's Communication Part 2

I was glad to find out another Christian this year in our class. Chris reminded me of what Jesus Christ said: "calling those things that are not as though they are" (Romans 4:17). Just like he said, sometimes we plan things for our lives but they don't turn out the way we planned always. Sometimes, we think we are incompetent of doing certain things, but God knows better than we do. I feel as though God had "communicate" with me through Christ from blogspot. It is awesome looking at how many ways to communicate nowadays through technologies. They can either bring very clear message or many misunderstandings. And sometimes it can make our lives easier or worst. That only depends on one's situation. I've experienced both.

TV's Communication part 1

Written:

I am always interested in relationships, especially in marriage. Growing up with my parents fighting all the time, I told myself to learn all there is to learn to have a good marriage in the future. I've read books and attend workshops/conferences throughout the years and tried to apply what I've learned to the relationship with my fiance. One of the most importance in a relationship is communication whether it'd be verbal or nonverbal. Being able to communicate your feelings and express whatever you need to towards your spouse is extremely vital. “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman said that everyone has a primary love language. “Most of us grow up learning the language of our parents and siblings, which becomes our primary or native tongue. Later we may learn additional languages but usually with much more effort. We must learn the language of those with whom we wish to communicate. No matter how hard we try to express love in English, if our spouse understand only Chinese, we will never understand how to love each other.” Once two people learn each other's love language, they'll be able to communicate effectively.

Non-written:

After knowing my fiance for many years, I've learned the true meaning of the phrase “you speak louder when you say nothing”. For two people to understand the nonverbal communication between each other shows how close and intimate they are to each other. They need to have an in depth understand of the other person within the heart to be able to listen. There are times when my fiance or I don't want to talk about our pain, but we would rather prefer hug or comfort from each other, and just by our facial expression or a look at each other we both understood. Communication, especially nonverbal, is to be learned over time with a lot of trial and error.

Academic Work:

I always get the butterflies when having to speak in front of people. One of the University general education requirements for a degree is a Communication course. I thought I would dread that class since I eat my words during presentations, but I walked out at the end of the semester with a bit more confidence and self esteem knowing that I was able to communicate my point across to people effectively. I learned many ways to communicate to people depending on how people or I will benefit from it. I can be persuasive, motivating, encouraging, informative, etc.

works cited: Chapman, Gary. The Five Love Languages. USA. Zondervan Publishing House, 2004.

Group think?

Re Communication, are we evidencing group think if we all agree?

Raquel's Communication Post-2

I found numerous insightful comments while reading the posts on communication.

Colleen reminded me something I had learned in high school but since forgotten: “know what you are talking about before opening your mouth”. I have to put this communication rule into use during discussions in my Race & Ethnic Relations course to remain credible and make my point.

In addition, Alicia’s mention of listening to our peers and considering their feelings & backgrounds was also compelling. It is true that we often try so hard to get our own point across that we ignore those of others. I think Alicia hit the nail on the head with this one because if we do not listen effectively, we are essentially talking AT one another, not TO each other.

I also love Chris’ idea that we need to be most tolerant of other people’s difficulty communicating during a conflict/argument. Reading about this made me think about my own inclination towards emotional outbursts during an argument and how people who know me will brush it off because they know I am not using my peak communication.

Similarly, Brandi talked about how people are more likely to cooperate with you if they trust you. I have learned this through practice at work and in school, but I don’t think I was ever able to articulate it like that, so I sort of had an epiphany reading about it.

Last, but not least, is Million’s idea that communication is the ability to be self-aware. We talked about self-awareness a lot this summer in my Spirituality & Conflict Transformation class, but I never saw a connection between self-awareness & communication until reading Million’s post.

Jessica's Communication Part Two

Communication affects all of us. Even those individuals who don't communicate the same way we do. In all of our lives we have been effected someway by good and bad communication skills. We have learned to communicate effectively becuase of NCC and the group interaction that we face everyday. Also, our experiences outside of the classroom helps us to better understand the communication competency. Communication isn't something that we can get away from, unless we're trapped on a deserted island, and we learn from it everyday. Most of us feel that we are most fluent with this competency because you begin communicating from the moment you are born. You talk to your parents, friends, random ppl on the phone (telemarketers) and business associates. I feel that NCC has helped all of us become better understanding of communication because of how the program and classes are structured. Working in teams/groups forces us to communicate with one another if we are hoping to succeed; without this learning experience we would only have basic communication abilities. I find that being in NCC helps you feel more confident about communicating and having classes that require discussion is a great way to get everyone involved and talking.

Colleen's Communication Part Two

I have seen so many applications of this competency, not only through reflections of my own communication experiences, but through the way each of us are currently communicating with the blogger software. When I was trying to formulate my first post, I decided to brainstorm different forms of communication, yet I forgot about the concept of "listening," as a form of communication until I read Brandi's posting. During my time at George Mason, I have become much more aware of the importance of active listening as a form of communication. Typically, many of us think about our physical act of speaking when discussing communication, yet the practice of active listening is equally important. Brandi's written text raises an excellent point that listening is crucial in people's interaction with one another. In fact, in order to successfully communicate within a group, people need to practice listening to one another. This correlates with the competency of group interaction, in that, groups succeed when they are able to communicate through struggles and conflict. Often conflicts are surpassed once people stop talking, and start listening to one another.

I saw a strong relation between Chris's academic experience in her speech class to the article Learning that Lasts. Both emphasize the importance of feedback, which happens to require the usage of communication. Feedback is incredibliy beneficial not only to the person receiving the comments for improvements, but also to the person giving the feedback. Typically, many people become defensive when receiving feedback, therefore it can be difficult to give it. Feedback requires people to think about what they have to say, and how to say it so that the other person not only understands but appreciates the comments. I found it interesting how Chris commented on the importance of seeing and hearing the feedback in person versus through e-mail. I think she raised an excellent point, that feedback requires ownership and gives people an opportunity to connect to one another. The ability to communicate with one another in such an open setting requires a lot of fine tuning of our own communication skills.