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my biggest challenge is talking over the student, I need to be okay with a moment of silence while communicating with the students.
Excellent awareness, Michelle! It sounds as though you are cognizant of the listening barriers that impact you most in your face to face interactions and that's great. What are some of the things that you will do to help you focus in the conversation and decrease the interruption of your internal thoughts as well as external distractors?
Shannon Gormley
I do not feel that I listen as well as I could when I am face to face, I need to slow my internal thoughts down and shut-out what is going on around me and focus more on the person I am having the conversation with.
Cristiane,
That's great. It sounds like you plan to incorporate some of the communication tools into all of your daily interactions, which is a wonderful way to practice what you've learned. Good luck!
Shannon Gormley
I will try to just pay more attention to myself not just at work but at home or out with friends. Maybe use a few "tricks" such as always having a pen or a notebook/clipboard in my hands (so I don't cross my arms).
Cristiane,
Great place to start. What are some things that you plan to look to improve about your personal communication methods?
Shannon Gormley
Cristiane, that is great awareness. Thank you for sharing. Now that you know this, what is your plan for moving forward?
Shannon Gormley
My Body language. I have a habit of crossing my arms even when I'm interested in the conversation. I don't want the other person to feel that I'm "blocking" them
Michael, that sounds like a great plan in order to improve your communication methods. I'm curious, how will improving your body language enhance any phone conversations or e-mails you may write?
Shannon Gormley
Great awareness, Mary. Communicating via the telephone can definitely be challenging with some individuals. Voice tone is one way to listen for cues and a great place to start. In these instances, it might be helpful to spend some time making conversation with the student to find a mutual interest that might naturally increase the person's inflections and establish a deeper connection between the two of you. If you're still not sure - there's no harm in asking them what additional information they might want to hear about or how they'd like to get that information.
Shannon Gormley
I use all of the communication methods that are mentioned,but the hardest way of communicating for me is through the phone.
I feel as though some people do not show emotions well in their tones,they are just one toned and when those people want more information,it's hard to know if you've peaked their interest!
Sara, that is great awareness. So now that you have this insight, what is your plan to balance the length of your e-mails with the content you need to present?
Shannon Gormley
Developing a more effective way of communicating through my writing/emails is important. Sometimes, I find that it is difficult to express everything I want to say in writing, so I tend to write more to try to explain every detail. Unfortunately, the outcome can be quite lengthy. There definitely needs to be a balance between the amount of words I use and getting my point across as clearly as possible.
Avery, thanks for sharing. That's the first step in impoving - identifying where you have opportunities. So now that you are aware of this, what steps are you going to take to improve your phone skills? Practice is certainly a great start. Any others?
Shannon Gormley
My telephone communication skill arent nearly as strong as my face-to-face. As former high school/college strength coach,I needed to be a face to face person. My verbal skills i needed to motivate and keep positive energy all day long. On the phone I cant or dont feel like i'm expressing myself at all, and the person can't see me. I feel like I'm zoning out, getting side tracked. I def. need to make my phone skills a strength of mine, and with more time and experience It will be
Yanithe,
Thank you for sharing your insights! It's amazing the amount of information you are able to pick up when you are truly listening...with your eyes and ears. How has listening for the message andthe non-verbals helped you?
Shannon Gormley
Yanithe,
Great awareness! Body language can offer a number of insights into what is actually being communicated in the message. It's important to pay attention to the non-verbal cues a person is giving you. Once you can adapt to those cues - you are also sending a message to the person that you truly "hear" what they're saying and it's important to you.
Shannon Gormley
Body language is very important. It’s providing more information about that individual and better to adapt with.