Saturday, November 24, 2012

Rating Personal Communication Style



My self-evaluation of my communication style results stated:
  • Listening Skills: I am people-oriented
  • Verbal aggressiveness: Moderate- I maintain a good balance between respect and consideration for others viewpoints. I can argue fairly by attacking the facts rather than the person’s character.
  • Communication anxiety: Mild- I get a bit anxious in some situations, but most of the time communication is something I do not worry about.

Evaluation from my spouse, my mother-in-law, and my 10 year old daughter Emmy:

  1. The all rated me as “people-oriented.” This made me realized I am definitely more interested in listening to people’s feelings than the facts of a story.
  2. Communication anxiety: Both my spouse and Emmy rated me “mild.” They know although I am comfortable communicating in most situation, I have slight apprehensions about communicating in a few situations. My mother-in-law, Millie, rated me as “low” or having no anxiety when communicating. This is probably because I don’t share my inner anxiety with her. She knows I am comfortable with public speaking and speaking to others in one-on-one situations, therefore she probably graded me based on her perceptions.
  3. The greatest insight was about verbal aggressiveness both my spouse and Millie rated me “moderate” aggressive communicator. Which I thought was how I communicated with everyone. I can argue and stand up for my opinion, but I feel I am fair and not combative. My child disagreed she rated me “significant” or someone who might cross the line to be hurtful. I asked her about how I talked to her and how she felt I spoke to her. I realized that as a parent I don’t spend as much time being careful of communicating with caution as not to be verbally aggressive. It was nice to realize I can change a bit and be more mindful. 
 

3 comments:

  1. Hi Angela,I had very much the same responses and reactions that you did. Interestingly enough, my husband thought I was more aggressive verbally than anyone else. When he took the test he mentioned a few times that he was answering how I was when we were with his family opposed to us alone. I was not sure what he met, but he explained that I too can come close to crossing the line at times and being more aggressive with him than I am with his family. I think when it comes to our family members we do, at times, tend to be more forceful with our opinions during arguments. It is not always the best way to handle things but I do think it is human nature.

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    1. I agree. I feel it is human nature to be more assertive in situations we feel we have the upper hand. I know being aware of how my tone and message is perceived as more aggressive by my daughter is going to help me be more considerate when I speak with her.

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  2. Hi Angela, I think it was fun to compare our self-evaluation to the others'. I have different results presented in front of me. I finally realized that we see ourselves differently than other people see us. I think I am not aggressive at communication, but my husband and my close friend think that I can be very aggressive and impatient when I am talking to them. I am not like you to feel comfortable to talk in public. I prefer to have one-to-one situation talking. I believe that is one aspect to improve in the future, if I want to become a food presenter in the workshops to share what I know with other professionals. Thank you for sharing.

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