Blog week 4 - Who I am as a communicator

Robin C. Miller                                                                                     EDUC – 6165

Blog Assignment – Week 4

The communication evaluations this week helped me to gain a better understanding of not only, how I see myself as an effective communicator but also, how my colleagues and family view me as a communicator. All parties that took the surveys came up either the same evaluation or different scoring ranges. I wasn’t surprised to learn that I am a very active and empathetic listener. I agree that this can be both a strength and weakness in effective communication for it will cause me to think more with my emotions than anything else.

I also wasn’t too surprised when, I and a family member scored me at being an elevated communicator when it comes to different communication styles. I am more of a one on one communicator. Working in the early education field has helped me practice speaking to larger groups of people.

I was surprised however, the difference in scoring in the verbal aggressiveness survey. My director scored me at a higher level than I expected. It concerns me because I can’t see myself lashing out at people for no reason. Her scoring and her comments contradicted one another. She mentioned that I was to “timid and shy and need to be more aggressive in order to be a good director (personal communication, 2013). I agree to some extent but, I think that being more assertive is different than being aggressive. I agree that I need to become more assertive but aggression is not my style of communication. I believe that effective communication is the right combination of care, love, empathy, concern, listening, understanding, and a little assertiveness when needed.