Osiris Garcia

Prof. Joseph Larkin

COMM 1010
February 11, 2019

Myself as a Communicator – Part 2

Communication is the key factor in order to convey information from one source to

another efficiently. The primary purpose of this first assignment is to reflect upon ourselves and

realize how efficiently we take on the task of communication. For this portion of the assignment

we are instructed to interview three people who know us very well and ask them what it’s like to

communicate with us. Now, to complete this portion of this assignment I have asked my father,

younger sister and a fellow coworker what it is like to communicate with me. The results of the

interviews will be reviewed and later summarized to learn what it is like to communicate with

me as an individual.

Articulating my needs, opinions, views or concerns.

When presenting this question to my interviewees, I was very surprised by their

responses. They all replied fairly similar, and mentioned things I had not noticed before.

My father’s response consisted of various adjectives that lead me to believe I am very

timid towards others. He commented on how I sometimes seem to become very aware of my

surroundings and keep things to myself for fear of being bothersome. When speaking about

opinions that I may have on a certain subject, he has noticed that I normally just listen to the

conversation rather than engaging and expressing my point of view.

My younger sister responded in a similar manner. She said that I become fairly awkward

in conversations that deal with new people. However, she mentioned that I am very well at

1
articulating my opinions and views on topics I am passionate about, if the conversation involves

people who I know and feel comfortable around.

When asking this to my coworker, she seemed to have a response similar to that of my

dad’s. She replied by stating that I have a tendency to nod my head while listening to a

conversation with various view points however, I don’t exactly engage. She seems to observe

that I agree with those that have similar viewpoints and simply leave it at that.

Listening

Listening is a key part of communication and is vital within my career path. We need to

listen in order to correctly execute what is needed from us.

The response that I got from my father was rather interesting to me. He has stated that I am

a very good listener and pay close attention to what the other person is trying to say. He says that

I sometimes engage in intense eye-to-eye contact that may scare some people off, but to him it is

a signal of respect and helps him know I am listening.

My sister responded quite differently than my father and my coworker. She commented on

how bad my listening skills are while I am multitasking. She mentioned how frustrating it has been

for her to engage in conversation with me when I am multitasking. Her response states that I

sometimes tune her out and continue with my task and often ask her to repeat what she had said

before. However, she told me that I am a very good listener when I stop what I’m doing and

completely engage in listening to what she has to say. Another mention she had was the intense

eye contact that catches her off guard.

My coworker stated that I am a very active listener and often repeat things to get

confirmation on what has been said to me. She says she has noticed that habit of me repeating

2
things in my head after they have been said and has noticed I am very good with timing in terms

of response.

Nonverbal Communication

Body language is very difficult for me and I sometimes find myself getting caught in

difficult situations due to my body language.

My father’s response confirmed the difficulty I have with my body language. He chuckled

and gave me a very simple reply, “I can always tell what you’re thinking or feeling.” This leads

me to believe that I am not very good at hiding emotions and it’s very easy to read.

When asking my sister what my nonverbal communication was like she gave me a hefty

list of the signals she looks for in order to know how I’m feeling. She knows my face gets red and

I fidget with my fingers or shuffle my feet and shift from side to side when I am nervous,

embarrassed or uncomfortable. She says that I furrow my eyebrows when I am mad and continue

to do that throughout the day.

My coworker did not have much to say about my nonverbal communication. She said that

I maintain a very professional work ethic and seem to always be happy. She has not noticed any

significant signs of my nonverbal communication except for my red face of embarrassment.

Communication Strengths

One major strength that was the eye contact that remains within many of my conversations.

Every single response had to do with my eye contact. They all replied by telling me how engaged

I look within the conversation and how it makes them feel very significant and pleased with the

conversation afterwards.

Something that my father and sister had to say which was somewhat surprising, was that I

often nod my head and reply with short words like “oh”, “yes”, and “definitely.” They told me that

3
those tiny words make them feel as if they are actually being listened to and give them a secure

feeling about the conversation.

The strength that my coworker pointed out was my use of repeating what was said to me.

She says that it is always good to confirm what has been said and that is a strength she wishes she

had.

Communication Weaknesses

Some of my weaknesses seemed to be more towards the fact that I take things to seriously

and I’m not very good at sensing sarcasm.

My father has noticed that it is very difficult to joke around me. He told me that there has

been various times where he has tried joking with me and I take it to seriously and end up getting

mad or frustrated.

My sister is very sarcastic and says that I have a lot of difficulty detecting sarcasm. She

says that I need to learn how to identify it and that she is not trying to be rude she is simply being

sarcastic. She also says that I tend to doze off when I am within a conversation that I don’t find

very interesting. She says that it seems to look as if I’m listening, but she is able to see I am bored.

My coworker seemed to also notice it is very difficult for me to identify a joke at work and

I immediately think they are being serious.

Having a Conversation with Me

To me this was one of the most important questions that had to be asked and to my surprise.

I wanted to know what it was like to talk to me and if it was enjoyable.

4
 My father told me that I am very easy to talk to and I am open minded to different topics.

He says that he feels very happy after having a conversation with me and thinks my body language

just needs to be adjusted very slightly.

My sister had a similar answer. She responded by telling me that I am someone she comes

to when she needs someone to listen to her and make her feel better. She says that as long as she

is not sarcastic or tries to crack a joke she has an average conversation.

My coworker had similar thoughts to my father and sister. She said that conversations are

fairly average and she really like the way I keep eye contact.

Summary

All in all, I was very surprised to hear that I maintain very good eye contact and show good

active listening skills. However, as I expected, I am very introverted when expressing my views

and opinions on topics if I am not around people I am comfortable with.

Things that I found useful is that I need to learn to quit multitasking when trying to have a

conversation with someone. I will try to get rid of those environmental barriers that may disrupt

the communication within me and another person. Another thing that I would like to improve on

is my body language. In the future I do not want to offend anyone due to my body language.

Although there are things I cannot control like my face redness, I can become more aware of my

fidgeting and become more aware of what message I am portraying. The environment is a

component when studying nonverbal communication because it influences the way people act and

interact.¹

Overall, I found this assignment very helpful. I am now more aware of my communication

skills and I plan to improve them throughout my life. Since I found this so helpful I may ask these

same questions to others in the future and see where my communication skills lie later in my life.

5
References:

1. Edwards, Autumn, et al. Elements of Effective Communication. Sage Publications, 2016.