Chris Healey

08/06/2020
John Medved
Communications 1010

Chris’s Outlook on Commination Journal

Journal Entry 1 Perception and Self

Communications 1010
Chris Healey

6/29/2020
1.What is a positive label that has been given to you in your life? How has that label
affected your self-concept? How has this label affected the way you communicate with
others?

A positive label that I have been given in my life is “hard working”. These simple
2 words have helped build me self-concept into the man I am today. I constantly try my
hardest to push myself every single day to complete job in a timely manner and of high
quality. One of my biggest fears is actually being labeled a lazy person. I think that strive
a lot from wanting to be a “hard worker”. Its strange how a few simple words can effect
how you want to live your life and even how other people see you. The fact that I want to
be a hard worker makes me want to show people that I can be one and I think that effects
the way I communicate with other people because it makes me care a lot about what other
people think about me.

2. What is a negative label that has been given to you in your life? How has that label
affected your self-concept? How has this label affected the way you communicate with
others?

A negative label I have been given in my life is “people pleaser”. I think in my

life I have tried a little to hard to help people out. By no means do I think that is a bad
thing, but some people do tend to take advantage of that. My wife has helped me relies
the most of some people who try to take advantage of my time or me. I think that I still
am willing to do what ever I can to help someone in need, But when I’m asked for help
now I’m a little more cautious in what my answer will be.

3. Is it your ethical responsibility to be careful of the labels you give others and adapt
your communication to accommodate others? Why or Why not?

I think its Important to understand the person your talking to in some degree. It’s
completely normal for you to make labels for other people off of your observations. I also
think its your responsibility to make you’re your observations are correct and the whole
truth. I don’t think it helps at all to make labels for people that are meant to hurt them just
to be malicious. But on the other hand I don’t think it right to hide the truth just because
not pleasant. I think people have a right to know what you really think about them.

Journal entry 2
Verbal Communication
Communication 1010
Chris Healey
7/6/2020
I think the verbal communication concept that will help me improve my communication
skills is inclusive language. After reviewing this chapter in think that I personally do not
use this concept hardly at all. I find myself using gender specific phrases way too much
and I honestly didn’t even realize that I was doing it. I think if I was actually able to put
this skill into my every day life I could be more inviting in my communication skills. I
want to first try by cutting down own gender specific statements unless I am talking
about a specific person. I think if I can do that small thing my communication skills will
benefit greatly

My uncle has always had trouble communicating the way he feels. When he is unable to
achieve the outcome in a conversation he wants he goes straight into manipulation to
achieve his goals. I think that verbal manipulation is a very unethical way to
communicate and crosses that line of ethics. When the literal meaning of a word gets
confusing to understand that is a very big issue. I would like for my uncle to be able to
communicate with everyone and just speak his mind the way he is thinking it.

Journal 3 Nonverbal Communication

Communications 1010
Chris Healey
7/12/2020
I think that I have a few non-verbal communication styles that I succeed at. I Think
gestures are one of my biggest strong suits. I have always been told that I am a “hand
talker”. When I talk to people I love to talk with my hands, it and passion and meaning in
the conversation I don’t think that words can bring. I think that illustrators follow along
very closely with that which I also do a lot of. I have always been able to speak more
comfortably with my hand rather than my mouth; it just has always felt more natural. I
also feel like I am very good at picking up on tension in a conversation. Adapters come in
handy to me to help release some of the tension. When there is tension in a conversation I
feel like that is just a way of not allowing things to get said so I think it’s important to
bring those things to light.

One of the largest issues I have had in non-verbal communication is physically showing
my emotions. It has always been hard for me to show people on my body how I am
feeling rather than just in words. You can even ask my wife, which has been one of the
biggest strains on our relationship. She says I don’t show enough physical emotion,
which she said, makes it hard for her to give me what I need. I can really understand what
she is saying but I am not very sure how to fix it. This has been an issue I have been
struggling with for years and have not quite figured out the best solution.

Journal entry 4 Listening

Chris Healey
Communications 1010
7/20/2020
Do I believe that I am an effective listener? I believe that I am an effective listener,
sometimes more than others but for the most part I do believe that I am and effective
listener. I think it does depend on weather the topic interests me or not. But overall I
think that I am the kind of person who really has to be an effective listener to understand
the questions and conversations at hand. I am more of a comprehensive listener in my
opinion, my wife would also agree with me. I constantly ask for clarification and over
analyze to try and understand the whole statement, which can be very annoying to her.
Working to become a better listener has definitely benefited all of my
relationships for the better. It helps me understand people better and what those people
need. Empathy has been a very hard thing for me to learn. It has always been hard for me
to understand how people are feeling behind the literal words. I have always been more
of a literal person so I always tell people what is on my mind. Being empathetic in my
listening skills is something I work on every day. I think I can improve this by slowing
down the conversation a little and analyze the deeper meaning behind the words. If I can
do that I would be a much better communicator.