My self evaluation and the evaluation of my parents and coworkers all produced very similar results. I do not have a problem speaking in groups, formal or informal, depending on what is being discussed and what I have to say. Apparently this comes across to others because no one thought I had any anxiety, that I was not verbally aggressive in any way, and that I was a competent listener.
I found the questions surprising when addressed to others, as they could not "know" if my heart beat faster when addressing people, or any other impressions that can be masked. They tried their best to answer them accurately, but complained the whole time!
I found the idea of perception as an influence over communication was very interesting. First impressions, while not set in stone, can change the way we approach communicating with someone.
Communication processing (O'Hair & Weimann, 2012), state that what you see, hear, or touch will be unique to you . . . because of the ways in which you select, organize and interpret information.
Reference:
O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.
Renee,
ReplyDeleteMy evaluators had the same issue when answering some of the questions like about my heartbeat. I told them to just think about my nonverbal behavior if it appears that I am nervous and possibly making my heart beat faster. My scores were different than my evaluators showing that there there is a lot to perception during these perceptions.
Jennie Ingram
Great Blog Renee; I believe perceptions has an effect on communicating a message of how interpreted differently by different people, also can change the way we approach the communication process. Analyzing and interpreting can help organize information, in fact, identify our strengths and weaknesses to improve communication.
ReplyDeleteI also found that my results were pretty similar across the board. I think even if you did have a some form of anxiety when speaking in front of a group if you are confidant in what you are saying the anxiety does not show as much.
ReplyDeleteHi Renee- I laughed when I read your comment about "complained the whole time!" The two that assessed me acted the exact same way! 'How do I know if your heart beats faster?!" I kept telling them "do you THINK my heart beats faster and I get nervous". Despite all of the drama that went into this exercise, the results from the tow that assessed me were very similar to my own. My boyfriend who knows me very well and has experienced my communication skills in a number of different scenarios were almost dead on to what I perceived about myself.
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteI agree depending on who I am speaking to and what I have to say I am not nervous. I feel that at times we are all nervous no matter how many times we are spoken in public however when you are confident your nervousness is not always visibly to your audience.