Anthony Phommavongsay

COMM 1010

Myself as a Communicator
I have learned a lot about communication from taking this course, Elements of Effective
Communication. There is so much more to communication than just talking to others, I will be
talking about the things that I have learned from this class such as perception and self, verbal
communication, listening, and nonverbal communication. Learning about these things have made
me understand myself as a communicator and others as well.
Perception & Self
There has been a couple of positive labels that have been given to me in my life, but the
one I would say that probably has affected me the most is smart. I believed this helped my self-
esteem because it made me quite confident in my abilities to learn and do anything that is given
to me. Ways that it affected my communication would be that I can be a pretty good listener, for
me, to be smart is to be able to listen and or read what the other person is saying but also
understanding. It helps me understand the material, job, or even the person more.
I can’t think of any negative labels, mainly because I have been trying to be more
positive and block out any negative thoughts, it’s definitely a progress, but one that I can think
of, and I wouldn’t say it’s that negative, but is that I am shy. I think this has affected me because
I become very worried if I am too quiet or not contributing enough to the conversation or what is
going on around me. This label has affected me because I do want to be more vocal and
outgoing, but it makes me afraid that I may be too much or become more unlikable if I say
something wrong, or I’m not funny, just things like that.
After learning from these past two chapters I think it is your ethical responsibility to be
careful what you say to others. Sometimes words/labels can affect someone negatively and could
stick with them for a while. Even someone may take it the wrong way or have strong feelings
towards something that has been said, they could react strongly towards it and the
communication between you and them or within the group could become hostile, awkward, etc. I
do believe though that others should take no harm to what is said, or if it is something that has
them bothered to address it/communicate in a civil and calmly manner to work it out.
Verbal Communication

The concept I found most helpful would be using “I statements.” It is most helpful for me
because I am usually not the type of person to talk about my feelings or ideas. Ever since I have
gotten into a relationship, I have learned that I can’t just keep quiet and the best way to solve
things is to communicate how I feel and think. Also, I am a supervisor at my job and have my
own team, so being able to express my ideas to my team, other supervisor, and my bosses will be
beneficial to me.

To be honest I cannot think of a time where this “ethical line’ may have been crossed. Mainly
because I have poor memory, and anything negative in the past I tend to “forgive and forget.”
Maybe one example would be someone saying they could never do something that someone else
did and possibly making that other person feel bad about it.
Listening

I would like to believe that I am an effective listener, especially now that I have been in
an almost 3-year relationship with my girlfriend, and before that too because I would like to
think that I am a good friend or have been a good friend to others. I think that I am because I
would take in what they would say, for example if they liked something or prefer something
sometimes, I will get or do that something that they like, and vice versa if they disliked
something I will avoid doing it.

Although I think that I am effective, there are times where I am not. There are times
where I tend to no focus on the message because I am thinking about something else in my head,
like what I am going to eat or what I am going to do next, just things like that.

Listening and empathy has played a positive role in my relationships because it has made
me someone that people can go to and talk/vent about anything, they can just let it all out to me
and not feel judged or anything.

Nonverbal Communication

I believe the nonverbal behaviors I succeed at would be kinesics and vocalics. I notice
that I can be quite animated while a talk and it could depend on who and what I am talking
about. I just catch myself moving me arms and hands around quite a bit, and when it comes to
my vocalics, I’m rarely ever monotone, whatever mood I am in, my vocalics can really show it.

What I think I need to work on would be eye contact. After making plenty of introduction
videos for classes I have come to realize that I look away from who/what I am talking to. People
who I’m talking to will sometimes look at the direction that I’m looking and sometimes will ask
what “What?” or “What am I looking at?” or “Are you even listening?” What I need to do to be
better is just make eye contact more or look at the camera more.

Final Summary
I have learned a lot about my communication abilities, the good and the bad. I always
knew that communication was very important in any settings, but know I have a better
understanding of the different types of communication and the communicators. There are
different types of ways, each having their own pros and cons.
With my better understanding of it, I will work on becoming a better communicator, I
will be able to use the best communication methods for certain settings. I think that I have
always been a decent communicator, although when it comes to groups was where I lacked the
most and now understanding the different types and the efficient ways I will be a lot better when
it comes to working in groups with school and work.