Chapter 4 had many
interesting topics that caught my eye but I chose to write about the section titled
“Guidelines for Improving Verbal Communication”. One of the first things that
Wood (2012) lays out as a way to improve verbal communication is to engage in
dual perspectives. One of the key points in doing this is to be “person centered”
and to recognize the other side of the communication’s point of view and using
that knowledge in your communication. When we talk to people whether it is at
work, in the classroom, or anywhere else in our everyday lives each situation
is unique because every person has a unique perspective. Their culture,
upbringing, religious beliefs and an enormous list of other things play a part
in how they communicate and knowing and trying to understand how they see
things can make the sometimes difficult task of communicating easier. (Wood,
107-108)
After reading through
the chapter and taking in the information Wood has to offer it is easy to see
places in my life where dual perspectives come into play. A great example in my
life is with my football team. There are roughly 130 players on my team and
each of them brings a different point of view to the table. Some of them are
from Texas, others from California, and I even have a teammate from South Korea.
I have Catholics, Baptists, Atheists, and many other beliefs within my team as
well. Some are Black, some are White, and others are both. There have been
numerous times in my three years on the team where I have gotten into arguments
and even close to fights with teammates because we haven’t seen eye to eye on
different topics. There was one instance when a teammate was yelling profanity
loudly in the locker before a game supposedly trying to pump himself and the
other guys up. I on the other hand prefer to keep it quiet and get ready
without the theatrics so I let him know how I felt. He didn’t like it so we
began an argument. These types of things happen all of the time on my team
because so many of us see things so differently.
Even
though the differences between my teammates and I are not going to go away any
time soon there are a few things I can do to try and better our communication. When
entering a potential “problem” conversation with a teammate I can always keep
in mind that their point of view is different than mine. I can learn to better
understand their point of view by asking questions about why they think and see
things the way they do and make mental notes and try to adapt my communication
style to better our relationship. Like Wood says “effective interpersonal
communication is not a solo performance but a relationship between people”
(Wood, 107) so this is an important aspect to improving my verbal
communication. I can also encourage my teammates to learn more about my
perspective as well, explaining why and how I see things. We don’t have to completely change the way we
see things just to make each other happy but “honoring both [my] own point of
view and another’s” (Wood, 107) will better everyone.
Wood, Julia T.
(2012). Interpersonal Communication:
Everyday Encounters. (Seventh
Edition) Boston, Massachusetts. Wadsworth.
I like that you focused on the dual perspective because it can be hard to remember when an argument arises. Especially by being able to honor both perspectives by not always just agreeing but at the same time not beating your perspective into someone. Respect is shown as a major role in communicating this way.
ReplyDeleteCJ, I can completely understand how you can benefit from the information in dual perspectives. It would be really difficult to be surrounded by your teammates whom are all very different than what you were surrounded by in high school. Asking them questions as far as their opinion goes will be a great way for you to look into their situation with empathy. I am positive that your coaches too find it difficult to communicate on the same level as everyone because of the diversity.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you included Wood's quote about interpersonal communication not being a solo performance. Remember those early models of interpersonal communication we talked about in class last week? Your teammate's reaction to you approaching him about his use of profanity before a game would be a good example of one of those models, which are one-directional and don't take into account the receiver of the message. Sometimes you can make the biggest difference by not assuming your perspectives and perceptions aren't the only or the best ones.
ReplyDeleteYou take a very mature viewpoint of the situation with your teammate, not everyone would try to understand his perspective and not take personal offense to what he was saying. You also show good communication skills by adapting to the situation and realizing that dual perspectives were involved.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great lesson from the textbook. We are always going to have "teammates" we do not see eye to eye with, whether it be with our future coworkers, neighbors, or friends. Asking why they might see things the way they do is a great tactic that will definitely improve the efficiency of communication.
DeleteGreat blog especially in terms of content! When quoting include year with authors and page numbers as well.
ReplyDelete